"I Don't Care Much" from CABARET- Page 2

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 4/4/06 at 12:33am

Another tangent... I find that these discussions regarding specific songs in productions are far more fruitful than most of the threads on this forum. Would it be a good idea to regularly discuss songs in this manner on the forum?

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 4/4/06 at 12:34am

Yes. But then it turns into "What does No Good Dead really mean?"

/tangent

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 4/4/06 at 12:37am

Yea... not really... if you think it's all fun and games until he says she wouldn't look Jewish at all... then you've got some serious Fascist issues... he's creepy and vulgar and alienating from pretty much the start... who is really a fan of his after the really in your face nastiness of Two Ladies? And the bit with Tomorrow Belongs To Me? And the ferocity of The Money Song? He's half naked, tatooed, and BRUISED... obviously there is something not right with this dude pretty much from the get go.

kmc

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 4/4/06 at 12:38am

True, but at the same time we laugh AT him. He is creepy - yes. Even scary at times. But we laugh AT him.

Then, when he says that line, at least for me, we realize we were not laughing AT him, we had been laughing WITH him.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/4/06 at 12:39am

Yes, he's creepy and vulgar, but isn't there something also kind of enticing about him, too?

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 4/4/06 at 12:41am

Enticing, yea. That's TOTALLY the point. But, I'm just saying the auidience should have their doubts about the dude pretty early on in the game... I mean... the Jewish line does not really come as much of a shock in the Mendes production.... it's just sort of the next step.

kmc

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 4/4/06 at 12:41am

To clarify - I don't mean "At" as in "haha, moron."
I mean that we laugh at what he is doing.
We laugh at his vulgarity.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 4/4/06 at 12:46am

KJ - yes, the line is sort of expected.

BUT, by that time the audience is laughing and he says it so abruptly and then dances off as if nothing happened.

Hell, there IS a reason the line was changed to, "She isn't a meeskite at all" in the original...

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/4/06 at 12:47am

Hm. I didn't find the Jewish stuff the predictable "next step" at all. I was shocked.

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 4/4/06 at 12:51am

Yea... but in the original... it WAS shocking. The vulgarity was entandre and almost aristocratic. It was subtly evil, slyly seductive. In the original production... that IS the turning point... it's when the Emcee really shows his cards... and at the end of the first act... up until then the auidience is sorta on the fence I think... and the Emcee in the original doesn't really lose control... doesn't have much vulnerability... which makes that element more intense and scary. If there is a weakness of the Mendes production I think it's that it plays it's cards to early...the auidience knows where it stands pretty much from the minute the Emcee strips.

kmc

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/4/06 at 12:53am

Maybe it's got to do with familiarity. My first exposure to Cabaret was the first time I saw the Mendes production.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 4/4/06 at 12:56am

I don't think so.

The Emcee is always vulgar, creepy throughout Mendes' production. He's even sinister.

But we never expect him to say that line.
Remember, Schultz and Schneider just split up because Schultz is Jewish.

The Emcee is the Master of Ceremonies - he's supposed to be running everything - not really taking sides. By saying this line, "she wouldn't look Jewish at all" he almost separates himself (and thus the production) from Schultz, the Jew.

Remember, he danced around with Schultz during "It Couldn't Please Me More" (he also revealed a swasticka on his tuchas at the end of Act One). He was never on one side or the other.

Of course we later find out that he isn't necessarily against Schultz...but the Emcee is a rather amorphous shape, changing with the times until the times leave him behind. I think that is what happens between "If You Could See Her" and "I Don't Care Much."

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 4/4/06 at 1:03am

Hey... this is a pretty fantastic discussion... but... your argument is sorta an "amorphous shape"...

"KJ - yes, the line is sort of expected."

and then...

"But we never expect him to say that line"

I'm not trying to show you up... just trying to pin down where you stand.

Also, I don't think he is taking sides with the Jewish line... just appealing to the times... In the Mendes production it seems like the Emcee (like a lot of other characters) doesn't really consider the Nazis much of a threat... so... I think it has less to do with him being anti-semetic and more to do with him reflecting the times... which is kinda what the Emcee does during the whole production.

kmc

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 4/4/06 at 1:05am

I'm just tired.
The tone of the line IS expected....
The actual words are not.

If that makes sense? My brain is slowly shutting down for the night.

"more to do with him reflecting the times"

That's sort of what I mean. He is changing based on the times - maybe what will get him ahead...?

He isn't anti-semetic, nor is he a Nazi. He just changes sides to suit his needs. In the end, neither side wants him...or, rather, he doesn't take a side.

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 4/4/06 at 1:16am

I couldn't find the interview where Fred Ebb shared the anecdote about writing the song but I did find an article that supports the fact the song was not written for the show given it was recorded by Streisand in 1963, Cabaret didn't open till 1966.

"Kander and Ebb's first hit was the song "My Coloring Book," introduced by Kaye Ballard, made popular by Sandy Stewart on THE PERRY COMO SHOW and recorded by Barbra Streisand. Streisand introduced Kander and Ebb's "I Don't Care Much" in 1963."
PBS Article

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 4/4/06 at 1:27am

Totally correct! It appeared on the second Barbra Streisand Album... which came out in 1963... and I don't think they knew anything about Cabaret until at least 1965... which was about when Flora: the Red Menace happened... so... totally! Thanks!

kmc