Cabaret 1998

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 4:50pm

How exactly does the plot of the 1998 Cabaret revival differ from the Grey/Minelli movie? I've been listening to the music of both for a while and it's apparent there are differnces.

[MagicToDo82]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 4:53pm

Nec, I don't know the answer...but if thats you in your avatar you loo scarily like my friend Ryan.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 5:04pm

Many, many changes. The 1998 revival of CABARET stayed true to the original stage book, while incorporating the new songs written for the film; however, the film differed greatly from the original musical:

-- Almost all of the original book is completely rewritten.

-- The American "Cliff" of the stage show became the British "Brian" of the film, and Sally Bowles (Liza Minelli) is American.

-- The tragic subplot with Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz is replaced with a more ambiguously happy subplot involving a younger couple, a wealthy Jewish girl Natalia and an opportunist Fritz.

-- Many of the stage show's songs like "Don't Tell Mama" and "Perfectly Marvelous" are omitted; all musical numbers are performances in the cabaret.

-- While in the stage show the character Max is the club owner, in the movie he is reworked and turned into a major supporting player named "Maximillian," a millionaire German who causes a rift between Brian and Sally.

The basic themes of the musical are the same, but overall the two are almost entirely different beasts.

My question is, why were all these changes made by screenwriter Jay Allen and agreed upon by Bob Fosse? I do think the final script probably plays better on film than the original stage book would have, but I wonder what specific issues they had with the book that made them absolutely need to make those changes.

Updated On: 6/13/05 at 05:04 PM

[Liz_Bennet]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 5:59pm

I must confess that I've never seen the stage version, but the movie is terrific and works very well as a movie rather than as an obvious adaptation.

[jim]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 10:57pm

For the 1972 movie version, Jay Presson Allen went back to the original source Isherwood's "Berlin Stories" and the play "I am a Camera."

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 6/17/05 at 1:13am

Have any stage productions tried to use the movie script rather than the original book?

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/17/05 at 2:45am

Hmmm... I don't think that'd work.
I personally enjoy the stage book better. And it plays out so much better live. The movie's fine, but I really enjoyed the 1998 revival so much more.

By the way, I know lots of revisions were made to the 1998 revival. How did it differ from the original show? I know a few songs were added/replaced, but anything book-wise change? Cliff's bisexuality perhaps? This was added because of the movie, right? Anyone know answers?

~Steven

Updated On: 6/17/05 at 02:45 AM

[Urban]

Posted: 6/17/05 at 5:18am

I have heard of some local productions trying to use the movie as a base instead of the play. Never saw them, so I cannot tell you how it went, but I can imagine not to well.

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 6/17/05 at 4:33pm

It is illegal to use the script from the film. The recent revival combines many aspects of the original with the film. I don't think the original version could be brought back to Broadway without people being disappointed. The movie made such an impact on audiences and almost everyone associates "Maybe This Time" with 'Cabaret' even though it was written for the film. Fosse's vision for the film was definitely called upon for the revival. I thought they did an excellent job of combining the two to make a remarkable piece of theatre.

[bear88]

Posted: 7/22/19 at 3:25am

The 1998 revival version is playing at the San Francisco Playhouse this summer. I saw it Sunday night, and it's such a jarring piece of theater even when you know the basic story. The plotline with Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz is so tragic that it makes the problems of Sally and Cliff seem inconsequential by comparison. (It seemed unfamiliar, and I only realized later that it wasn't in the film, which I haven't seen in many years.)

I always read about how serious theater should make the audience feel uncomfortable. Well, this one certainly succeeded. "If You Could See Her" is bad enough along the way, and then hits you with a punch at the end. The audience applauded quietly and briefly, uncertain what to do. There are some excellent performances, including an ensemble member whose electric performance was terrific. (It was one advantage of being in the third row.) I was a bit ambivalent about the ending, wondering if it was a gratuitous coup d'theater in a show that already was depressing and affecting, but it certainly drives home the point.

[bk]

Posted: 7/22/19 at 4:08am

They didn't just add the movie songs to the 1998 revival, which I loathed - they cut songs from the stage version and not for the good of the show, IMO.  The original book and score are brilliant - they didn't need anybody's help.

[jbird5]

Posted: 7/22/19 at 6:01am

Maybe This Time existed before the show. Liza recorded it for her 1964 debut album.

