Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

#1

Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 12:09pm

I'm curious. What's your opinion on Cabaret? Is the Emcee the leading character or is Cliff? In the original Cliff was billed before the Emcee and in the 87 revival the Emcee was billed as the star vehicle because Joel Grey was returning right after the movie release and the character was tweaked since the success of using a Fiddler as the central metaphor in Fiddler on the Roof. Then in 98 Sam Mendes and the brilliant Alan Cumming made it clear that the Emcee was more than a central metaphor. So other than directional interpretation, which character do you think is the most important or the main male character?

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"Jaime's convienced that the problems are mine. Jaime is probably doing just fine. And I'm still hurting."

#2

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 12:11pm

The Emcee. He's the one pulling the strings for the entire production, esp. as realized by Mendes.

#3

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 12:18pm

I always thought the emcee was the central character. I have only seen the revival though. He is the narrator etc.

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"At the opening night party, they had clowns on stilts, jugglers, a chocolate fountain, popcorn, hot dogs. [My son] looked at me like I had been holding back. Like, 'This is what you do?' I had to tell him, 'No, no, darling. Opening nights don't usually look like this.' It's usually a dark bar with a bottle of vodka." ?Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's Jan Maxwell plus i proudly share the title of the shortest member over the age of 10 with wickedrentq!

#4

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 12:19pm

It's really Sally and Cliff's story.

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Have I ever shown you my Shattered Dreams box? It's in my Disappointment Closet. - Marge Simpson

#5

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 12:20pm

Yeah, I agree. I'm just curious because I always heard "Cabaret...the Emcee." But if you look at the material behind the musical it's based on Christopher Isherwood's actual life and Cliff is based off of him. So I was curious to see what other people thought.

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"Jaime's convienced that the problems are mine. Jaime is probably doing just fine. And I'm still hurting."

#6

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 12:34pm

This is the same query for Seussical...who leads..Horton or The Cat In The Hat?

Emcee is the lead, relating to the audience..but Cliff is the lead in the world of Cabaret.

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And the other thing about the Phantom Lady was, Bert, she realized, in the city that never sleeps... What did she realize, Kitten? That all the songs she'd listened to, all the love songs, that they were only songs. What's wrong with that? Nothing, if you don't believe in them. But she did, you see. She believed in enchanted evenings, and she believed that a small cloud passed overhead and cried down on a flower bed, and she even believed there was breakfast to be had... Where? On Pluto. The mysterious, icy wastes of Pluto.

#7

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 12:38pm

that's what i think..it's not fact.

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And the other thing about the Phantom Lady was, Bert, she realized, in the city that never sleeps... What did she realize, Kitten? That all the songs she'd listened to, all the love songs, that they were only songs. What's wrong with that? Nothing, if you don't believe in them. But she did, you see. She believed in enchanted evenings, and she believed that a small cloud passed overhead and cried down on a flower bed, and she even believed there was breakfast to be had... Where? On Pluto. The mysterious, icy wastes of Pluto.

#8

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 12:45pm

Well, with the exception of Ernst and Fraulein Kost, the principals in "Cabaret" are all basically of equal part size, and I've seen the billing vary from production to production. Usually either Sally or the Emcee are billed first, followed by Fraulein Schnieder and Herr Schultz in interchangable order, then Cliff (this is how it was done throughout most of the cast changes in the recent B'way revival). Although Cliff is the protagonist of the story, his part is probably the smallest of the leads, especially if you're doing the revival version when he doesn't even get his own song (which I think is stupid BTW).

#9

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 12:45pm

Yes, it is Cliff and Sally's personal story and also the whole pre-Nazi Germany's story as well.

But way back when the show first opened in 1966, Tony Award nominatioons were decided strictly upon billing. If the actor was billed below the title or in a non-spotlighted way they were put into the supporting/featured category which explains why Yul Brynner, Tom Bosley, Tammy Grimes and Dick Van Dyke among others won in the featured category for playing leads.

Joel Grey was below those who were star-billed and Hal Prince wanted to be sure he won a Tony so he kept him there until the day after the awards and then bumped him up to star billing.

It took William Daniels in 1776 to refuse a nomination in the featured category to cause the Tonys to reexamine their stance. Daniels played John Adams, certainly the lead in 1776, and was probably the Tony favorite, but that year they allowed him to un-nominate himself leaving only 3 and the winner was Ron Holgate for 1776.

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"If my life weren't funny, it would just be true. And that would be unacceptable." --Carrie Fisher

#10

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 12:57pm

I've always thought that must be weird for Mr. Holgate, it's like, being a Tony Award winner with an asterix next to it or something.

#11

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 1:06pm

Honestly, I don't think it is Sally and Cliffs story. I think it is the Emcee's story. Every thing is seen through his eyes, and he calls all of the shots.

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"What a mystery this world. One day you love them and the next day you want to kill them a thousand times over." The Masked Bandit in THE FALL

#12

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 1:07pm

It's not the Emcee's story. You don't know a thing about him at the end of the evening.

