Cabaret-- a Discussion — Page 3

Hey... this is the first time I've ever said anything here, but I wanted to contribute. I have not seen Cabaret, but am currently working on a production that is going into rehearsals soon. From this perspective, I see the Emcee as more of, as I believe someone said earlier, a commentator, but it somehow had not occured to me to look at him as an instigator. That will be interesting to keep an eye out for during rehearsals. Sorry if this pulled the thread a bit off-topic (threadjacking, I believe the term is?), but I love finding these real discussions on theatre and thought I'd pat you all on the back for creating one!

Oh, I saw the show an ridiculous number of times, and don't regret any of them.

My Emcees: Matt McGrath (11), Raul Esparza (12), John Stamos (4), Neil Patrick Harris (4), Jon Secada (4), Adam Pascal (7), Vance Avery (u/s, 2), Derek Isetti (u/s, 1), and Jon Peterson at Bryant Park.

My Sallys: Lea Thompson (1), Gina Gershon (2), Kate Shindle (1), Brooke Shields ( 8 ), Molly Ringwald (11), Jane Leeves (3), Heather Laws (5 + Bryant Park), Deborah Gibson (2), Melina Kanakaredes (2), Susan Egan (5), Milena Govich (u/s, 1), Katrina Yaukey (u/s, 3), and Lori Eurie (u/s, 1).

Favorites: Matt, Raul, Susan, Heather.
Couldn't stand: Jon, John, Molly, Jane.

Updated On: 7/27/05 at 08:02 PM

My community is doing Cabaret too! It opens in September. I tried to audition, but when I called they had already done them

Lucky. :)

Emcee4ever, here's a website with some of the pictures.
http://www.pbase.com/steveg003/cabaret

I was in the show as a "Patron"...basically, we were filling the stage in all of the KitKat Club scenes since our stage was too big. We were also in some of the bigger numbers like Wilkomen, the Party Scene, and the Finale.

We had the 1967 script with an add in for three songs (Money, I Don't Care Much, and one other which I'm blanking on). We also added in Mein Heir at the beginning of act 2. Since it was at a high school, we had played up the war more. For example, during Money, we had a beating in the Club. Only a few patrons noticed and the KitKat Girls kept dancing through the entire thing without looking disturbed. We used the original finale but we staged it so that the very end was the same as the ending of the recent revival, with the Emcee alone center stage wearing a concentration camp uniform with a Jewish Star and pink triangle.

A cool tidbit...Andrea McArdle and her daughter Alexis did the makeup and lent us a few of the costumes from when Andrea did the show in Japan. Sally wore the corset that was used on Broadway in Mein Heir and the green nail polish was the color specially mixed for the production.

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Updated On: 7/27/05 at 10:14 PM

Brilliant show.

Sally Bowles- silly and naive or worldly? And why do you think she really got rid of the baby?

I think she's naive too, no matter how many men she's slept with. But I would not say that the entire club symbolizes the people who didn't realize what was happening- Fraulein Scheider seems to know what's going on, to a degree, even though she thinks she's too old to fight it and that it's really not worth the effort. I suppose in some way she does try, though- she at least knows better than to marry Schultz because he is Jewish and a target.

I think the baby might just be another of Sally's flighty decisions. Here today, gone tomorrow. She's trying to be the experienced and apathetic woman.

But there were people outside the club who let it all slide too- Fraulein Kost, unless I'm mistaken? I see the club as a demonstration of the things the Nazis were against- alternative lifestyles in Two Ladies, independence in Don't Tell Mama, different-religion relationships in If You Could See Her, ect.

The club also makes a point about the seductiveness of things like the Nazis' policy that look pretty- so easy to get sucked in, but it's dirty underneath the glitter.

Updated On: 7/27/05 at 11:31 PM

The thing I like about Cabaret is that by watching it we become part of it (and trapped in it).

I love the audience interaction too. ("You know what I love most in men? ME!")

You'll see it - regional productions pop up all over the place. And I'm sure another revival can't be all that far off. Or, at least I hope not.

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Best thing to me was Cumming's butt cheek exposed with the blue swastika painted on it. That said it all.

Wasn't that the first act close?

Exactly, 4ever. It's always relevant.