Cabaret: How Many Versions?

Posted: 11/12/09 at 11:53pm

Besides perhaps Show Boat, Cabaret seems to be the one major musical with the most different versions of its libretto and score used professionally.

Does anyone know just how many different versions there are (ignoring the movie)? Off the top of my head I know the '67 original, the '87 revival (which made, I believe, Cliff more or less gay, had a couple of different songs--I Don't Care Much and Don't Go--but otherwise was more or less a recreation of the 1976) and the 90s version first with Sam Mendes and then the Mendes/Marshall Broadway version. But I know London just had a slightly different one too.

Which versions are available for performance? Did Masteroff do all of the script revisions or someone else? You'd probably need a chart to keep track of what was performed in which production where...

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 11/13/09 at 12:05am

To the best of my knowledge:
1967, 1987 and 1997 are all available to be performed. The current London tour uses a totally seperate song stack (I can't find my info on it, at the moment).

Here's my analysis of the songs (Please note this is from a few years ago, and some of my thoughts may have changed)


Note: The score has changed many times from 1966 to today, so I will try and comment on everything I can. An * denotes a song only in the original production, a ^ denotes a song cut from the film. Like most Kander and Ebb scores, there are recordings of cut material, and where I feel it important I will discuss it.

Wilkommen

This song is probably one of the most memorable and most over-used opening number. It introduces us to the Kit Kat Club, to the strange, ephemeral Emcee and to the overall tone of the show. The song has since been lengthened from the original production, from 5 minutes to almost 8.

Don't Tell Mama ^

This is the song that introduces us to Sally Bowles. This is also the first song that while not directly part of the action (i.e. it doesn't grow out of the moment), it does give us insight into Sally. The song, in which she details why her mother can't know that she works in a cabaret, is classic Sally. She doesn't care that anyone else knows, because they won't try to stop her. As long as someone won't call her out on something, or damage her thinking, she doesn't care what happens.

The Telephone Song ^

This song is only in the first two Broadway productions. It has since been cut, and probably won't be re-instated. The song is ok, it doesn't offer much in plot advancement, and it makes the Kit Kat Club seems a little too...rich, IMO.

Mein Herr

This song was written for the film. In effect it serves the same purpose as "Don't Tell Mama." It explains Sally, and it tells us that she is fickle. It is foreshadowing for the end of the play. It was added to the 1998 Revival.

Perfectly Marvelous ^/Two Ladies

This set of songs go hand in hand. In "Perfectly Marvelous," Sally worms her way into Cliff's life. The song was cut from the film, because in the film Sally lives across the hall from Cliff, whereas in the stage version she comes to Cliff needing a place to stay. She convinces him in this song to let her live with him, and if people ask they are just two friends. This makes more sense in the original production, where Cliff is solely heterosexual, but if Berlin is decadent enough that Bobby will confront Cliff and tell him that no one cares, then he shouldn't need to lie to people. However, one could also argue that in that case, why would Sally be impregnated by him later...

"Two Ladies" on the other hand, is the Emcee's take on the concept. This comical number helps peel away at the onion that is Berlin. We see that it is, to an extent, a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah. It also gives us a view of how off-kilter the world of Berlin is. In the 30s, most of the world was re-entering a state of prude-ishness (New word! New word!), yet Berlin doesn't. However, the world of Berlin is about to take a seriously dark tone, and this is the last time we get a "comic" song without a darker meaning behind it.

Maybe This Time

This song, added to the movie and the 1998 Revival, gives us an interesting look at Sally. It gives us her need for something stable. Sally has told Cliff of her pregnancy and he decides to stay. Something that probably hasn't happened with any of Sally's other beaus.

Why Should I Wake Up? ^/Don't Go

"Why Should I Wake Up" gives us a look at Cliff, as he gives into Sally's influence. Similar to how Gooch gives into Mame's lifestyle, Cliff becomes heedless and careless. A mistake that will be corrected in Act II.

