Cabaret

[Emutional]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 8:56am

Tell me about this, because I am completely ignorant. I never attempted to follow Cabaret or even listen to it much. How long was it on broadway? Is it still on broadway? ...was it considered to be on broadway? Is it still open? Who were the final castmates, if not, and who's in the cast if it is still open?

I'd love to be enlightened on this :)

[ponine24601]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 9:32am

OHH!!!! i can answer the last part! sorry. ok. cabaret closed on January 4, 2004. the final cast included:

Emcee/Master of Ceremonies-Adam Pascal
Sally Bowles-Susan Egan
Herr Schultz-Tony Roberts
Fraulein Schneider-Blair Brown
others-Rick Holmes, Liz McConahay and Martin Moran.

[adamized88]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 9:34am

cabaret closed on january 4 of 2004 with adam pascal as the emcee and susan egan as sally bowles. it was considered on broadway, held at Studio 54, a theater with a nightclub like setting

it opened on March 19, 1998 and was the second revival of the show

some other closing cast members - tony roberts as herr shultz, blair brown as frauline Schneider, martin moran as ernst

there's a link for pics from the shows closing below!!
http://www.broadway.com/template_3.asp?CI=33243&CT=26

Updated On: 8/28/04 at 09:34 AM

[adamized88]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 9:35am

ponine you beat me!!! haha

[ponine24601]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 9:42am

yay! i win! lol. jk.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 1:36pm

AHH! How did I miss this thread? The revival Adamized and Ponine speak of opened in '98 and ran most of its run at Studio 54. I think there were two revials previous to the '98 one. I miss it so much. Please, do yourself a favor and read a good synopis, or better yet, the book. Then listen to the cast recording. There's a lot to be taken from it.

That said, Adamized, your icon is making me cry!!! It's not farewell just yet - 11 shows left as of right now. I have a special icon I'm saving - I'm going to put it up after curtain on the 5th.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 1:48pm

Yes, the 1998 revival - directed by Sam Mendes, of "American Beauty" fame - was a huge financial and critical success. It ran for about 6 years, closing this past January. It received huge critical acclaim for "re-inventing" the musical Cabaret.

It was a very dark, sexy, dangerous production. Studio 54 was turned into a real cabaret space, with little cabaret tables and an open bar. The "fourth wall" of theatre was breached, and you really felt like you were in a 1930s cabaret in Berlin. And who could forget the Cabaret orchestra, dressed in character and playing above the stage?

Certain songs and characters received a completely new interpretation. For example, the role of Sally Bowles is immortalized on film by Liza Minelli, who sings it like a grand star. But in this revival, Sally Bowles was played by Natasha Richardson (who would win the Tony for her performance), who couldn't sing well - reinterpreting Sally Bowles, a lounge singer in a sleazy, rundown cabaret in Depression-hit Berlin, as a talentless floozy. As well, the iconic number "Cabaret" is turned from a celebration of decadence to a desperate, inescapable nightmare.

Updated On: 8/28/04 at 01:48 PM

[SammyGal]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 2:38pm

How could you all forget my dear Alan Cumming who opened the show as the Emcee and won a Tony for it?!?!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 2:43pm

Of course I love ALAN!! He's on the '98 New B'way Cast Recording, and rocks.

[ponine24601]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 2:46pm

alan rocks!!!! he's my favorite emcee next to adam and raul.

[mallardo]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 2:49pm

I wouldn't say that Natasha Richardson reinterpreted the role of Sally. The original Sally, Jill Haworth, was also a basically non-singing English actress. Really, their approach was the same. It was Liza who did the reinterpreting for the movie, turning her into a talented showstopper, as opposed to the hopeless amateur Sally really was.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 2:55pm

Correction noted.

And how COULD I forget Alan Cumming? I'm an idiot. Yes, Alan Cumming was breathtaking as the Emcee, completely deserving of his Tony Award! His was a wholely different interpretation from Joel Grey's mysterious, pixie/Puck-like, host with red slits as lips. Alan Cumming's startling Emcee (and the future Emcee performances for this revival) was a playful demon onstage, eery and completely sinister. It was hypnotic to watch him perform.

Updated On: 8/28/04 at 02:55 PM

[Marquise]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 3:05pm

i never got to see this production.. but i do remember when it opened because it took over the space of one of my favorite clubs in the city (the former henry miller theatre)...LOL, it then moved uptown to "54"... i did get the revival cast recording. it's amazing. i think it was the first revival to actually incorporate the songs written for the movie into the stage version. i love what they did with "money, money".

[QueenMuppet]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 4:06pm

And it was SO wrong to close this wonderful show.

QM

[SammyGal]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 4:08pm

aww *is happy with Alan!love*

*squeeee*

He gave it a heart and a demon-like quality. :)

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 4:12pm

Is the production still on tour? I know it's not the same without the many cabaret tables in Studio 54, but it's better than nothing. It still remains one of the best revivals I've ever seen.

[Who'sOnFirst?]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 4:13pm

Who was better, in your opinion:

Joel Gray or Alan Cumming?

[SammyGal]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 4:18pm

I never saw Alan perform it live... nor Joel.

But from the *whispers* b**tlegs and movie, I gotta say DEF. Alan.

Joel would bounce around, he didn't give the Emcee heart like Alan could.

[ponine24601]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 4:22pm

i have only seen the movie with joel grey and i liked his interpretation. i wish that i could have seen adam. *edit* that was supposed to come out as alan. heck, i wish that i could have seen both!

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 4:56pm

I've only seen Joel Grey's movie interpretation too.

But I'd say Alan Cumming was the more interesting and memorable Emcee. He dominated the stage in a way I can't see Grey's Emcee doing.

Updated On: 8/28/04 at 04:56 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 4:58pm

The character was totally different when Joel Grey did it. I was watching something on tv, and Joel said that when he did Cabaret, Emcee was more decidedly evil; he almost saw him as a representation of Hitler. In the '98 Revival, Cumming's incarnation of it was a lot more vulnerable. He represented so much more, and he had heart. I think that makes it kind of tough to compare.

[leomaxfrank]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 5:03pm

well put luvtheemcee..almost impossible to compare

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 5:05pm

Thanks! I've read much on the subject - you know, when I was being a hermit and mourning the loss of such a wonderful piece of theatre.

[musicalfandukie]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 6:02pm

the only thing i like better about the movie is that the songs are sang well..there such great songs when there done well. i hate listening to natasha sounds horrible. even if it was how sally is suppose to sound.

[mallardo]

Posted: 8/28/04 at 7:32pm

Yes, it's hard to compare Grey and Cummings because the revival production had a different take on the show. The final moment for the Emcee in the revival is devastating - he becomes a victim of the regime - whereas Grey was basically an out and out Nazi.

That said, Grey's performance in the original was mind-blowing. It was seen to be so definitive that no one else was imaginable in the part. He was the only one of the original cast retained for the movie.