Cabaret (musical)

Cabaret is a 1966 musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Joe Masteroff. The musical was based on John Van Druten's 1951 play I Am a Camera which was adapted from the semi-autobiographical novel Goodbye to Berlin (1939) by Anglo-American writer Christopher Isherwood.

"Tomorrow Belongs to Me" redirects here. For the Sensational Alex Harvey Band album, see Tomorrow Belongs to Me (album).
For the 1972 film, see Cabaret (1972 film).

Cabaret
Original Broadway poster (1966)
by Tom Morrow
MusicJohn Kander
LyricsFred Ebb
BookJoe Masteroff
BasisI Am a Camera
by John Van Druten
Goodbye to Berlin
by Christopher Isherwood
Productions
See list
  • 1966 Boston (tryout)
  • 1966 Broadway
  • 1967 U.S. tour
  • 1968 West End
  • 1969 U.S. tour
  • 1972 Film
  • 1986 West End
  • 1987 U.S. tour
  • 1987 Broadway
  • 1989 U.S. tour
  • 1993 West End
  • 1998 Broadway
  • 1999 North American tour
  • 2006 West End
  • 2008 U.K. tour
  • 2012 U.K. tour
  • 2012 West End
  • 2013 U.K. Tour
  • 2014 Broadway
  • 2016 North American tour
  • 2017 U.K. tour
  • 2019 U.K. tour
Awards

Set in 1929–1930 Berlin during the waning days of the Weimar Republic as the Nazis are ascending to power, the musical focuses on the hedonistic nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub, and revolves around American writer Cliff Bradshaw's relations with English cabaret performer Sally Bowles. A sub-plot involves the doomed romance between German boarding house owner Fräulein Schneider and her elderly suitor Herr Schultz, a Jewish fruit vendor. Overseeing the action is the Master of Ceremonies at the Kit Kat Klub, and the club itself serves as a metaphor for ominous political developments in late Weimar Germany.

The original Broadway production opened on November 20, 1966, and became a box office hit that ran for 1,165 performances. The award-winning musical inspired numerous subsequent productions in London and New York as well as the popular 1972 film of the same name.

Background

Historical basis
Further information: Christopher Isherwood and Jean Ross
Writer Christopher Isherwood (first) and Jean Ross (second) photographed in the 1930s.

The events depicted in the 1966 musical are derived from Anglo-American writer Christopher Isherwood's semi-autobiographical tales of his colorful escapades in the Weimar Republic.[1][2] In 1929, Isherwood moved to Weimar Berlin during the final months of the Golden Twenties. At the time, Isherwood was an aspiring novelist who was politically indifferent[lower-alpha 1] about the rise of fascism in Germany.[5][6] He had specifically relocated to Berlin in order to pursue a hedonistic life as an openly gay man and to enjoy the city's orgiastic Jazz Age cabarets.[7][8] He socialized with a blithe coterie of gay writers that included Stephen Spender, Paul Bowles,[lower-alpha 2] and W.H. Auden.[11][12]

In Berlin, Isherwood shared modest lodgings with 19-year-old Jean Ross,[lower-alpha 3] a British cabaret singer and aspiring film actress who earned her living as a chanteuse in lesbian bars and second-rate cabarets.[14][15] While rooming together with Isherwood at Nollendorfstrasse 17 in Schöneberg,[16] Ross became pregnant.[17][18] She assumed the father of the child to be jazz pianist—and later actor—Peter van Eyck.[18] Following Eyck's abandonment of Ross, she underwent an abortion facilitated by Isherwood who pretended to be her impregnator.[19][20] Ross nearly died as a result of the botched abortion.[18][21]

While Ross' recovered from the abortion procedure, the political situation rapidly deteriorated in Germany.[22] As Berlin's daily scenes featured "poverty, unemployment, political demonstrations and street fighting between the forces of the extreme left and the extreme right,"[23] Isherwood, Spender, and other British nationals soon realized that they must leave the country.[24][22] "There was a sensation of doom to be felt in the Berlin streets," Spender recalled.[22] By the time the Nazi Party attained power in the July 1932 elections, Isherwood had departed Germany and returned to England.[25] Afterwards, most of Berlin's cabarets were shuttered by the Nazis,[lower-alpha 4] and many of Isherwood's cabaret friends would later flee abroad or perish in concentration camps.[27] These factual events served as the genesis for Isherwood's Berlin tales. His 1939 novel Goodbye to Berlin was later adapted by playwright John Van Druten into the 1951 Broadway play I Am a Camera and, ultimately, the 1966 Cabaret musical.[20][28]

Musical development
Further information: Kander and Ebb
Julie Andrews was offered the role of Sally Bowles, but her manager refused due to the character's immorality.

In early 1963, producer David Black commissioned English composer and lyricist Sandy Wilson to undertake a musical adaptation of Van Druten's 1951 play I Am a Camera.[29] At that time, Black envisioned the musical as a star vehicle for singer Julie Andrews, but Andrews' manager refused to allow her to accept the role of Sally Bowles due to the character's immorality.[30] By the time Wilson completed his work, however, Black's option on both the 1951 Van Druten play and its source material by Isherwood had lapsed and been acquired by rival producer Harold Prince.[31]

Prince hired playwright Joe Masteroff to work on the adaptation.[32] Prince and Masteroff believed that Wilson's score failed to capture the carefree hedonism of the Jazz Age in late 1920s Berlin.[33] Consequently, the songwriting team John Kander and Fred Ebb were invited to join the project.[33] Their new version was initially a dramatic play preceded by a prologue of songs describing the Berlin atmosphere from various points of view. As the composers distributed the songs between scenes, they realized the story could be told in the structure of a more traditional book musical, and they replaced several songs with tunes more relevant to the plot.[33]