"Don't Go" was written for the 1987 Revival, and hasn't been seen since. Replacing "Why Should I Wake Up?," Cliff sings this to Sally encouraging her to stay with him. While it's a lovely song by itself, I think it really destroys Cliff's "Berlin is a Dream" motif.

It Couldn't Please Me More aka The Pineapple Song ^

This song introduces us to a fabulous sub-plot. In it, Herr Schultz (a Jewish fruit vendor) and Fraülien Schneider (A widowed former socialite who is now the landlord to Cliff) share a tender moment when he brings her a pineapple. It's a cute love song, that is probably the only of it's kind to use the phrase "it would give me gas" (Followed, in some productions, by a lovely sound from a tuba)

Meeskite ^

This song has only been used twice, in the original and the 1986 London Revivals. It's a comic song that stops the flow of the action.

Tomorrow Belongs to Me (Reprise)

This haunting end to Act I marks the shows decidedly dark turn. The Nazi's are really taking over, and things are not going to get better for a while.

It'll All Blow Over (CUT)

This song is included on the remastered Original Broadway Cast Recording. I personally like the song. It takes place after Ernst Ludwig and Fraülein Kost storm out of the Engagement Party. Sally sings it to liven things up, and to convince Cliff (Who is worried about the growing strength of the Nazi Party) and Fraülein Schneider (Who is worried about marying a Jew) that things will be better, that it's just a phase. Reluctantly Schneider and Cliff join in. It gives us another look at Sally's habit of being oblivious to things. It doesn't directly effect or affect her, so why should it matter?

Married (Reprise)

One rule in musical theatre, when you reprise a song, it's meaning must change. In Act I, it's a nice, slow love duet for Shultz/Schneider. In Act II, its Shultz trying desperately to get Schneider to stay.

If You Could See Her

In one of the more memorable songs in the show, the Emcee dances with a gorilla. The song pokes fun at how he loves her and people laugh. The audience thinks it's just a joke because he loves a gorilla, until the very last line when he whispers as an aside "But if they could see her through my eyes...she wouldn't look Jewish at all." This is that last comedic song in the show. Interestingly, this is the last song in the film until "Cabaret."


What Would You Do? ^

This tragic song ends our storyline for Shultz and Schneider. It brings up an interesting point. In it, Schneider tells Cliff she is too old to pack and leave, or to try and fight it.

I Don't Care Much ^

This song has an interesting history. It was originally written to be sung by a prostitute. After a few preview performances it was cut. It was then to be used in the film, but was later cut. The 1987 Broadway Revival brought it back. In the 1987 revival it is intercut between Cliff and Sally's arguement. In the 1998 Revival it is used as a solo after the argument. It's a pretty powerful song, although I'm not sure it adds/takes away from the story. It works fine without it. The 1987 made it more powerful by intercutting it, so that it was more of a commentary, whereas after it, it feels like it's just an excuse for the actor playing the Emcee to wear a dress.

Cabaret

The title song. In the show it marks Sally's decision to leave Cliff. She starts out onstage in the real world, and as the song progresses she arrives onstage at the Kit Kat Club, resolved to have an abortion. The song, which in the film became a song that shows Sally carrying on, is in fact a song of tragedy. By the completion, she's had an abortion and left Cliff emotionally.

Posted: 11/13/09 at 12:13am

I guess my main curiousity was more about what changes to the libretto, not songs, but thanks for that it's great to read. I'd make one argument--that while it's true one reason Perfectly Marvelous isn't in the film is that Sally lives across the hall from the male lead in the film, another major reason is the film cut all diegetic songs

[BDrischBDemented]

Posted: 11/13/09 at 2:25am

Husk, do you know in what capacity "I Don't Care Much" was to be used in the movie, like where / who was going to sing it?

[BrianS]

Posted: 11/13/09 at 2:28am

Interesting. I always saw it as Cliff was innately gay, but trying to lead a traditional life. When he gets to the decadence of Berlin, he allows moments of his true self to creep out, but is still very afraid of it. So, when Sally get's pregnant, he sees both the burden, but also the chance at "normalcy" that will be accepted back home.

