Posted: 12/6/24 at 4:52am
By far the best version of the song ever on record
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_UsrTWzDQU
Posted: 12/6/24 at 5:22am
I’ve seen Cabaret multiple times and barely remember this song. Clearly hasn’t made an impact on me previously, but that was gorgeous.
Posted: 12/6/24 at 5:27am
I've always loved this song -- I thought Alan Cummings' version was haunting and pretty perfect...until now. This was amazing!
Posted: 12/6/24 at 6:25am
That is really sublime. On Broadway you either have actors who can sing or singers who can act. Adam falls into the later category and he really has an exceptional vocal instrument. I can't wait to see him next week.
Posted: 12/6/24 at 10:08am
It's beautifully sung, but I think it's almost too beautiful and I like a little more edge to it.
I saw Mason Alexander Park in London and their emcee was terrifying in a very good way. I don't think they're a big enough name to do the Broadway run, which is a shame.
https://youtu.be/GYeid1InSBM?si=456iylU4ntamUpYl
Posted: 12/6/24 at 11:15am
I love this song because you can do it so many ways--is it the Emcee talking about his own view of political events? Is it being sung to represent Sally's point of view or that of Germany at large? What are the Emcee's own feelings about everything that's been happening?
I feel like this version is a bit more polished and "neat" than what I remember Adam Lambert doing on stage, but he sings it more as a lament rather than the rage that some other Emcees have done, and I always find it fascinating to see what an actor can bring to it.
Posted: 12/6/24 at 1:50pm
I thought this was one of Adam's most powerful songs in the show. I love this recording though I do agree it was a bit edgier in the show itself.
I dearly wish a recording would come out from this cast. A proshot would be so incredible but I understand this won't happen.
Updated On: 12/6/24 at 01:50 PM
Posted: 12/6/24 at 2:10pm
I get the sense they toned it down a little to make it more broadly appealing/leas theatrical but it still captures the essence of his performance I think.
Posted: 12/6/24 at 2:37pm
I do like it.
Everyone here probably knows that this song (like Maybe This Time--of course not added till the Cabaret movie) was written and recorded before K&E even started work on Cabaret (famously, apparently, it was written on a dare in a matter of minutes on a cocktail napkin--at least the lyrics?)
But I really wish there was a live audio of Cabaret's previews--there was a brief time (I believe it was in the New York previews, not out of town) where Hal Prince, who had been playing with a place for this song in the show, decided it should be Sally's climactic song. So yes, it was sung in the Cabaret spot, and the song Cabaret itself was sung as Sally's first song. Which just seems so wrong headed in every way (it lasted one or two performances before they realized it was such a huge mistake.) But what I've always wanted to know is did they at lest try to beef up the arrangement and build of the song if Sally was singing it in that place?
*sorry off topic I know :P *
Posted: 12/6/24 at 5:15pm
I was just going to mention the history of the song but ya beat me to it. Never could figure out how it could be written for Cabaret when Barbra already recorded it in 1963. I guess it could be considered a trunk song if the cocktail napkin ended up in the trunk for a couple of years.
Posted: 12/6/24 at 8:24pm
Adam's version is what made cabaret change my life for a second time. Made me realize i wanna do theatre in my life (sorry to the person who said i should go into accounting) it's always a pleasure to have an actual release of the song and listen to it over and over again (i do have 4 bootlegs with him in it, but we don't talk about those)
Posted: 12/6/24 at 8:50pm
I’ve seen so many different Emcee performances, mainly in the Mendes revival, and I think the two best interpretations of this song were by singers who act, Adam Pascal and Jon Secada. Although, this version is pretty terrific.