Prince and Masteroff altered Isherwood's original characters as well.[34] The male protagonist became an American writer; the anti-Semitic landlady was transformed into a tolerant woman with a Jewish beau who owned a fruit store; the two language students were excised; and new characters—such as the Nazi smuggler Ernst Ludwig—were added.[34][35] The musical ultimately expressed two stories in one: the first, a revue centered on the decadence of the Kit Kat Klub; the second, a story set in the society of the club.[36]

By Fall 1966, the musical was complete and entered rehearsals.[37] After viewing one of the last rehearsals before the company headed to Boston for the pre-Broadway run, Prince's friend Jerome Robbins suggested cutting the songs outside the cabaret, but Prince ignored his advice.[37] In Boston, lead actress Jill Haworth struggled with her characterization of Sally Bowles. Critics thought Sally's blonde hair and white dress suggested a debutante at a senior prom instead of a cabaret singer, so Sally was changed to brunette before the show opened on Broadway.[38]

Prince's staging was unusual for the time.[39] As the audience filled the theater, the curtain was already up, revealing a stage containing only a large mirror reflecting the auditorium.[2][40] There was no overture; instead, a drum roll and cymbal crash led into the opening number. The juxtaposition of dialogue scenes with expository songs and separate cabaret numbers providing social commentary was a novel concept that initially startled audiences.[41] Gradually, they came to understand the difference between the two and were able to accept the reasoning behind them.[41]

Synopsis

Act I

{{{annotations}}}

The Kit Kat Klub is intended to evoke the many Weimar-era cabarets in Berlin.

At the twilight of the Jazz Age in Berlin, the incipient Nazi Party is growing stronger. The Kit Kat Klub is a seedy cabaret—a place of decadent celebration. The club's Master of Ceremonies, or Emcee,[lower-alpha 5] together with the cabaret girls and waiters, warm up the audience ("Willkommen"). Meanwhile, a young American writer named Clifford Bradshaw arrives via a railway train in Berlin. He has journeyed to the city to work on a new novel. Cliff encounters Ernst Ludwig, a German smuggler who offers him black market work and recommends a boarding house. At the boarding house, the proprietress Fräulein Schneider offers Cliff a room for one hundred marks, but he can only pay fifty. After a brief debate, she relents and allows Cliff to live there for fifty marks. Fräulein Schneider observes that she has learned to take whatever life offers ("So What?").

When Cliff visits the Kit Kat Klub, the Emcee introduces an English chanteuse, Sally Bowles, who performs a flirtatious number ("Don't Tell Mama"). Afterward, she asks Cliff to recite poetry for her, and he recites "Casey at the Bat". Cliff offers to escort Sally home, but she says that her boyfriend Max, the club's owner, is too jealous. Sally performs her final number at the Kit Kat Klub aided by a female ensemble of jazz babies ("Mein Herr"). The cabaret ensemble performs a song and dance, calling each other on inter-table phones and inviting each other for dances and drinks ("The Telephone Song").

The next day at the boarding house, Cliff has just finished giving an English lesson to Ernst when Sally arrives. Max has fired her and thrown her out, and now she has no place to live. Sally asks Cliff if she can live in his room. At first he resists, but she convinces him to take her in ("Perfectly Marvelous"). The Emcee and two female companions sing a song ("Two Ladies") that comments on Cliff and Sally's new living arrangement. Herr Schultz, an elderly Jewish fruit-shop owner who lives in the boarding house, gives a pineapple to Fräulein Schneider as a romantic gesture ("It Couldn't Please Me More"). In the Kit Kat Klub, a young waiter starts to sing a song—a patriotic anthem to the Fatherland that slowly descends into a darker, Nazi-inspired marching song—becoming the strident "Tomorrow Belongs to Me". He initially sings a cappella, before the customers and the band join in.[lower-alpha 6]

Months later, Cliff and Sally are still living together and have grown intimate. Cliff knows that he is in a "dream," but he enjoys living with Sally too much to come to his senses ("Why Should I Wake Up?"). Sally reveals that she is pregnant, but she does not know who is the father and reluctantly decides to obtain an abortion. Cliff reminds her that it could be his child and tries to convince her to have the baby ("Maybe This Time"). Ernst enters and offers Cliff a job—picking up a suitcase in Paris and delivering it to his "client" in Berlin—easy money. The Emcee comments on this with the song "Sitting Pretty" (or, in later versions, "Money").

Meanwhile, Fräulein Schneider has caught one of her boarders, the prostitute Fräulein Kost, bringing sailors into her room. Fräulein Schneider forbids her from doing so again, but Kost threatens to leave. Kost reveals that she has seen Fräulein Schneider with Herr Schultz in her room. Herr Schultz saves Fräulein Schneider's reputation by telling Fräulein Kost that he and Fräulein Schneider are to be married in three weeks. After Fräulein Kost departs, Fräulein Schneider thanks Herr Schultz for lying to Fräulein Kost. Herr Schultz says that he was serious and proposes to Fräulein Schneider ("Married").

At Fräulein Schneider and Herr Schultz's engagement party, Cliff arrives and delivers the suitcase to Ernst. A tipsy Schultz sings "Meeskite" ("meeskite", he explains, is Yiddish for ugly or funny-looking), a song with a moral ("Anyone responsible for loveliness, large or small/Is not a meeskite at all"). Afterward, seeking revenge on Fräulein Schneider, Kost tells Ernst, who now sports a Nazi armband, that Schultz is a Jew. Ernst warns Fräulein Schneider that marrying a Jew is unwise. Fräulein Kost and company reprise "Tomorrow Belongs to Me", with more overtly Nazi overtones, as Cliff, Sally, Fräulein Schneider, Herr Schultz, and the Emcee look on.

Act II

{{{annotations}}}

The musical is set against the backdrop of fascism's rise in Germany which reaches a crescendo at end of the second act.

