CABARET sets closing with Porter and Wallace to star- Page 16

[Huss417]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 4:17pm

Ensemble1698878795 said: "Huss417 said: "Ensemble1698878795 said: "Huss417 said: "Ensemble1698878795 said: "Yay! All the cyber bullying worked. Aren’t you all proud of yourselves? Billy’s gone and the show is closing early - exactly what you wanted. Curious who you’ll drill into the ground next."

Can you please remind me who you were under a previous name? I forgot."

Hey low life, wrong tree to climb here. I have one username and I said what I said. All you computer warriors think it’s cute til someone’s dead. You never know what people are going through and you spend your time on these boards ripping people over theatre. Get a life. Don't deflect. Own your collective piss poor behavior."

I'm glad I didnt ask you how the weather was as I couldn't even imagine how you would respond to that let alone this reply.

The minute you go below the belt everything else you say becomes null and void. Even more so when you start off a thread that way."

It’s amazing how many of you can be evil to Billy but when someone gives you a taste of your own medicine you try and play docile. Cute but not buying or caring."

Please find where I said one thing about Billy! You just are spewing whatever you want. I'll wait for you to look. 

[jlindsey865]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 4:22pm

My two cents:

1. From what I’ve seen and heard (though I haven’t seen him live in the role), Billy doesn’t seem like the right fit for the Emcee and may be the weakest casting in the revival.
2. Sepsis is extremely serious especially for someone who is immunocompromised. I wish Billy a full and speedy recovery. I also don’t think the production or Billy owed us an explanation for his absence, particularly given the severity of this illness.

 

Updated On: 9/7/25 at 04:22 PM

[Ke3]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 4:22pm

TheatreFan4 said: "TotallyEffed said: "Oh c’mon, after Billy’s INSANE comments about Jewish people and the majorbacklash he received for his behavior and performance it’s perfectly natural to question his absence. Now he’s dropped out all together and the show is closing early. I absolutely wish him well and certainlyhopehe’s okay but it feels like he just needed to run and hide and they came up with an excuse to cover as best they can for this embarrassing situation."

Comments he made like... 8 weeks ago and he's giving the same performance he gave in London that people picked apart, but it got to him 2 weeks ago and he decided to bail out. Sure, okay. I love the conspiracy of them coming up with an "excuse" for him. As if announcing a diagnosis of Sepsis and discussion of his other chronic health conditions is going to help his career. As if that's not going put a question mark on anyone wanting to hire him in the future as opposed to just being a diva and quitting if he wanted to. The producers sure as **** wouldn't have minded, I'm sure given the grosses. The closure was going to be moved up regardless of whether Billy was there to close it or not. You all sound Psychotic."

It reminds me of certain peoples reaction to the cancelled bullhorn performance of Sunset, or in the wider entertainment realm, Lil Nas X's recent mental break. Everything is a marketing stunt or PR move to people who have never been tasked with drafting a PR move. 

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 4:34pm

CarlosAlberto said: "Birdie Boy said: "JOHN KANDER deserved so much better than this mediocre production. I hope we get a great production of CABARET very soon to cleanse the memory of this one."

I agree with you. At this point it would be revolutionary if someone mounted a production that reflects the 1966 Broadway original, if only to give an opportunity to those of us who weren’t alive to see it as it was intended."

They tried that in 1987 and it bombed. I think this could have been the window where it succeeded. A bit like how the nostalgia for the 1920s during the 1970s enabled No No Nanette to succeed. 

This seems like a good time to mention that a couple of years ago I was the first person to say astute New Yorkers would see through this emperor’s-new-clothes production of Cabaret and it would flop, while the masses would scream and cheer for it just to convince themselves they’d had a good time, and was told “yOu DoN’t KnOw AnYtHiNg!”. Well would you look at what came to pass 😵😵😵

Updated On: 9/7/25 at 04:34 PM

[Robbie2]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 4:34pm

ACL2006 said: "Robbie2 said: "Jordan Catalano said: "Marisha deserved so much better."



True, Billy was a curse to the production and now closing early.

Anyway, they updated the site with Marisha, Marty, David above the title so that's very professional on the producers part!

https://kitkat.club/cabaret-broadway/"

Did they reveal the Emcee schedule for the final two weeks?"

 

Not yet as it's still showing:

Marisha Wallace will star as Sally Bowles at the performance on Tuesday, September 9, 2025 at 7:00 PM.