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Have I ever shown you my Shattered Dreams box? It's in my Disappointment Closet. - Marge Simpson

#13

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 1:29pm

I meant that it his his story because he is the one who is telling it. He is in controll. He already new the choices Sally was going to make before she ever made them.

And I do think you learn about the Emcee by the end of the show. As the audience watches the show (knowing they are witnessing a downfall) we are shown the downfall in the Emcee. For example, the track marks become more visible as the show goes along and you become more aware of his drug induced state. It's almost like he represents Berlin itself.

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"What a mystery this world. One day you love them and the next day you want to kill them a thousand times over." The Masked Bandit in THE FALL

Updated On: 2/25/05 at 01:29 PM

#14

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 2:23pm

Emcee. He didn't interact with the other characters as much as someone like Cliff or Sally did, but he ties everything together.

I'm too tired to write much more, and everybody else said some good stuff.

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A work of art is an invitation to love.

#15

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 2:29pm

I can only comment on the Revival.

I would say the Emcee, he is on stage for most of the show. If he is not singing, he is there observing, watching over, manipulating even.

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I want to write music. I want to sit down right now at my piano and write a song that people will listen to and remember and do the same thing every morning...for the rest of my life. - Jonathan Larson. Tick, Tick...BOOM!

#16

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 2:43pm

you guys are great. I suppose it just depends on the director's vision for his individual production.
I personally think it's Cliff, although the Emcee is the singing and Dancing character in a MUSICAL, Cliff does the acting and interacting.
It's a comfusing convention. I wish we could ask Masteroff who he thinks is the leading man. I know on the 1998 revival, Masteroff was quoted saying in the revival they went ahead and made Cliff homosexual, because in the 1966 version "the leading man couldn't be homosexual but today it doesn't matter."

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"Jaime's convienced that the problems are mine. Jaime is probably doing just fine. And I'm still hurting."

#17

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 2:57pm

I'll go with it's Cliff's story. Yes, Sally's the lead female, but you see Cliff pre-Sally and post-Sally. It's his story. The Emcee is the narrator, which is very different from being the lead character - just like Mark, in RENT, is the narrator, but it's Roger and Mimi's story.

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JOHN LITHGOW I just realized, your last name is Butz! Both "Norbert" AND "Butz" are in your name! You must have gotten picked on a lot as a child!

#18

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:14pm

Chrys, that "downfall" and track marks are only from the Mendes production. Are we talking about that or the original production/film?

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Have I ever shown you my Shattered Dreams box? It's in my Disappointment Closet. - Marge Simpson

#19

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:15pm

I think this entire discussion is dependent on which production we're talking about.

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A work of art is an invitation to love.

#20

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:19pm

I was definately talking about the 98' revival, entirely. I just re-read the original post. Whoops. My apologies.

I can't comment about the film.

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"What a mystery this world. One day you love them and the next day you want to kill them a thousand times over." The Masked Bandit in THE FALL

#21

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:21pm

No it's fine. I was just curious as to what people thought. I guess it really depends on the production.

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"Jaime's convienced that the problems are mine. Jaime is probably doing just fine. And I'm still hurting."

#22

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:26pm

Well, yeah. Even though a lot of us are saying it's the Emcee, that wasn't always even possibly the case. He's changed so much between productions.

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A work of art is an invitation to love.

#23

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 5:17pm

I view this in the same way as THE GLASS MENAGERIE (yes, I know I've been posting a lot about that play recently -- it's been on the mind). The character Tom may be the narrator, but I don't necessarily see him as the central figure. It's Amanda who dominates THE GLASS MENAGERIE.

Similarly, Cliff has little purpose in CABARET other than to introduce the audience to the world of 1930s Berlin; he is the audience's stand-in as observer. However, it's the Emcee who controls the stage and is the overriding, omniscient presence of CABARET.

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BlueWizard's blog: The Rambling Corner HEDWIG: "The road is my home. In reflecting upon the people whom I have come upon in my travels, I cannot help but think of the people who have come upon me."

#24

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 5:44pm

Blue said what I was going to say.

I believe that for the majority of people watching Cabaret *especially the first time) they do not know what they are getting themselves into. Niether does Cliff. People say how it is the Emcee's story and I have to say that I don't believe this. We are wathcing what happened through Cliff's eyes, with the Emcee as the "big brother" like eyes the Nazis were, always watching.

That said I think it depends on the production, the director, and the actors.

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David walked into the valley With a stone clutched in his hand He was only a boy But he knew someone must take a stand There will always be a valley Always mountains one must scale There will always be perilous waters Which someone must sail -Into the Fire Scarlet Pimpernel

#25

re: Cabaret - Emcee or Cliff?

Posted: 2/25/05 at 5:47pm

I sort of saw Cliff as a puppet sort of character. His purpose, like BlueWizard said, is to show the audience something. I don't think that necessarily makes him the central character. Sally is sort of the same way, though if we were going to pick a role other than Emcee to be the central one, I might sooner choose her. Cliff is very symbolic, but she has more substance.

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A work of art is an invitation to love.