And I thought they got scared when some lady complained on the first night and took the "she wouldn't look Jewish" line out. Completely de-fanging the piece. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought the '97 revival was the first time it was fully in the show.

Posted: 11/13/09 at 3:00am

Brian I think you certainly could see the pregnancy/Cliff situation that way--I agree with it.

The Broadway version indeed used the "She isn't a "meeskite" at all" line in the end, instead. The film used the Jewish line though as did the great, underated 1987 revival (which I recently had a chance to see) and I suspect maybe some previous versions had too so it wasn't a first with the Mendes version. I would be curious to know though if Masteroff wrote more "gay" material between the 87 and Mendes revisions.

Posted: 11/13/09 at 3:00am

Brian I think you certainly could see the pregnancy/Cliff situation that way--I agree with it.

The Broadway version indeed used the "She isn't a "meeskite" at all" line in the end, instead. The film used the Jewish line though as did the great, underated 1987 revival (which I recently had a chance to see) and I suspect maybe some previous versions had too so it wasn't a first with the Mendes version. I would be curious to know though if Masteroff wrote more "gay" material between the 87 and Mendes revisions.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/13/09 at 3:34am

>Besides perhaps Show Boat, Cabaret seems to be the one major musical with the most different versions of its libretto and score used professionally.<

And then in a category by itself, there's Candide. This fantastic website, linked below, details most of the countless permutations of the score through at least twelve major productions.
Guide to Candide

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/13/09 at 4:05am

Couple of notes about Cabaret...

Regarding "If You Could See Her," some theatre groups complained about "She wouldn't look Jewish at all," unfortunately missing the point of the song and thinking that Kander & Ebb were equating Jews with gorillas. So the meeskite line was substituted. But Joel Grey reportedly would quite often sneak the "Jewish" line into performance when he felt like it, particularly when he knew Walter Kerr or any major critic was in the house. It is sung as "She wouldn't look Jewish at all" on the original London cast recording, so it seems at least the song wasn't compromised overseas.

I think Kander & Ebb were quoted as having originally written "I Don't Care Much" as a party trick. Someone tossed out the title and the two of them whipped the song up in 15 minutes. Even though it didn't make it into the original Broadway production, it still made it into the Entr'acte, performed by the Kit Kat Klub band.

I'd agree that "The Telephone Song" seems somehow ancillary on record, but reportedly, it was brilliantly staged by Ron Field, providing immeasurably to the decadent mood of the show - at least by 1966 standards.

And also regarding mood, I do miss "Meeskite" when it is dropped. It gets unfairly dismissed as just specialty material crafted for Jack Gilford. What I think it does, however, is provide some uneasy viewing. The Yiddishisms of the song brand Herr Schultz as not just a German, but as a Jew. Schultz performs it at the party, not thinking anything is wrong and that he is among friends, but it "outs" him, so to speak. Jews who didn't flee Germany as Nazism spread in the 1930s never quite expected the worst was possible from the people they knew as their friends and neighbors. This is what I think "Meeskite" is accomplishing in microcosm, but it's probably too subtle to work today. Audiences watching in 1966, 20 years after the war, would probably have felt some unease as they knew what Herr Schultz unfortunately doesn't quite know at that point.

Updated On: 11/13/09 at 04:05 AM

Posted: 11/13/09 at 4:21am

Right, I forgot about Candide (my fave version I've seen live is the lesser known John Caird revision). But I guess it's different because Cabaret has all credited books to Masteroff, not different writers.

I agree with you 100% re Meeskite--was it dropped from the 80s revival? I can't remember.

I do remember when I was able to, ahem, see the 87 revival you're right--Field's staging of the Telephone Song is ingenious (as is his staging throughout--because Fosse's choreography for the film is so famous I think people forget how well received the original choreography was). That said, though, it is an occasion where it could be argued, I guess, that the dancing is a bit too elaborate for a club like this, particularly as for this song it's done by the patrons as well as the club performers.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 11/13/09 at 5:35am

Meeskite ^

This song has only been used twice, in the original and the 1986 London Revivals. It's a comic song that stops the flow of the action.

