Cabaret ending..- Page 3

[Emcee4ever]

Posted: 7/27/05 at 2:50pm

What?? No Green Nail Polish?? :O

Oh well. ^_^;;

Our high school may be doing a production of Cabaret. I hope I get to be the emcee. But I'm female, so the Two Ladies number will probably be (if I or a girl gets the part) the Emcee and two men in drag. :p
Updated On: 7/27/05 at 02:50 PM

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 7/27/05 at 3:32pm

The "real" Sally Bowles did NOT die in a concentration camp. Her real name was Jean Ross and Isherwood got the name Sally Bowles form the American Paul Bowles.

Here is some more detailed info I pulled up.


The truth is that "Sally Bowles" subsequently left Germany and moved back to England where she died in 1973, of natural causes. Her real name was Jean Ross. And she really was a lousy singer and actress. Apparently Ross was not very pleased with the transformation into Sally Bowles. And why would she be? It's not a flattering portrait. At the same time, a certain constituency seems to regard her as a passionate, mischievous, spirited lass, whose only fault was that she loved too well, and often. By most accounts, Jean Ross' life after Berlin was not very eventful.

Christopher Isherwood lived in Berlin between 1930 and 1933. He wrote, of course, but paid the bills with English lessons. It was here that he met Jean Ross and the other persons who inspired the character sketches of "I am a Camera". Isherwood later moved to the United States and taught English and wrote screenplays in California. "I am a Camera" was not a great success until the dramatization by John Van Druten made it's mark in the 1950's. In this version, as in the later movie, Cliff Bradshaw's homosexuality was downplayed.

Christopher Isherwood came to Berlin in 1929 and left when Hitler came to power in 1933. In 1930 Isherwood moved to Nollendorfstrasse, where he met an English girl named Jean Ross, who became the model for Sally Bowles.
“In the Weimar Berlin of the 1920s and early 1930s, Nollendorfplatz was the centre of the city’s large gay and lesbian community. Even by today’s standards, Berlin’s gay scene of those days was prodigious: there were around forty gay bars on and near this square alone, and gay life in the city was open, fashionable and well organized, with its own newspapers, community associations and art" (Holland 2001: 147).

The territory and timing of Isherwood’s and Jean Ross’ life were exactly the same as that of his famous characters’, Cliff Bradshaw and Sally Bowles. The strong connection between him and the main male character of “Cabaret” can be easily demonstrated by the fact that Isherwood gave him the last name “Bradshaw”, which was in fact his own second Christian name. Like Cliff, Isherwood came to the Weimar’s Berlin, lived in Nollendorfplatz, frequented seedy Berlin night clubs and cabarets, was acquainted with a cabaret singer, was a homosexual and eventually went to the USA.


A book inscribed to "Jean Ross", from Christopher Isherwood hisself, was recently offered for auction at $12,500 by James S. Jaffe Rare Books.



*Here are a few more interesting tid bits off the top of my head. Kander and Ebb wrote Sally for Liza. She was called back time and time again but Prince just didn't see her as playing British convincingly so she lost the part to real life Brit Jill Haworth. Oddly enough when Mr. Fosse asked Liza to play Sally in the film he changed her to an American and Brian(Cliff) to a Brit.
Liza also came up with her signature hair cut on her own by taking tons of pictured from the era to her hairdresser. Gwen and Bob went to meat Liza at her apartment (she lived just down the hall form Bob if I recall correctly) and opened the door to see Liza looking completely different.
Gwen went with Bob as his assistant on CABARET. Gwen found many vintage pieces that were used in the film including the gorilla head. Gwen also consulted on make-up. She taught the Kit Kat Girls (did you know that only two were American?) that if you melt a crayon in a spoon and dip the end of your false lashes into them then little beads will form at the end giving that signature 30's lash that was all the rage.

I also find it kinda interesting that so many of you found the show to be confusing. Maybe it's because the first movie I can recall seeing was CABARET. My mother played the record constantly. She is a huge Fosse fan. I actually have that record framed and on my dining room wall.

[Taryn]

Posted: 7/27/05 at 3:33pm

I'm always surprised out at the thought of high schools doing Cabaret. It's such an intensely dark, adult show.

My one visit to the '98 revival of Cabaret (with NPH as the Emcee and Deborah Gibson as Sally) is my most treasured theatrical memory so far. I can still remember seeing the wall go up and the horrible whiteness and my breath just catching in my throat.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/27/05 at 3:38pm

Thanks for all of that, WonderBoy. I re-read this thread a bit ago, and I still can't figure where I saw that she was killed, though I guess it's not true - only thing I can think of is that the character is really a bit of a conglomerate, which makes a bit of sense, I think.

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 7/27/05 at 3:40pm

No sweat luvtheEmcee. Actually, one of the websites I got info from said that they had heard that the "real" Sally Bowles had died in a concentration camp too and that is what got them doing research on her.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/27/05 at 3:47pm

Could've been it; I was just doing some aimless Googling when I saw that.

[Emcee4ever]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 1:02pm

I read about this one production where the Emcee was wearing the concentration camp uniform. It was very dramatic, and then somebody said, "Why is he wearing pajamas!?"

I almost died laughing.