The cabaret girls—along with the Emcee in drag—perform a kick line routine which eventually becomes a goose-step. Fräulein Schneider expresses her concerns about her impending nuptials to Herr Schultz, who assures her that everything will be all right ("Married" Reprise). They are interrupted by the crash of a brick being thrown through the glass window of Herr Schultz's fruit shop. Schultz tries to reassure her that it is merely rowdy children making trouble, but Fräulein Schneider is now afraid.

Back at the Kit Kat Klub, the Emcee performs a song-and-dance routine with a girl in a gorilla suit, singing that their love has been met with universal disapproval ("If You Could See Her"). Encouraging the audience to be more open-minded, he defends his ape-woman, concluding with, "if you could see her through my eyes... she wouldn't look Jewish at all."[lower-alpha 7] Fräulein Schneider goes to Cliff and Sally's room and returns their engagement present, explaining that her marriage has been called off. When Cliff protests and states that she can't just give up this way, she asks him what other choice she has ("What Would You Do?").

Cliff begs Sally to leave Germany with him so that they can raise their child together in America. Sally protests and claims their sybaritic life in Berlin is wonderful. Cliff urges her to "wake up" and to notice the growing social upheaval around them. Sally retorts that politics have nothing to do with them and returns to the club ("I Don't Care Much").[lower-alpha 8] At the Kit Kat Klub, after another heated argument with Sally, Cliff is accosted by Ernst, who has another delivery job for him. Cliff tries to brush him off, but when Ernst inquires if Cliff's attitude towards him is because of "that Jew at the party", Cliff attacks him—only to be beaten by Ernst's Nazi bodyguards and expelled from the club. On stage, the Emcee introduces Sally, who enters to perform again, singing that "life is a cabaret, old chum," cementing her decision to live in carefree ignorance and freedom ("Cabaret").

The next morning, a bruised Cliff is packing his clothes in his room when Herr Schultz visits. He informs Cliff that he is moving to another boarding house, but he is confident that these difficult times will soon pass. He understands the German people, he declares, because he is a German too. When Sally returns, she announces that she has had an abortion, and Cliff slaps her. He still hopes that she will join him in France, but Sally replies that she has "always hated Paris." She hopes that, when Cliff finally writes his novel, he will dedicate the work to her. Cliff leaves, heartbroken.

There was a cabaret, and there was a master of ceremonies and there was a city called Berlin, in a country called Germany—and it was the end of the world...

— Cliff Bradshaw, Act 2, Cabaret[43]

On the train to Paris, Cliff begins to compose his novel, reflecting on his experiences: "There was a cabaret, and there was a master of ceremonies ... and there was a city called Berlin, in a country called Germany—and it was the end of the world and I was dancing with Sally Bowles—and we were both fast asleep" ("Willkommen" Reprise). In the Kit Kat Klub, the Emcee welcomes the audience,[lower-alpha 9] and the backdrop raises to reveal a white space with the ensemble standing within. The cabaret ensemble reprises "Willkommen", but it is now harsh and discordant as the Emcee sings, "Auf Wiedersehen... à bientôt..." followed by a crescendo drum roll and a cymbal crash.[lower-alpha 10]

Characters
  • Sally Bowles – The headlining British singer at the Kit Kat Klub
  • The Emcee[lower-alpha 5] – The Master of Ceremonies at the Kit Kat Klub, a leering, ghoulish, flamboyant figure
  • Clifford "Cliff" Bradshaw – An American writer who has come to Berlin in order to write a novel
  • Fräulein Schneider – An older German woman who runs the boarding house where Cliff and Sally reside
  • Herr Schultz – An elderly Jewish fruit shop owner who falls in love with Fräulein Schneider
  • Ernst Ludwig – A German smuggler who befriends Cliff when he arrives in Berlin, later revealed to be a Nazi
  • Fräulein Kost – A German prostitute who rents a room in Fräulein Schneider's boarding house
  • Rosie, LuLu, Frenchie, Texas, Fritzie, and Helga – Girls who perform at the Kit Kat Klub
  • Bobby, Victor, Hans, and Herman – The Cabaret Boys of the Kit Kat Klub
  • Boy Soprano – A young boy affiliated with the Nazi Party
  • Max – Owner of the Kit Kat Klub

Musical numbers

Every production of Cabaret has modified the original score, with songs being changed, cut, or added from the film version. This is a collective list featuring all songs from every major production.

Song modifications

Many songs planned for the 1966 production were cut.[49] Three excised songs—"Good Time Charlie", "It'll All Blow Over", and "Roommates"—were recorded by Kander and Ebb, and the sheet music published in a collector's book.[50] "Good Time Charlie" was to be sung by Sally to Cliff while walking to Fräulein Schneider and Herr Schultz's engagement party, with Sally mocking Cliff for his gloominess.[48] "It'll All Blow Over" was planned for the end of the first act: Fräulein Schneider is concerned that marrying a Jew might be unwise, while Cliff is concerned about Germany's incipient Nazism.[51][52] In the song, Sally declares that all will turn out well in the end.[51] "Roommates" was replaced by "Perfectly Marvelous" and serves the same plot function of Sally convincing Cliff to let her move in with him.[48][53]

The 1972 film added several songs, notably "Mein Herr" and "Maybe This Time" which were included in later productions.[54] The latter song had been written by Kander and Ebb for the unproduced musical Golden Gate.[55] The later 1987 and 1998 Broadway revivals also added new songs such as "I Don't Care Much".[56] In the 1987 revival, a new song was written for Cliff entitled "Don't Go".[57] In the 1998 revival, "Mein Herr" replaced "The Telephone Song", and "Maybe This Time" replaced "Why Should I Wake Up?".

Originally, the song "Sitting Pretty" was sung by the Emcee accompanied by the cabaret girls in international costumes and their units of currency representing Russian rubles, Japanese yen, French francs, American dollars, and German reichsmarks.[57] For the 1972 film, this number was then replaced by "Money, Money", and sung by the Emcee and Sally Bowles. However, "Sitting Pretty" is still heard briefly in the film as orchestral background music. For the 1987 revival, there was a special version comprising a medley of both money songs, and motifs from the later song were incorporated into the "international" dance that had "Sitting Pretty". For the 1998 revival, only the later song written for the film was used. This version added the cabaret girls and had a darker undertone.