It was also in the 1968 London production.

It does NOT impede the action. In the original show this is what establishes Schultz as a Jew in Herr Ludwig's eyes. (IN the Mendes production this is accomplished by a few lines of dialogue between Ludwig and Fraulein Kost.)

It's a great song but it is long and the first act is a very long first act. Also Kander and Ebb feel that no one has ever done it as well as Jack Gilford. But if it is done well it can be effective.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/13/09 at 9:58am

I always liked the song Meeskite and I agree with what Smaxie says about it.

Also, as far as I know the 1997 version of the show isn't available to license, but since the revival book was released people just interpolate what they want into it anyway. Didn't the London revival (the one with Jane Horrocks and Alan Cumming) get busted by Kander and Ebb for a lot of the changes? I thought they were responsible for "Don't Tell Mama" being reinstated (among other things) when the Mendes version transferred.




Updated On: 11/13/09 at 09:58 AM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/13/09 at 10:08am

That would make some sense I guess. I never understood why the production needed both "Don't Tell Mama" and "Mein Herr".

Posted: 11/13/09 at 10:11am

Me neither, except that I LOVE both versions.

So does anyone know then if there was actually any major SCRIPT differences between Princes' 87 revival/semi reconstruction (where Cliff's sexuality was made more clear) and the Mendes/Marshall? The later one certainly seemed more "adult" in how it addressed the gay stuff but now I'm not sure if any of that was actually textual changes.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/13/09 at 10:14am

I'm pretty sure there were textual changes, simply because every major revival of Cabaret seems to jack around with the text.

Posted: 11/13/09 at 11:02am

Cabaret was recently done in Suburban Chicago at Drury Lane (a HUGE dinner/theater) ad it was directed by Jim Corti who understudied Grey in the '87 revival. He put together a very unusual production that discarded all the movie songs, kept Meeskite and rearranged scenes so the show opened and closed with Cliff on the train.

It was a very interesting performance- very different from any production I've seen, but quite effective. I am very glad I got to see it.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/13/09 at 11:18am

But was it LEGAL?

Posted: 11/13/09 at 11:28am

I have no idea- Drury Lane is a legit Equity House. I wondered if the director's long-time relationship with the show got him special dispensation.

[Jon]

Posted: 11/13/09 at 11:30am

Believe me, it was legal. Drury lane Oakbrook is a major operation. They don't mess around without permission.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/13/09 at 11:31am

So no one knows for sure. I don't care one way or the other. I just think it's funny the way he wring our hands our some copyright violations and not over others .

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 11/13/09 at 11:47am

Eric, I saw the 1987 CABARET when the post-Broadway tour (with Grey) played Toronto.

The text was pretty close to the 1966. It was, after all, staged by Prince. Some dialogue was added to establish that Cliff was bisexual, and "Meeskite" and "Why Should I Wake Up" were both cut. But the 1987 version was not a radical rethinking of the piece as was the Mendes production.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/13/09 at 1:01pm

For those who don't venture to the Off Topic Board, here's Judi Dench in 1968 performing "Don't Tell Mama":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5U9CehM3tQ

[Gobstopper]

Posted: 11/13/09 at 1:22pm

I think it's a shame that none of the versions that are available to community theatres and schools include "Maybe This Time." I've been getting really into Kander & Ebb shows lately and it's probably my favorite song of theirs. It's a bit disappointing that if I get to see the show, that song won't be in it.

[Perfectly Marvelous]

Posted: 11/13/09 at 1:56pm

There were probably a few changes, but it's hard to tell for sure considering I don't have the scripts in front of me. However, I'm guessing they just amped up the bisexual undertones for Cliff.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/13/09 at 2:41pm

smaxie, I was just about to mention Candide, which I believe holds the record in professionally produced revisions. Chess is also pretty high on the list.