Cabaret question

[broadway_socialite]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 3:18pm

I've never seen Cabaret, but I just heard about a production of it near where I live that wants to use a female emcee.
Could this work?
I've listejed to the cd a million times, and I guess they could make the music work but plotline wise?
Thanks

[MisterRussell]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 3:23pm

When I did Cabaret in 1982, we had a female Emcee. The only change we had to make was that in "If You Could See Him," the gender of the gorilla was (obviously) changed and the "Two Ladies" were drag queens.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 3:55pm

I think having a female in the Emcee role strips the show of masculinity. Let's face it Cliff is a girly-man and Herr Schultz has no masculinity.

[joanna2]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 5:33pm

I never really saw the Emcee as "masculine."

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 5:47pm

Eww.

That changes the whole dynamics of the script. And I don't know if you are allowed to do that, under copyright laws.

[Kringas]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 5:48pm

There doesn't even seem to be a good reason for doing it, as Cabaret is a pretty female-heavy show.

[Emcee4ever]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 6:13pm

Unless you're a girl (like me) and wanna be the Emcee (like me).

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 8:28pm

A female Emcee was done as far back as the 1970 Vienna production, presumably with the permission of the authors. There was a commercially issued recording that has also been issued on CD.

I don't think there's any need to change any lyrics. It would be perfectly fine to play the character as a Dietrich-like character, a woman in male drag "acting" a man. Of course, I don't mean literally Dietrich-like. You know what I mean.

And as far as I can tell, that's how it was done in Vienna, with a "female" gorilla.