https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/CABARET-to-Return-to-the-West-End-Eddie-Redmayne-and-Jessie-Buckley-in-Talks-to-Star-20210506
A play-by-play recap of me reading this news:
Jessie Buckley as Sally Bowles?? Hell yeah!!! Oh...with Eddie Redmayne...hmm...well I dont like Eddie Redmayne, but at least Cliff is a pretty good role for him...oh crap hes playing the Emcee...UGH
Certainly unexpected casting. Redmayne is much more of a Cliff than an Emcee, but he could still do the role justice. I’m also not his biggest fan, mainly because his Oscar bait film robbed Michael Keaton of a win, but I do think he’s a very talented actor anyway.
Jessie Buckley should also be good, though I kind of prefer casting Sally with non singers. But she can definitely act it, so I’m fine with that.
I can’t wait for November!!!
Jessie Buckley. WOWWWW.
Both brilliant artists, Eddie can transform into anyone. Jealous of anyone going!
Sutton Ross said: "Both brilliant artists, Eddie can transform into anyone. Jealous of anyone going!"
Agreed. I really am seriously thinking of a trip to London for a week in Nov or Dec.
Sutton Ross said: "Both brilliant artists, Eddie can transform into anyone. Jealous of anyone going!"
Agreed. I really am seriously thinking of a trip to London for a week in Nov or Dec.
I’ve been thinking this for years…there’s really no use for a West End chat board on this site.
I wonder what direction they'd take this? After the Mendes production it's tough to imagine it any other way.
RippedMan said: "I wonder what direction they'd take this? After the Mendes production it's tough to imagine it any other way."
Even though I’m certain Redmayne’s gonna do it this way, I wish that a major production would use the Joel Grey esque Emcee rather than the Alan Cumming one. Both are equally brilliant, but the latter feels too overexposed, with nearly every version I see going that route.
I also hope he has an entirely different take on the role. I can’t imagine what that would be but I still hope. Lol
I am not getting where all this Eddie hate is coming from but ok.
Did I miss the name of a producer and director somewhere?
I can't imagine these two would want to do a copy cat.
I think I’m the only person in the thread who has expressed a general dislike for Eddie Redmayne, unless you count NameGreg saying that he’d be better as Cliff, and Keaton should’ve won the Oscar (both statements I agree with)
I disagree with Sutton Ross saying that he can transform into anyone - I think all his performances are basically the same, but that’s not why I dislike him. Many of my favorite actors essentially rely on the same mannerisms and idiosyncrasies (Mark Rylance is a big example of this). It just so happens that I find Redmayne’s mannerism and idiosyncrasies annoying. Not to mention that I can barely understand a word he mumbles.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/19
I can see him doing it just fine. Can he sing? Wasn’t there a Cabaret awhile back in the West End that took a diff route? And didn’t do well?
SouthernCakes said: "Can he sing?”
He got his big break as Marius in the Les Mis movie, and he was definitely among the better singers in that cast
He can do everything. He is an Oscar winner for a reason. Brilliant, once in a generation actor.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/19
Totally forgot about Les Miz! I think he would do fine. He seems the type to me. Just feel like we will get a tired out Mendez version .
It's a new production, Baz said it. But no director has been announced
Broadway Star Joined: 1/29/16
I don't know how well it did, but there was a 2006 revival that was different from the Mendes. Though it clearly used it as the jumping off point. New set, new blocking, new costume designs, but different song orders and different arrangements. I don't know much else, but there was nudity. Then the 2012 revival in London was mounted by the same creative team as the 2006 one, but was apparently a wholly different production (designs, direction, etc); I also don't know how well this one did.
I remember reading in reviews that the 2006 revival pushed the show to it's darkest and most sexual boundary yet, and that the 2012 toned back the sexual stuff (I think the emcee costume went more Joel Grey than Alan Cumming) but kept it very dark.
The 2012 is probably the most original production the West End or Broadway has seen since the Mendes.
Broadway Star Joined: 1/29/16
And sorry, I forgot to mention... I just moved to the UK and am beyond excited by this news! No way on earth am I missing this!
This sounds like it is going to be INCREDIBLE. I'm definitely jealous of the exciting new offerings the West End is getting... meanwhile on Broadway we just have a Waitress remount...
Well, I kind of don't want to get my hopes up in case it doesn't actually happen - but it does sound exciting. I hope there is a great director who can take the production somewhere new and can help Eddie find a new interpretation of the character. I think it could work - to me he has the right look and style to come across as charming and sexy but with that kind of creepy, dark subtext that something is not quite right about what is happening on stage.
I also think it would be quite an interesting show to see during a pandemic. "LIFE IS DISAPPOINTING? Forget it! We have no troubles here. Here, life is BeaUUUUUTIFUL...."
There's already been at least one West End revival of CABARET since the Mendes/Marshall revival played Bway. Most new productions still live somewhere in its shadow, though, much like productions before it lived in the shadow of Prince's original.
I found it curious, too, the article didn't mention a director. Hope it happens. And I agree, the West End sometimes feels more like the Bway of many decades past, where tours and new productions come in more frequently, since the cost is roughly half of what it is to produce on Bway.
Understudy Joined: 7/18/19
This is great news! This must be one of Jessie Buckley's first returns to theatre after making a name for herself outside it. I assumed Eddie Redmayne would be playing Cliff, but I guess we'll see how he does as Emcee...
The 2006 revival was critically acclaimed and successful enough to run for two years. As far as I remember, the 2012 revival was only the touring version of the 2006 production, scaled and toned down. (Yes, there was a fair amount of nudity in 2006. Which I did not know before I saw it aged 14, sitting next to my dad. One of Fraulein Kost's 'cousins' ran onstage naked.)
So it's been more like 15 years since London saw a new take on Cabaret.
I didn't understand the restructuring of the 2006 revival. The album sounds like a few of the songs are just accidentally out of order. Maybe it worked in the show but I struggle to understand how it worked without getting to see it. Was it the 2006 production that ended with everyone stripping?
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