Cabaret-- a Discussion- Page 3
Cabaret-- a Discussion
melynnee
Swing Joined: 3/25/05
#50re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 7:52pmHey... 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!
melynnee
Swing Joined: 3/25/05
#51re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 7:56pmOh, and my favorite song is probably Mein Herr, although it is being left out of our production. But I do agree that Don't Tell Mama is a terribly fun song.
cabarethed
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/03
#52re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 8:02pm
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
#53re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 8:06pmThis is one of my favorite shows ever. In fact, it ties with Piazza as my favorite. I saw Adam Pascal as the Emcee and Susan Egan as Sally Bowles and it was just amazing. My community theater's doing it for their summer show and a bunch of my friends are in it. I can't wait to see it. They're setting up little tables (like in the Studio 54 revival) and it's a small theater, so it'll work.
Emcee4ever
Leading Actor Joined: 7/27/05
#54re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 8:09pm
My community is doing Cabaret too! It opens in September. I tried to audition, but when I called they had already done them 
#55re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 8:40pmI'm playing Cliff in a production Opening September 16th. In fact I have to leave for rehearsal in ten minutes.
"You know just because you put a smiley face after it doesn't change the fact that it was an a-hole comment." ~ Sumofallthings
Emcee4ever
Leading Actor Joined: 7/27/05
Lome2
Stand-by Joined: 1/23/05
#57re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 9:19pm
I really like Cabaret. I think Emcee is one of the most complex characters in musical theater.. I see him as a reflection of the politic and social situation of Germany during that moment.
Here's the site from Cabaret Mexico... the show has run for over a year and it seems its doing quite well...
http://www.cabaretmexico.com/
#58re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 10:14pm
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.
Whatever happened to class?
Updated On: 7/27/05 at 10:14 PM
Emcee4ever
Leading Actor Joined: 7/27/05
#59re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 10:26pmGreat pictures! I like the lipstick on the gorilla. :)
insomniak
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/7/04
#60re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 11:13pm
Brilliant show.
Sally Bowles- silly and naive or worldly? And why do you think she really got rid of the baby?
#61re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 11:16pm
I think she's actually silly and naive - especially if you side with the camp that says she (and therefore the club) represents the German people, and how easily swindled they were.
It's been a long time, but she says she got rid of the baby because she didn't know whose it was, right? And she was afraid it would be Max's, and have that awful mustache of his, or something? I guess that's a cover for the truth about her relationship with Cliff, though. She probably knows just as well that he isn't in love with her, really.
insomniak
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/7/04
#62re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 11:24pm
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.
#63re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 11:25pmah, sorry. "The club" was meant to include literally the scenes that take place in the club - Kit Kat boys and girls, etc. They were played as two separate but parallel stories, almost - the love stories and the cabaret stuff.
insomniak
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/7/04
#64re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 11:31pm
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
#65re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 11:32pm
Exactly. So, I guess what I meant is that it stood for German life as a whole - before the occupation.
Every time we have this kind of discussion, I remember just how brilliant and perfect it was. sigh.
Emcee4ever
Leading Actor Joined: 7/27/05
#66re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 11:32pmThe thing I like about Cabaret is that by watching it we become part of it (and trapped in it).
#67re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 11:34pmI think that's what made it one of my favorite theatrical experiences - in that is truly was an experience, not just something you watched. I've never had anything quite like that happen to me.
Emcee4ever
Leading Actor Joined: 7/27/05
#68re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 11:36pmI love the audience interaction too. ("You know what I love most in men? ME!")
insomniak
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/7/04
#69re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 11:37pmOne of my goals in life is to see a production of this show. Just reading and listening really wasn't enough, but I got the general idea. The finale still makes me tear up on the recording. It's saying that we all caused this because we laughed at everything instead of really thinking... and the truth is, some people did. It's an echo of history.
#70re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 11:38pm
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.
insomniak
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/7/04
#71re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 11:40pm
Maybe in ten-fifteen years we'll see it back on broadway... but what can really match the most recent incarnation? I'd like to see them keep rediscovering this versatile piece, but I also love where it is now.
And I think the reason the show is so good is because the finale IS a shock. It really hits you hard that there's this beautiful fantasy life that people live while darker things brew in the backround. And if you don't pay attention, it'll be too late by the time you figure it out. Scary.
nomdeplume
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/05
#72re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 11:42pm
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?
Emcee4ever
Leading Actor Joined: 7/27/05
#73re: Cabaret-- a Discussion
Posted: 7/27/05 at 11:42pmScary because it can easily happen and is probably happening now.
insomniak
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/7/04
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