Life is still a 'Cabaret'
Michelle Williams and Alan Cumming head the cast in Broadway's revival of the popular muscial
“Willkommen, Bienvenue, welcome!” The fictional Kit Kat Klub, a nightclub set in 1931 Berlin, is open again as the musical Cabaret returns to Broadway, featuring actors Alan Cumming and Michelle Williams in the top roles.
The show opened on Broadway in late April for a limited-run third revival that reprises an acclaimed 1998 production by the Roundabout Theatre. The musical depicts an infamous nightclub, its scantily clad dancers and seedy staff in Berlin shortly before the Nazis took over.
Cumming, whose silver screen career has included roles in “X-Men” and the James Bond movie “GoldenEye”, is reprising his Tony-Award-winning role as the master of ceremonies (Emcee) at the Kit Kat Klub.
Williams, who recently starred in films such as “My Week with Marilyn” and “Oz the Great and Powerful”, plays the mediocre British cabaret dancer Sally Bowles, a role that had been previously performed by actresses such as Liza Minnelli and the late Natasha Richardson.
After Sally, the star of the Kit Kat Klub, gets fired, she moves in with Cliff, an aspiring novelist from the United States who has travelled to Berlin in hopes of finding inspiration for a new book.
However, with the rise of the Nazis, Sally and Cliff’s relationship fizzles. The young author decides to move back to the United States, while Sally chooses to stay in Berlin, hoping to weather the political storm.
The musical also follows the doomed love story of the middle-aged Fraulein Schneider, the owner of the boarding house where Cliff and Sally live, and Herr Schultz, a Jewish man who owns a fruit shop.
The show, which is based on a collection of short stories by author Christopher Isherwood, ushers the viewer into the bohemian and free-spirited night-life of Berlin in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
The musical’s story line is slightly different from that of the 1972 film adaptation.
The light-hearted entertainment and sexual freedom soon begin to be tainted with anti-Jewish sentiments and a disdain towards homosexuals as Hitler comes to power.
“Why can’t they leave us alone,” sings the Emcee poignantly while dancing with a gorilla dressed as a woman.
“If they could see her through my eyes, maybe they’d leave us alone.”
While much has changed since the dark era of 1930s Germany, the show’s intense portrayal of the need for tolerance and to fight against discrimination resonates with audiences today.
“Cabaret”, which runs until January 4, is being staged at Roundabout Theatre’s Studio 54, which has been transformed to resemble a pre-war nightclub.
Viewers can enjoy the musical sitting around tables and ordering drinks from a functioning bar