Productions

Original Broadway production
The original production featured Jill Haworth (first) as Sally Bowles, Joel Grey (second) as the Emcee, and Lotte Lenya (third) as Fräulein Schneider.

The musical opened on Broadway on November 20, 1966, at the Broadhurst Theatre, transferred to the Imperial Theatre and then the Broadway Theatre before closing on September 6, 1969, after 1,165 performances and 21 previews.[2][58] Directed by Harold Prince and choreographed by Ron Field, the cast featured Jill Haworth as Sally, Bert Convy as Cliff, Lotte Lenya as Fräulein Schneider, Jack Gilford as Herr Schultz, Joel Grey as the Emcee,[59] Edward Winter as Ernst, and Peg Murray as Fräulein Kost. Replacements later in the run included Anita Gillette and Melissa Hart as Sally, Ken Kercheval and Larry Kert as Cliff, and Martin Ross as the Emcee. In addition, John Serry Sr. performed as the orchestral accordionist.

The original Broadway production was not an instant success according to playwright Joe Masteroff due to its perceived immoral content.[2] "When the show opened in Boston," Masteroff recalled, "there were a lot of walkouts. Once the reviews came out, the public came back."[2]

The 1967–68 US national tour featured Melissa Hart (Sally), Signe Hasso (Fräulein Schneider) and Leo Fuchs (Herr Schultz). The tour included the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut in December 1967; the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles; Cleveland, Ohio; Baltimore, Maryland; and Atlanta, Georgia.[60]

Original London production

The musical premiered in the West End on February 28, 1968, at the Palace Theatre with Judi Dench as Sally, Kevin Colson as Cliff, Barry Dennen as the Emcee, Lila Kedrova as Fräulein Schneider and Peter Sallis as Herr Schultz. It ran for 336 performances.[61] Critics such as Ken Mandelbaum asserted that "Judi Dench was the finest of all the Sallys that appeared in Hal Prince's original staging, and if she's obviously not much of a singer, her Sally is a perfect example of how one can give a thrilling musical theatre performance without a great singing voice."[62]

1986 London revival
Kelly Hunter as Sally Bowles.

In 1986, the show was revived in London at the Strand Theatre starring Kelly Hunter as Sally, Peter Land as Cliff and Wayne Sleep as the Emcee, directed and choreographed by Gillian Lynne.

1987 Broadway revival

The first Broadway revival opened on October 22, 1987, with direction and choreography by Prince and Field. The revival opened at the Imperial Theatre, and then transferred to the Minskoff Theatre to complete its 261-performance run. Joel Grey received star billing as the Emcee, with Alyson Reed as Sally, Gregg Edelman as Cliff, Regina Resnik as Fräulein Schneider, Werner Klemperer as Herr Schultz, and David Staller as Ernst Ludwig. The song "Don't Go" was added for Cliff's character.

1993 London revival
Sam Mendes (left) directed the 1993 London revival of Cabaret with Alan Cumming (right) as the Emcee. Cumming would return as the Emcee for the 1998 and 2014 Broadway Revivals.

In 1993, Sam Mendes directed a new production for the Donmar Warehouse in London's West End.[63][64] The revival starred Jane Horrocks as Sally, Adam Godley as Cliff, Alan Cumming as the Emcee and Sara Kestelman as Fräulein Schneider. Cumming received an Olivier Award nomination for his performance and Kestelman won the Olivier for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical. Mendes's conception was very different from either the original production or the conventional first revival.[65]

The most significant change was the character of the Emcee. The role, as played by Joel Grey in both prior incarnations, was an asexual, edgy character with rouged cheeks dressed in a tuxedo. Alan Cumming's portrayal was highly sexualized, as he wore suspenders around his crotch and red paint on his nipples.[66][2]

Staging details differed as well. Instead of "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" being performed by a male choir, the Emcee plays a recording of a boy soprano singing it. In the final scene, the Emcee removes his outer clothes to reveal a striped suit of the type worn by the internees in concentration camps; on it are pinned a yellow badge (identifying Jews), a red star (marking Communists and socialists), and a pink triangle (denoting homosexuals). Other changes included added references to Cliff's bisexuality, including a brief scene where he kisses one of the Cabaret boys.[67] "I Don't Care Much", which was cut from the original production, was reinstated, and "Mein Herr" was added from the film.

1998 Broadway revival

The second Broadway revival was based on the 1993 Mendes-Donmar Warehouse production. For the Broadway transfer, Rob Marshall was co-director and choreographer.[2][64] The production opened after 37 previews on March 19, 1998, at the Kit Kat Klub, housed in what previously had been known as Henry Miller's Theatre.[64] Later that year it transferred to Studio 54,[2] where it remained for the rest of its 2,377-performance run, becoming the third longest-running revival in Broadway musical history, third only to Oh! Calcutta! and Chicago. For the Broadway production, Cumming reprised his role as the Emcee, opposite newcomers Natasha Richardson as Sally, John Benjamin Hickey as Cliff, Ron Rifkin as Herr Schultz, Denis O'Hare as Ernst Ludwig, Michele Pawk as Fräulein Kost, and Mary Louise Wilson as Fräulein Schneider.[64]

The Broadway production was nominated for ten Tony Awards, winning four for Cumming, Richardson and Rifkin, as well as the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical. This production featured a number of notable replacements later in the run: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Susan Egan, Joely Fisher, Gina Gershon, Deborah Gibson, Teri Hatcher, Melina Kanakaredes, Jane Leeves, Molly Ringwald, Brooke Shields, and Lea Thompson as Sally; Michael C. Hall, Raúl Esparza, Neil Patrick Harris, Adam Pascal, Jon Secada, Norbert Leo Butz and John Stamos as the Emcee; Boyd Gaines and Michael Hayden as Cliff; Tom Bosley, Dick Latessa, Hal Linden, Laurence Luckinbill, and Tony Roberts as Herr Schultz; and Blair Brown, Polly Bergen, Mariette Hartley and Carole Shelley as Fräulein Schneider.