Billy Porter will not star as Emcee at the performance on Tuesday, September 9, 2025 at 7:00 PM.

-----

Billy Porter and Marisha Wallace star as Emcee and Sally Bowles at the performance on Thursday, September 11, 2025 at 7:00 PM.

 

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 4:40pm

CABARET Investor Sues ATG Amid Early Closing

Updated On: 9/7/25 at 04:40 PM

[Huss417]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 4:50pm

BorisTomashevsky said: "CarlosAlberto said: "Birdie Boy said: "JOHN KANDER deserved so much better than this mediocre production. I hope we get a great production of CABARET very soon to cleanse the memory of this one."

This seems like a good time to mention that a couple of years ago I was the first person to say astute New Yorkers would see through this emperor’s-new-clothes production of Cabaretand it would flop, while the masses would scream and cheer for it just to convince themselves they’d had a good time, and was told “yOu DoN’t KnOw AnYtHiNg!”. Well would you look at what came to pass 😵😵😵"

How do you make a thread about a show closing all about yourself?

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 4:55pm

I do have to say how I feel bad for Marisha. She left NY for London specifically because she wasn't getting any good gigs here despite her talent and went there and became lauded and treated like British royalty to the point of getting UK citizenship. Then she makes her grand return to Broadway and this is what happens...

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 4:55pm

WiCkEDrOcKS said: "CABARET Investor Sues ATG Amid Early Closing"

Here’s an un-paywalled version of the Boroff article above : https://archive.li/PVKAR

 

”How do you make a thread about a show closing all about yourself?”

It’s the only appropriate time to say, in the words of the Emcee… “I Told You Soooooo” 🤷‍♂️

Updated On: 9/7/25 at 04:55 PM

[ACL2006]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 5:07pm

TheatreFan4 said: "I do have to say how I feel bad for Marisha. She left NY for London specifically because she wasn't getting any good gigs here despite her talent and went there and became lauded and treated like British royalty to the point of getting UK citizenship. Then she makes her grand return to Broadway and this is what happens..."

if we ever get a Dreamgirls revival on Broadway, Wallace should be Effie.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 5:14pm

I’d love to hear her sing it but I just don’t think an Effie 40+ years old would work.

[7thbighero]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 5:17pm

Marisha as Mary Todd

from one Cabaret to another 

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 5:17pm

BoringBoredBoard40 said: "BorisTomashevsky said: "BoringBoredBoard40 said: "One of the shows investors is sueing the production and lead producers for lack of transparency, potential self dealing and other issues regarding the shows financials

https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/DocumentList?docketId=DV_PLUS_pJhPfvL1ug9gb6NTXqA==&display=all&courtType=New%20York%20County%20Supreme%20Court&resultsPageNum=1

Interesting to note thatJames Lorenzo Walker Jr. isn't just an investor in the show but a entertainment lawyer which makes this seem potentially less frivolous and with more merit then it otherwise might be"

Some of this suit may have merit but as for expecting any repayment at all, where was that going to come from? A $90 million gross vs a $26 million capitalization doesn’t mean any of that $26 million is available yet.I suppose he’ll see that if/when he inspects the books.

The people taking office feessuremade money from a flop though."

I read the entire filing, part of the argument is that the show was supposedly profitable for two blocks of time that were several months long but that investors received nothing. Most of the time shows pay outonce the production hits a certain amount of profitable weeks in a row a small percentage and not just when the show is 100% in the black.

So this closing at 100% loss when it supposedly had almost 8 months of profitable weeks vs Sunset Boulevard, a comparable show paying back 60% before it closed is what makes this seem odd and the fact the lead producers are supposedly being difficult in supplying financial records to support their claims seems to be the big sticking point.

Additionally an argument is being made that the construction costs were inflated and the show actually didn't put as much money towards those costs as stated and that money might have gone somewhere it was not meant to go which would be fraud.
"

Thank you for laying it out like that. 

As this claimant has around 1/520th of the capitalization pie (with their 50k investment), I wonder if others higher up the food chain may have received some payout ahead of him. 1/520th of the 750k operating profit Boroff mentions across about two months is around $1500, and if we factor that out to the nine months of operating profit, on average this claimant might expect $6000 back.

If someone else had a better/priority repayment deal, I could see that $6000 being eaten up by them. 

