Clip of Natalie Portman as Sally Bowles

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 1/28/11 at 9:40am

From the 1995 Stagedoor Manor summer camp production of CABARET. Portman is about 14 here. She won't be playing Eva Peron anytime soon, but there are definitely some musical theatre roles she could pull off.

STAGEDOOR MANOR CABARET Updated On: 1/28/11 at 09:40 AM

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 1/28/11 at 11:02am

Thanks for posting that, MB! I'm a huge fan of Portman and it's neat to see her in this early clip. What musical theater roles do you think she could do? She always surprises me in terms of the roles she can pull off, it's going to be great to see her take the Oscar next month!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/28/11 at 11:30am

Wow--she's terrific for a 14-year-old!

[Jon]

Posted: 1/28/11 at 11:43am

She was an understudy for the original production of RUTHLESS. So was Britney Spears.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 1/28/11 at 2:24pm

I was in this production. She was 15, and had just made a big impression in "The Professional." We all felt like we had a movie star in our cast, and well, I guess we did.

[jsg03jd]

Posted: 1/28/11 at 2:28pm

She sounds like how Natasha Richardson did.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 1/28/11 at 5:22pm

Mary Lane in REEFER MADNESS

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 1/28/11 at 6:02pm

Dang!

Posted: 1/28/11 at 10:59pm

Annette Benning better win that damn Oscar next month.

[Overkill]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 1:03am

I guess I'm the only one who wasn't blown away by this. It's alright. A but disturbing to see kids so young singing this in such skimpy outfits...

[Lynnespock2]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 10:05am

While I am not all that impressed with her singing, the costumes are more than any teen might wear on the beach and appropriate for the show.

[romgitsean]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 11:25am

Aww! She's adorable. She strangely reminds me of Dominique Swain from the 1997 Lolita there for some reason. O.o

EDIT: Hmm...it seems she even turned down the role of Lolita in the '97 version! Guess I wasn't the only one who thought she was a natural born Loli.

Updated On: 1/29/11 at 11:25 AM

[vfd88]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 12:11pm

She does sound pretty good, I would love to see her in a musical. I'm just confused as to why this Cabaret seems to take place in a museum or Roman coliseum.

[Overkill]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 1:04pm

Well, I didn't really mean the costumes as much as I did the thrusting in the choreography. lol

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 1/29/11 at 9:54pm

Overkill, it was a pretty dirty production for a bunch of teenagers to be doing. My parents were so upset that they did not let me go back to Stagedoor again. I was angry with them for a long time about that, as I really loved it there.

It has been strange watching Natalie become more and more successful over the years. She's going to win an Oscar this year and I'm doing non-Equity theater in Chicago. Not that I'm jealous, lol.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 1/30/11 at 6:31am

She's OK for a kid, I'd rather see what she is capable of now. Let's hear how that singing voice has progressed, if at all.

[RyanD]

Posted: 1/30/11 at 6:16pm

She's better at gangster rap...seriously.
Natalie Portman Rap on SNL

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 1/30/11 at 6:51pm

Well she was 15 when she did this and is 29 now...so you don't know, she might be playing Eva Peron.