There were a number of changes made between the 1993 and 1998 revivals, despite the similarities in creative team. The cabaret number "Two Ladies" was staged with the Emcee, a cabaret girl, and a cabaret boy in drag and included a shadow play simulating various sexual positions.[67] The score was entirely re-orchestrated, using synthesizer effects and expanding the stage band, with all the instruments now being played by the cabaret girls and boys. The brutally satiric "Sitting Pretty", with its mocking references to deprivation, despair and hunger, was eliminated entirely, as it had been in the film version, and where in the 1993 revival it had been combined with "Money" (as it had been in 1987 London production), "Money" was now performed on its own. "Maybe This Time", from the film adaptation, was added to the score.[67]

2006 London revival

In September 2006, a new production of the show opened at the Lyric Theatre, directed by Rufus Norris,[68] and starring Anna Maxwell Martin as Sally, James Dreyfus as the Emcee, Harriet Thorpe as Fräulein Kost, and Sheila Hancock as Fräulein Schneider. Hancock won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical. Replacements later in the run included Kim Medcalf and Amy Nuttall as Sally, Honor Blackman and Angela Richards as Fräulein Schneider, and Julian Clary and Alistair McGowan as the Emcee. This production closed in June 2008 and toured nationally for two years with a cast that included Wayne Sleep as the Emcee and Samantha Barks and Siobhan Dillon as Sally.

2012 London revival

A revival opened in the West End at the Savoy Theatre on October 3, 2012, following a four-week tour of the UK, including Bromley, Southampton, Nottingham, Norwich and Salford.[69] Will Young played the Emcee and Michelle Ryan portrayed Sally Bowles.[70] It was announced on August 10, 2012, that Siân Phillips, Harriet Thorpe and Matt Rawle would also be joining the cast. The production was made by the creative team behind the 2006 London revival, but they created a different set, lighting, costumes, choreography and direction. In August 2013 the show went on tour, again with Young as The Emcee, Siobhan Dillon reprising her role of Sally and Lyn Paul joining the cast as Fräulein Schneider.[71]

The production toured the UK in autumn 2017 with Young reprising his role as the Emcee and Louise Redknapp as Sally Bowles.[72]

Another UK tour began in autumn 2019 starring John Partridge as the Emcee, Kara Lily Hayworth as Sally Bowles and Anita Harris as Fräulein Schneider.

2014 Broadway revival
Michelle Williams, Emma Stone, and Sienna Miller each portrayed Sally Bowles in the 2014 Broadway revival.

In September 2013 Roundabout Theatre Company announced plans to return the company's acclaimed 1998 production to Studio 54 in New York.[73][2] For this, the show's third Broadway revival, Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall reprised their respective roles as director and co-director/choreographer to recreate their work from the earlier production. Alan Cumming starred again as the Emcee while Academy Award-nominee Michelle Williams made her Broadway debut as Sally Bowles.[74] On October 7, 2013, Tony Award nominees Danny Burstein and Linda Emond joined the cast as Herr Schultz and Fräulein Schneider.[75] The production began a 24-week limited engagement with previews from March 21, 2014 with opening night on April 24, 2014. This engagement was later extended to a 36-week run concluding on January 4, 2015.[76]

On August 21, 2014, Emma Stone officially replaced Michelle Williams as Sally until February 1, 2015, after Williams left the production on November 9.[77] Critics praised Stone's performance for her interpretation of the hard-drinking sybarite Sally Bowles "as a flaming flapper, the kind hymned by F. Scott Fitzgerald and embodied by the young Joan Crawford in silent movies."[77] Alan Cumming continued in the role of the Emcee until the show's final curtain in March 2015.[78] The Roundabout Theatre Company announced on January 5, 2015, that Stone would extend her run as Sally until February 15.[79][80] On February 17, Sienna Miller replaced Stone as Sally through to the show's closing on March 29, 2015.[81][82]

The production later toured the US from January 2016 with Randy Harrison as the Emcee and Andrea Goss (following her appearance as Frenchie in the Broadway production). They were later replaced by Jon Peterson and Leigh Ann Larkin.

Other productions
Anne Beate Odland as Sally Bowles in a 1975 production of Cabaret.

The Octagon Theatre, Bolton (UK) (1993).[83] Directed by Ian Forest, designed by Ashley Sharp; starring Ashley Artus (Manchester Evening News Drama Award Nomination for his performance) as the Emcee, Deborah McAndrew, and Bill Champion.

A BBC Radio 2 radio broadcast in 1996 at the Golders Green Hippodrome starred Claire Burt (Sally Bowles), Steven Berkoff (Emcee), Alex Hanson (Clifford Bradshaw), Keith Michell (Herr Schultz), and Rosemary Leach (Fräulein Schneider).

Since 2003, there have been successful international stagings of the show (many of which have been influenced by Mendes' concept), including productions in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, France, Portugal, Greece, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, and Venezuela. In 2008, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival performed an extremely powerful production at the Avon Theatre designed by Douglas Paraschuk and directed by Amanda Dehnert,[84] featuring Bruce Dow as the Emcee, Trish Lindström as Sally, Sean Arbuckle as Cliff, Nora McClellan as Fräulein Schneider and Frank Moore as Herr Schultz.