[kingfan011]

Posted: 7/22/19 at 10:00am

I still remember going to New York and seeing the 98 revival with Cummings at Studio 54. Still probably the most powerful theater experience I've had. Brilliant stuff.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/22/19 at 10:03am

I tried watching the movie a couple months ago when Fosse/Verdon was on and I still loathe it. I wish to God that the film remake that was talked about a number of years ago he actually happened.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 7/22/19 at 12:04pm

BlueWizard said: "Many, many changes. The 1998 revival of CABARET stayed true to the original stage book, while incorporating the new songs written for the film; however, the film differed greatly from the original musical:

-- Almost all of the original book is completely rewritten.

-- The American "Cliff" of the stage show became the British "Brian" of the film, and Sally Bowles (Liza Minelli) is American.

-- The tragic subplot with Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz is replaced with a more ambiguously happy subplot involving a younger couple, a wealthy Jewish girl Natalia and an opportunist Fritz.

-- Many of the stage show's songs like "Don't Tell Mama" and "Perfectly Marvelous" are omitted; all musical numbers are performances in the cabaret.

-- While in the stage show the character Max is the club owner, in the movie he is reworked and turned into a major supporting player named "Maximillian," a millionaire German who causes a rift between Brian and Sally.

The basic themes of the musical are the same, but overall the two are almost entirely different beasts.

My question is, why were all these changes made by screenwriter Jay Allen and agreed upon by Bob Fosse? I do think the final script probably plays better on film than the original stage book would have, but I wonder what specific issues they had with the book that made them absolutely need to make those changes."

 

Years ago, I read that Bob Fosse wanted all of the musical numbers to be performed the Cabaret,with the exception of Tomorrow Belongs to Me, because it would (a) not look false being sung as an anthem in a beer garden and (2) he felt, and he was right, that it was a perfect opportunity to show how average Germans got sucked in.  

I have always assumed that the older relationship would not be the same without the songs they sang.  Fritz and Natalia were younger and didn't sing a note.  He essentially wanted a drama with performances at the club.

[bear88]

Posted: 7/28/19 at 3:48am

I just rewatched the film on Netflix for the first time in many years. As near as I can tell, the movie's creators (including director Bob Fosse) made the probably smart choice to make a film that didn't feel like a musical at all, with the only songs being those performed at the club and "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" at the beer garden. Given the failures of musical-to-film adaptations at the time, including Fosse's own Sweet Charity, you can hardly blame them. And they were rewarded with a big, critically-acclaimed hit.

But after seeing a production of the 1998 revival on stage, the film seems awfully weak by comparison. The subplot involving the Jewish heiress and Fritz plays badly today and includes a "happy ending" that rings false and toothless. It's a substitute for the moving story of Herr Schultz and Fraulein Schneider, which ends sadly but powerfully in a way that's hard to shake. The plot involving the rich German guy is just plain stupid, and turns more of a focus on Sally and Brian (the British substitute for Cliff). They're idiots, it's hard to care about them, and the whole story loses focus. The rise of the Nazis turns into an ominous backdrop and usually little else.

I'll grant that the "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" sequence is powerfully done, and it's also one of the few times Brian seems like a keen observer of what's happening around him. But it's just an isolated scene. ETA: In defense of the film, Fosse does a good job of cross-cutting between scenes at the club and outside, taking advantage of it being a film, and there's a chilling conversation about the ways Jews are trying to destroy Germany. And overall, it does avoid the staginess that often is a problem in musical adaptations. 

Fosse, of course, knows how to stage the Kit-Kat Club performances, and Joel Grey is terrific. Both songs new to the film, "Mein Herr" and "Maybe This Time" are integrated well, and it's easy to see why the 1998 revival creators wanted to keep them. In the show I saw, "Mein Herr" tries to recreate the film choreography as closely as possible.

Updated On: 7/28/19 at 03:48 AM

[AADA81]

Posted: 7/28/19 at 11:21am

At the end of the 1960s, the enormous success of the film The Sound of Music caused movie studios to flood the market with overblown adaptations of musicals. However, Finian's Rainbow, Star!, Song of Norway, Hello Dolly, Doctor Dolittle, Camelot and Paint Your Wagon were notorious flops that killed the movie musical for the most part.  Bob Fosse realized that characters bursting into song was considered passe in 1972 and so, when making the film version of Cabaret, he jettisoned all the character songs from the score and retained (or replaced) only those that could be performed onstage at the Kit Cat Club (except "Tomorrow Belongs to Me".  I suppose you could say he was right, except that Fiddler On the Roof came out the year before with its score primarily intact and the film was a great success.  I saw the 1998 Bway revival of Cabaret and I much preferred it to the film, which I've never cared for.