Cabaret - the song (possible spoiler?)

[TheatreGrl]

Posted: 10/23/05 at 9:30pm

Ok, so call me naive or dumb, but can anyone explain how, in this song, how Sally decides to have an abortion? I still dont understand that.

Thank you
Updated On: 10/23/05 at 09:30 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/23/05 at 9:31pm

Do you mean how she decides to have the abortion, or how the song shows it? Or do you mean like... that she decides simply within the course of the song and you're looking for the specific moment of decision?

[TheatreGrl]

Posted: 10/23/05 at 9:32pm

Emcee, I dont understand how in the course of the song, she decides to have an abortion.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/23/05 at 9:34pm

I think the question is if she simply decides it then and there... which I'm not really sure I think she does. Shortly before the title song, she and Cliff have a fight -- she's afraid the baby may not even be Cliff's, but rather that it's Max's. That's certainly not the only reason, but it's the one on the top of my head right now.

[TheatreGrl]

Posted: 10/23/05 at 9:40pm

I understand she fought with Cliff, but i've read elsewhere (without actual explanation) that Cabaret (the song) is the distinct moment in which she decides to abort the baby. I assumed it would be during the part where she sings "...happiest corpse..." simply because her emotion changes so drastically but i still dont understand exactly. Thanks for your input emcee.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/23/05 at 9:45pm

I just put the song on right now.

What I'm coming up with is that she's singing about how "life is a Cabaret," and we should cover up the bad stuff, hoping to overlook it and instead see a big party.

You could be very right about the drastic change in emotion -- which seems to happen after she talks about Elsie (who the "happiest corpse" line is in reference to), because Elsie is the one who gives said advice. Maybe the change in emotion is because Sally realizes that things are not this way; it's not so simple. And even though she realizes that life is not in fact a Cabaret, she must still sing this song about how it's so.

Just my two cents. To tell you the truth, I've never really thought about it. One of those things that's very open to interpretion, I think.

Updated On: 10/23/05 at 09:45 PM

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 10/23/05 at 9:51pm

Natasha Richardson is sexy.

And her voice is, too.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/23/05 at 9:52pm

That she is.

[ElphabaRose]

Posted: 10/23/05 at 10:00pm

The way my director put it when I did the show is over the course of the song, Sally is seeing herself in her own personal type of hell. Sally is seeing her life tumbling down around her and she sees responsabilities and being tied down as really scary. The pivotal moment of the song is during the "Elsie" portion. She seems to feel that the only way for her to go on is to have an abortion and to go back to her life of frivolty, booze, no responsabilities, and fun. The abortion isn't actuall what she decides on (in the song), it is just necessary means to an end.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 10/23/05 at 10:10pm

Kander & Ebb have indeed said before that Sally decides to abort the baby during this song, I mean this song is sort of "Sally's Turn," one of those flawless nervous breakdown musical theatre numbers. Yes, John Kander said in an interview that in the Elsie portion, Sally sort of realizes what is going on, and that she is not ready to give up her dream of being an actress, that she does not want to take responsibilities, and that she needs to live a life of celebration, sort of a Hedonistic philosophy. That's why at the end she says, "Start by admitting from cradle to tomb, it isn't that long a stay," this shows the carpe diem theme of the song. I think it's sort of the director's choice whether it is implied that she decides to get the abortion during this number.

[LostLeander]

Posted: 10/23/05 at 11:03pm

In the revival, I was positive she had the abortion before the song, as she walks in, a bit unbalanced, unprepared, and it takes her a bit to get into the song.

So this song is an affirmation of her decision.
I beleive the same is portrayed in the movie.

Brilliant song either way though.

[theatreguy]

Posted: 10/23/05 at 11:10pm

Yeah, I always thought that she had just had the abortion right before she got to the club to sing. Then as she sings the song she is convincing herself that what she did was right. Or something like that. But since there's nothing specific in the script, it's open to interpretation.

[PJ]

Posted: 10/23/05 at 11:35pm

I think when Sally has the abortion is all up to the actor's interpretation. I know Gina Gershon performed the number as if she had the abortion prior to going to the club. Some actor's play the following scene, the goodbye scene, as the key indicator that she had just had the abortion.

[Footlooser]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 12:37am

I'v e always look at it as the song is where she realizes that she had made up her mind already. "I made my mind up back in chealsea" she had promised herself long before that she wasn't gonna be held back.