The Shaw Festival at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, included Cabaret in its 2014 season.[85] The production, which ran from April 10 – October 26, 2014 at the Festival Theatre, was directed by Peter Hinton (influenced by the Mendes production) with choreography by Denise Clarke and featured Juan Chioran as the Emcee, Deborah Hay as Sally, Gray Powell as Cliff, Benedict Campbell as Herr Schultz, Corrine Koslo as Fräulein Schneider, and Jay Turvey as Ernst.

A new major revival production with new direction played Sydney and Melbourne, Australia in 2017. The production starred Paul Capsis as the Emcee and Chelsea Gibb as Sally. The production mixed elements of the Mendes production, such as its version of "Two Ladies" and its portrayal of a gay Cliff, with the highly colourful art design of the original (the Emcee is in full makeup and clothed) and most of the additional songs from the 1972 film (with the exception of "Mein Herr").[86]

A UK TV production was recorded in 1993 starring Alan Cumming.[87][88]

Since 1992 ten Polish productions of Cabaret were premiered, with the last one played from January 8, 2016 at Teatr Dramatyczny in Warsaw.[89]

Casts
Role Original Broadway Original London 1972 film 1986 London Revival 1987 Broadway Revival 1993 London Revival 1998 Broadway Revival 2006 London Revival 2012 London Revival 2014 Broadway Revival 2016 US tour 2017 UK Tour 2020 UK Tour[90]
The Emcee Joel Grey Barry Dennen Joel Grey Wayne Sleep Joel Grey Alan Cumming James Dreyfus Will Young Alan Cumming Randy Harrison Will Young John Partridge
Sally Bowles Jill Haworth Judi Dench Liza Minnelli Kelly Hunter Alyson Reed Jane Horrocks Natasha Richardson Anna Maxwell Martin Michelle Ryan Michelle Williams Andrea Goss Louise Redknapp Kara Lily Hayworth
Clifford Bradshaw Bert Convy Kevin Colson Michael York Peter Land Gregg Edelman Adam Godley John Benjamin Hickey Michael Hayden Matt Rawle Bill Heck Lee Aaron Rosen Charles Hagerty Charles Hagerty
Fräulein Schneider Lotte Lenya Lila Kedrova Elisabeth Neumann-Viertel Vivienne Martin Regina Resnik Sara Kestelman Mary Louise Wilson Sheila Hancock Siân Phillips Linda Emond Shannon Cochran Susan Penhaligon Anita Harris
Herr Schultz Jack Gilford Peter Sallis N/A Oscar Quitak Werner Klemperer George Raistrick Ron Rifkin Geoffrey Hutchings Linal Haft Danny Burstein Mark Nelson Linal Haft James Paterson
Ernst Ludwig Edward Winter Richard Owens Ralf Wolter Rodney Cottam David Staller Michael Gardiner Denis O'Hare Andrew Maud Nicholas Tizzard Aaron Krohn Ned Noyes Nicholas Tizzard Nicholas Tizzard
Fräulein Kost Peg Murray Pamela Strong Helen Vita Grazine Frame Nora Mae Lyng Charlotte Medcalf Michele Pawk Harriet Thorpe Gayle Rankin Alison Ewing Basienka Blake Basienka Blake

Recordings
Original Broadway cast recording (1967) cover

The first recording of Cabaret was the original cast album with a number of the songs (i.e., "Sitting Pretty"/"The Money Song") either heavily truncated or outright cut (i.e., "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" reprise) to save disk space.[62] When this album was released on compact disc, Kander and Ebb's voice-and-piano recordings of songs cut from the musical were added as bonus material.[62]

The 1972 movie soundtrack with Liza Minnelli is perhaps the best-known of the recordings, although the movie is much re-written and eliminates all but six of the original songs from the stage production.[62]

The original 1968 London cast recording purporedly features "a more accurate rendering of the score" and includes "the Act One finale 'Tomorrow Belongs To Me' reprise, the second-act finale as performed in the theatre, and a number of other previously unrecorded bits and pieces."[62] It was released in the UK and reissued on the CBS Embassy label in 1973. Both the 1986 London and 1998 Broadway revival casts were recorded.[62]

A 1999 two-CD studio recording contains more or less the entire score, including songs written for the movie or for later productions, and many incidentals and instrumentals not usually recorded. This recording features Jonathan Pryce as the Emcee, Maria Friedman as Sally, Gregg Edelman as Cliff, Judi Dench as Fräulein Schneider, and Fred Ebb as Herr Schultz.

The most recent recording of Cabaret is the cast recording of the 2006 London revival at the Lyric Theatre. The recording includes James Dreyfus as the Emcee and Anna Maxwell Martin as Sally Bowles. The recording peaked number 107 on the French Albums Chart,[91] and number 49 on the Dutch Albums Chart.[92]

In addition to these recordings, cast albums for the French, Spanish, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Austrian, Dutch, Mexican, and two German productions have been released.[62][93]

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production
Year Award Category Nominee Result
1967 Tony Award Best Musical Won
Best Original Score John Kander and Fred Ebb Won
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical Jack Gilford Nominated
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical Lotte Lenya Nominated
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical Joel Grey Won
Edward Winter Nominated
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical Peg Murray Won
Best Direction of a Musical Harold Prince Won
Best Choreography Ron Field Won
Best Scenic Design Boris Aronson Won
Best Costume Design Patricia Zipprodt Won
New York Drama Critics Circle Best Musical Won
Outer Critics Circle Award Best Musical Won

1987 Broadway revival
Year Award Category Nominee Result
1987 Tony Award Best Revival of a Musical Nominated
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical Werner Klemperer Nominated
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical Alyson Reed Nominated
Regina Resnik Nominated
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Revival of a Musical Nominated
Outstanding Actor in a Musical Joel Grey Nominated
Outstanding Director of a Musical Harold Prince Nominated

1993 London revival
Year Award Category Nominee Result
1994 Laurence Olivier Award Best Musical Revival Nominated
Best Actor in a Musical Alan Cumming Nominated
Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical Sara Kestelman Won
Best Director of a Musical Sam Mendes Nominated