[Bwaygurl2]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 5:20pm

Jordan Catalano said: "I’d love to hear her sing it but I just don’t think an Effie 40+ years old would work."

Funnily enough, I saw Jennifer Holliday do it at 47. If course, she's the OG and the audience may have been willing to look the other way, but she looked believable as a twenty something from the mezzanine. 

[quizking101]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 5:44pm

People still discuss wanting Amber Riley to do it if she comes around and she’ll be turning 40 next year. You also had Lillias White doing the role in the now iconic concert version at 50.

Marisha would fit in perfectly fine and DREAMGIRLS is the show that could easily make a relative unknown (like the original trio) into STARS. 

[binau]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 5:56pm

I think Marisha also actually sounds better now than she did in the actual show when she did Dreamgirls, based on her ‘live from London’ album. Her voice has matured into something much more unique and special. I guess I say flippantly I wonder why New York hasn’t been kind but at the same time I think she has been working hard in London and a much stronger artist now. 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 5:58pm

ACL2006 said: "TheatreFan4 said: "I do have to say how I feel bad for Marisha. She left NY for London specifically because she wasn't getting any good gigs here despite her talent and went there and became lauded and treated like British royalty to the point of getting UK citizenship. Then she makes her grand return to Broadway and this is what happens..."

if we ever get a Dreamgirls revival on Broadway, Wallace should be Effie."

If the rumors at the moment are true, we will finally be getting a revival at some point next year, to be directed by Camille A. Brown. 

[MorrisLACat]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 6:16pm

I intended to watch CABARET is a period piece.

The Emcee who scolded, yelled, and called the audience, "bitches" was out of context of the script, out of character, and simply out of touch. 

Stop improvising and stay with the script as intended.  This was NOT a reality show.  (In my honest & respectful comment)

[Ke3]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 6:17pm

I agree with Jordan. The first half of Dreamgirls is about women who are barely out of high school (in Lorrell's case she's still a teenager) and I'm so tired of shows where 36 year olds are trying to convey youth and innocence. Especially in a show like Dreamgirls. If the Dreams are all cast as close to 40 and Curtis is left as is, the manipulation doesn't really come across. They just seem like grown women who are kind of stupid.

The Jai'Len Josey and Hailey Kilgore reading from pre-covid strikes me as a ideal casting but also a ship that has now sailed.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 6:24pm

I mean, I feel like using age as a determining factor when they don't look their age is kind of crazy. Like when I read up above that Amber Riley was gonna be 40 next year I was taken aback despite how correct that would have to be for how long she's been around, but she certainly doesnt look it. Certainly when you're casting for the stage. 

[Ke3]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 6:36pm

TheatreFan4 said: "I mean, I feel like using age as a determining factor when they don't look their age is kind of crazy. Like when I read up above that Amber Riley was gonna be 40 next year I was taken aback despite how correct that would have to be for how long she's been around, but she certainly doesnt look it. Certainly when you're casting for the stage."

I don't mean to say that Amber Riley looks old but consider the two names I listed above. She is a youthful looking woman whereas they are actually young women. I can suspend disbelief with the best of em. Still think it's kind of dumb that Dreamgirls premiered with a 21 year old playing Effie yet the idea of casting someone that young in that role today is seen as surprising or even "too young" for some people. It's the same with shows like Cabaret. I saw people saying Eva was too young. She's almost 30!

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 6:57pm

While we’re talking about shows other than Cabaret (and this will be my actual first time taking a thread off-topic, despite the claims-otherwise of many here), do we think Billy will use the sepsis as his ticket out of the Encores La Cage?

Also, the closing performance of Cabaret will take place on Billy’s 56th birthday. Perhaps the wardrobe department will let him keep his party hat for the occasion? Or would that be considered a prop?

[HaveAGoodShow]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 6:59pm

Curious how someone can claim to be suffering from sepsis, yet still manage to pose for a photo with Michelle Williams backstage at "Death Becomes Her" -- all on the same day their show announces it’s closing. The optics don’t exactly add up.

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 7:05pm

That photo must have been taken previously. But I agree, at a glance it looks like a photo from “today”. And will set tongues a-wagging. 

Updated On: 9/7/25 at 07:05 PM

[HaveAGoodShow]

Posted: 9/7/25 at 7:07pm

That's true -- totally fair.