Cabaret is a famous American musical set against the rise of Nazism in Germany during the early 1930’s. John Kander composed the music, and Fred Ebb wrote the lyrics. Cabaret opened on Broadway in 1966 and ran for 1,165 performances.
The musical is based on John Van Druten’s play I Am a Camera (1951), which was an adaptation of short stories written by British author Christopher Isherwood. Isherwood wrote the autobiographical stories after visiting Berlin between 1930 and 1934.
Cabaret is set in Berlin. The main plot concerns a love affair between a young American writer named Clifford Bradshaw and Sally Bowles, a second-rate English cabaret singer of loose morals. A subplot involves a romance between Bradshaw’s landlady in Berlin and a Jewish fruit store owner. The action is framed by entertainment provided in a sleazy Berlin cabaret called the Kit-Kat Club. The club’s master of ceremonies weaves in and out of the musical, commenting on the narrative and symbolizing the moral corruption of the time. The Kander and Ebb score reflected the style of German cabaret music of the late 1920’s and early 1930’s.
In 1972, Cabaret was adapted into a motion picture that won eight Academy Awards. The movie omitted much of the stage version’s music and was presented as a straight drama. Joel Grey, who became a Broadway star and won a Tony Award for his performance as the master of ceremonies, repeated his role in the film. Grey won the Academy Award for best supporting actor. Bob Fosse also won an Academy Award for best director, and Liza Minnelli won the Academy Award for best actress for her performance as Sally Bowles.
In 1998, Cabaret was revived off Broadway in New York City. The new production created a sensation by emphasizing the story’s grim political and social background. The production was staged in a theater converted to resemble the Kit-Kat Club. Alan Cumming won a Tony Award for his portrayal of the master of ceremonies, and Natasha Richardson won a Tony Award for her performance as Sally Bowles in the production. In 2014, Cabaret was again revived on Broadway in a production starring Cumming, with Michelle Williams as Sally Bowles. There have also been a number of London productions of the musical.