1998 Broadway revival
Year Award Category Nominee Result
1998 Tony Award Best Revival of a Musical Won
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical Alan Cumming Won
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical Natasha Richardson Won
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical Ron Rifkin Won
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical Mary Louise Wilson Nominated
Best Direction of a Musical Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall Nominated
Best Choreography Rob Marshall Nominated
Best Orchestrations Michael Gibson Nominated
Best Costume Design William Ivey Long Nominated
Best Lighting Design Peggy Eisenhauer and Mike Baldassari Nominated
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Revival of a Musical Won
Outstanding Actor in a Musical Alan Cumming Won
Outstanding Actress in a Musical Natasha Richardson Won
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Michele Pawk Nominated
Outstanding Director Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall Nominated
Outstanding Choreography Rob Marshall Nominated
Outstanding Orchestrations Michael Gibson Nominated
Outstanding Set Design Robert Brill Nominated
Outstanding Costume Design William Ivey Long Nominated
Outstanding Lighting Design Peggy Eisenhauer and Mike Baldassari Nominated
Drama League Award Distinguished Production of a Revival Won
New York Drama Critics Circle Special Citation Won
Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Revival of a Musical Won
Outstanding Actor in a Musical Alan Cumming Won
Outstanding Actress in a Musical Natasha Richardson Won
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical Ron Rifkin Nominated
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Michele Pawk Nominated
Outstanding Choreography Rob Marshall Nominated
Outstanding Costume Design William Ivey Long Nominated
Outstanding Director of a Musical Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall Nominated
Outstanding Lighting Design Peggy Eisenhauer and Mike Baldassari Nominated
Theatre World Award Outstanding Broadway Debut Alan Cumming Won

2006 London revival
Year Award Category Nominee Result
2007 Laurence Olivier Award Best Musical Revival Nominated
Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical Sheila Hancock Won
Best Theatre Choreographer Javier de Frutos Won

2012 London revival
Year Award Category Nominee Result
2013 Laurence Olivier Award Best Musical Revival Nominated
Best Actor in a Musical Will Young Nominated
Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical Siân Phillips Nominated

2014 Broadway revival
Year Award Category Nominee Result
2014 Tony Award
Best Featured Actor in a Musical Danny Burstein Nominated
Best Featured Actress in a Musical Linda Emond Nominated
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical Danny Burstein Nominated
Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Revival of a Musical Nominated
Outstanding Actress in a Musical Michelle Williams Nominated
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical Danny Burstein Nominated
Fred and Adele Astaire Award Outstanding Choreographer in a Broadway Show Rob Marshall Nominated
Outstanding Female Dancer in a Broadway Show Gayle Rankin Nominated

References

Notes
  1. Jean Ross later claimed the political indifference of the Sally Bowles character more closely resembled Isherwood and his hedonistic friends,[3] many of whom "fluttered around town exclaiming how sexy the storm troopers looked in their uniforms."[4]
  2. Paul Bowles was a gay American writer who later wrote the post-colonial novel The Sheltering Sky.[9] Isherwood later appropriated Paul Bowles' surname for the character of Sally Bowles.[10]
  3. Isherwood claimed that he and Ross "had a relationship which was asexual but more truly intimate than the relationships between Sally and her various partners in the novel, the plays and the films."[13]
  4. Many Berlin cabarets located along the Kurfürstendamm avenue, an entertainment-vice district, had been marked for future destruction by Joseph Goebbels as early as 1928.[26]
  5. The phonetic term "Emcee" is specifically used by playwright Joe Masteroff in the musical's script.[44]
  6. In the 1998 and 2014 revivals, the Emcee plays a recording of "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" by a boy soprano.
  7. The line—"if you could see her through my eyes... she wouldn't look Jewish at all"—was intended to illustrate how easily prejudices are accepted. However, boycott threats from Jewish leaders in Boston led Ebb to write an alternate final line, "She isn't a Meeskite at all."[42]
  8. In the 1998 Broadway and 2012 London revivals, Sally takes cocaine before exiting Cliff's room.
  9. In the 1998 revival, the Emcee strips off his overcoat to reveal a concentration camp prisoner's uniform marked with a yellow Star of David and a pink triangle.
  10. Several productions have the white space then flashing with a strobe effect, implying the cabaret performers—except for Sally who is not standing in the white space—will fall victim to Nazi atrocities towards the Jews and gays. The Roundabout Theater Company had that as the final scene for their 2016 national tour of Cabaret.
  11. "Telephone Song" was cut in the 1993, 1998, 2012, and 2014 revivals, replaced by "Mein Herr".
  12. The character Bobby replaced one of the ladies in "Two Ladies" for the 1998 and 2014 revivals.
  13. For the 1998 and 2014 revivals, "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" was changed from a group number by the waiters in the cabaret to a gramophone recording of a boy tenor singing the song, with the leading player speaking the last words.
  14. "Don't Go" replaced "Why Should I Wake Up?" in the 1987 revival but was removed from the score afterwards.
  15. "Maybe This Time", a song from the film, was added in the 1998, 2012, and 2014 revivals.
  16. "Money, Money", a song from the film, was blended with "Sitting Pretty" in the 1987 revival. It replaced "Sitting Pretty" in the 1998 and 2014 revivals.
  17. "Meeskite" was cut in the 1993 1987, 1998, 2012, and 2014 revivals.
  18. "Married (Reprise)" was cut in the 2012 revival. For the 1998 revival, Fräulein Kost sang the film's German translation of "Married" after two English verses.
  19. "I Don't Care Much" was added for the 1987, 1993, 1998, 2012, and 2014 revivals.[48]

Citations
  1. Garebian 2011, p. 3; Bloom & Vlastnik 2004, p. 46
  2. Gray 2016
  3. Firchow 2008, p. 120; Cockburn 2001
  4. Isherwood 1976, pp. 124–125; Doyle 2013
  5. Allen 2004: "The real Isherwood... [was] the least political of the so-called Auden group, [and] Isherwood was always guided by his personal motivations rather than by abstract ideas."
  6. Stansky 1976: Isherwood was a "self‐indulgent upper middle-class foreign tourist" who was "a good deal less dedicated to political passion than the legend has had it."
  7. Moss 1979: Isherwood frequented "the boy‐bars in Berlin in the late years of the Weimar Republic.... [He] discovered a world utterly different from the repressive English one he disliked, and with it, the excitements of sex and new subject matter."
  8. Isherwood 1976, Chapter 1: "To Christopher, Berlin meant Boys... Christopher was suffering from an inhibition, then not unusual among upper-class homosexuals; he couldn't relax sexually with a member of his own class or nation. He needed a working-class foreigner. He had become clearly aware of this when he went to Germany in May 1928."
  9. Garebian 2011, pp. 6–7
  10. Izzo 2005, p. 144: "Isherwood himself admitted that he named the character of [Sally Bowles] for Paul Bowles, whose 'looks' he liked."
  11. Spender 1977; Spender 1966, pp. 125–130
  12. Garebian 2011, pp. 6–7
  13. Isherwood 1976, p. 63
  14. Parker 2004; Parker 2005, p. 205
  15. Lehmann 1987, p. 18: "Jean Ross, whom [Isherwood] had met in Berlin as one of his fellow-lodgers in the Nollendorfstrasse for a time, when she was earning her living as a (not very remarkable) singer in a second-rate cabaret."
  16. Isherwood 1976, p. 63: "Jean moved into a room in the Nollendorfstrasse flat after she met Christopher, early in 1931."
  17. Isherwood 1976, pp. 244–245
  18. Parker 2004: "An affair with a Jewish musician called Götz von Eick, who subsequently became an actor in Hollywood under the name Peter van Eyck, led to her becoming pregnant, and she nearly died after an abortion."
  19. Parker 2004; Parker 2005, p. 220; Thomson 2005
  20. Lehmann 1987, pp. 28–29
  21. Parker 2005, p. 220
  22. Spender 1966, p. 129
  23. Spender 1977
  24. Parker 2005, p. 254
  25. Isherwood 1976, p. 95
  26. Farina 2013, p. 79
  27. Isherwood 1976, pp. 164–166; Isherwood 1976, pp. 150, 297; Farina 2013, pp. 74–81
  28. Izzo 2001, pp. 97, 144
  29. Garebian 2011, pp. 15–16
  30. Garebian 2011, p. 16
  31. Garebian 2011, p. 16
  32. Garebian 2011, p. 24
  33. Garebian 2011, p. 16
  34. Mordden 2001, p. 154
  35. Masteroff 1967, p. 7
  36. Mordden 2001, pp. 152–54
  37. Garebian 2011, p. 111
  38. Bloom & Vlastnik 2004, pp. 47–49
  39. Garebian 2011, pp. 39–42
  40. Garebian 2011, p. 49: "There was no question that the single greatest element in the design was the giant mirror."
  41. Mordden 2001, pp. 156–57
  42. Jones 2003, p. 243
  43. Masteroff 1967, p. 113
  44. Masteroff 1967, pp. 1–10, 44–42
  45. Bloom & Vlastnik 2004, p. 48
  46. Kander & Ebb 1999, pp. 3–4
  47. Kander & Ebb 1999, pp. 3–4
  48. Garebian 2011, p. 71
  49. Kander & Ebb 1999, pp. 3–4, 136–8
  50. Kander & Ebb 1999, pp. 3, 4
  51. Garebian 2011, p. 29
  52. Kander & Ebb 1999, p. 150
  53. Kander & Ebb 1999, pp. 50, 162
  54. Kander & Ebb 1999, pp. 3–4, 136–8
  55. Garebian 2011, p. 141
  56. Kander & Ebb 1999, pp. 3–4, 129, 136–8
  57. Garebian 2011, p. 187
  58. Cabaret (1966–69) at the Internet Broadway Database
  59. Bloom & Vlastnik 2004, p. 49
  60. "Cabaret National Tour, 1967", ovrtur.com. Retrieved July 5, 2016
  61. Green 1980, p. 53
  62. Mandelbaum 1998
  63. Bloom & Vlastnik 2004, p. 47
  64. Lyman 1997
  65. Bloom & Vlastnik 2004, p. 47
  66. Reice 1998
  67. Brantley 1998
  68. Simonson 2006
  69. BBC News 2012
  70. Michelle Ryan 2012
  71. Bannister 2013
  72. Bowie-Sell 2017
  73. Gioia 2013
  74. Healy 2013
  75. BroadwayWorld 2013
  76. BroadwayWorld 2014
  77. Brantley 2014
  78. Dziemianowicz 2014
  79. Jue 2015
  80. Holcomb-Holland 2015
  81. Healy 2015
  82. Snetiker 2015
  83. "Cabaret (musical) at The Octagon Theatre, Bolton". The British Newspaper Archive. November 21, 1993. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  84. "Stratford Festival Review: Terrific Cabaret in both senses of the word". Southwestern Ontario News. Archived from the original on January 13, 2015.
  85. "Cabaret Festival Theatre, April 10 – October 26". Shaw Festival. Archived from the original on November 19, 2013.
  86. Cabaret Archived November 6, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, 2017 Australian production
  87. Cabaret (1993 UK videotaped TV production starring Alan Cumming) at IMDb
  88. Cabaret (1993 UK videotaped TV production) on YouTube
  89. Cabaret on e-teatr.pl
  90. Darvill 2019
  91. "Musical – Cabaret (Album)". Les Charts (in French). 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  92. "Musical – Cabaret (Album)". Dutch Charts (in Dutch). 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  93. "Cast album information". Cast Album DB.

Bibliography
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