Staged Right - Episode 21: Cabaret: The Musical

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  • čas přidán 15. 02. 2024
  • This episode explores the varying iterations of Christopher Isherwood's stories which have made "Cabaret" one of the most powerful and enduring musicals ever created.
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Komentáře • 227

  • @kathyastrom1315
    @kathyastrom1315 Před 3 měsíci +157

    I’ve never been fortunate enough to have seen a stage version of this, but I grew up on Fosse’s film. Liza is so iconic in the part of Sally-her vulnerability breaks your heart, even as her deliberate obliviousness to everything going on around her infuriates you. “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” just chills me to the bone, made even worse by the fact that it is a great song turned into a monstrous anthem by who sings it. I have made up entire backstories to the one elderly man in that beer garden who does NOT join in the singing.

    • @StagedRight
      @StagedRight  Před 3 měsíci +25

      Re "elderly man": I have too! Such an interesting choice to focus on that...

    • @rixx46
      @rixx46 Před 3 měsíci

      Sadly, neo-nazis in the US have adopted the song to sing without irony at their rallies

    • @bitchenboutique6953
      @bitchenboutique6953 Před 3 měsíci +8

      I was lucky to see a touring production with Joel Grey, but I was so young and swoony/overwhelmed being so near him that the depth of the play didn’t fully penetrate… years later when I watched the movie and understood it, I wanted so bad to experience the stage show again!

    • @CashelOConnolly
      @CashelOConnolly Před 3 měsíci +3

      Do try and see it live.
      It’s almost totally different from the film. If you think that Sally Bowles is heartbreaking ,(she gets on my nerves) then you’ll be an emotional wreck at seeing the main two characters (IMHO) the elderly couple being ripped apart. The stage musical doesn’t belong to the younger characters but the older ones!
      The love story between Fräulein Schneider and Herr Shultz is sweet but doomed to end in horror 😢
      It was criminal how the film moved the emphasis away from the elderly couples love story to the Ménage à trois going on between the three younger people. It took away the heart of the musical! 🎵 🎵🎵🎵BUT SO WHAT🎵🎵🎵

    • @Tentaclestudio1
      @Tentaclestudio1 Před 3 měsíci +1

      I’ve worked on a couple of professional rep theatre runs of Cabaret, every night being back stage working on the next production, with the tannoy on, so that I heard the whole show through every night. Even now, 20 years later, I know that script by heart! (And also the show Guys and Dolls) Cabaret’s a great musical, but any cast needs plenty of charisma… or the show’s a stinker, because then you don’t care what happens to them!

  • @papermoontarot4219
    @papermoontarot4219 Před 2 měsíci +44

    I saw Cabaret with Joel Grey and Lotte Lenya when I was about 12. That bit when you walk in the theater and see the audience reflected in a mirror, and then you see yourselves again when the MC says see, you forgot your troubles, you had a good time, knowing the horrible things you'd just watched was one of the most striking I've had in theater.

  • @GiantMec
    @GiantMec Před 3 měsíci +39

    While I do not consider myself a fan of musicals , I have been fortunate enough to catch a touring performance of “Cabaret “ and it truly is a remarkable piece of theatre/art. I left the performance in silence at the end. It’s sad to see the world repeating its hideous history.

  • @josephinedykstra3383
    @josephinedykstra3383 Před 3 měsíci +23

    I saw this when my university did it- ramping off the Alan Cumming version, with a queer cast. Watching a MAGA guy stand up and "Roman Salute" while shouting "Trump for President" at a haunted cirque/ burlesque in my town a few months later was surreal

    • @morganniciomhair8284
      @morganniciomhair8284 Před 13 dny

      Wow, foreshadowing?

    • @fmcgucket3076
      @fmcgucket3076 Před 2 dny

      The Crucible and Cabaret. Two shows that are always painfully relevant, but the world would be a much better place if they weren't.

  • @emmascherrer8947
    @emmascherrer8947 Před 3 měsíci +26

    Cabaret is my favorite musical ever. I was in the pit of it for my high school's production in early 2020. We did the 1993 version and did not censor anything and I know the drama teacher got quite a few angry emails but I'm so glad we (in my opinion) did it justice and respected the work. It was a great experience for me and due to both that and the excellence of the show's themes I will always love it.

  • @MK-gv1wd
    @MK-gv1wd Před 3 měsíci +35

    Cabaret is one of my favourite musicals ever. I remember going to see a local version with my cousins and we got to "if you could see her" number. Then the last line happened, my cousins both went "WTF". I don't think they had quite realized what the musical was about.
    and I ADORE the movie version. It's such a good adaptation of a musical.

  • @tall1sobay
    @tall1sobay Před 3 měsíci +32

    I saw the new production in London with Amy Lennox as Sally. The entire immersive experience , the audience/cast interactions were just brilliant. It's not just seeing a musical, it was an evening out at a club with a performance. As much as I love the movie, I prefer the darker, grittier verson. It's just an incredible experience.

  • @jhcali71
    @jhcali71 Před 3 měsíci +66

    This is one of my favorite theater productions I’ve seen live.
    I wish I could have seen Alan Cummings performances.

    • @Blaize24
      @Blaize24 Před 3 měsíci +3

      I saw him on the second go-round of that version. It was truly brilliant.

    • @matthewcole4753
      @matthewcole4753 Před 3 měsíci +4

      @@Blaize24 I saw him in High School for an after school trip, it was my first Broadway Show and remains one of my favorite Broadway productions. He was so engaging with the audience. Emma Stone was supposed to play Sally but people were upset when her understudy played her instead. I actually liked it more because the understudy was British, and even more because it really allowed Alan Cumming to shine without the celebrity part taking over (he of course is a celebrity, but it takes a back seat to his actual talent.) It felt like the right amount of gritty and in some ways felt like it really took us back in time not as much to Pre War Berlin, as Broadway in 1966, the original Broadway production. It felt like you were watching something truly monumental.

    • @Blaize24
      @Blaize24 Před 3 měsíci +4

      @@matthewcole4753 It was Michelle Williams when I saw it but was absolutely a time machine kind of experience. And Alan Cumming was, of course, simply brilliant. I love Joel Grey's Emcee, but Alan's is the one that speaks the most to me.

    • @morganniciomhair8284
      @morganniciomhair8284 Před 13 dny +2

      Alan was born to play the part!I wish I could have seen it.😊

    • @evaa-w5399
      @evaa-w5399 Před 11 dny

      Me too, Alan Cummins is so hot ❤❤❤❤

  • @stevepotfora7461
    @stevepotfora7461 Před 3 měsíci +56

    Another great documentary from you. I was in the Prince production of Cabaret on Broadway and tour with Joel Gray for three years and you listed facts even we did not know. Thank you.

  • @jaimeahumada4993
    @jaimeahumada4993 Před 3 měsíci +74

    I have seen the new West End production twice and it was FANTASTIC. I'm already set to see the Broadway production the first week it opens.

    • @Blaize24
      @Blaize24 Před 3 měsíci +2

      Hopefully it will be running when I visit home and family later this year.

    • @thomasgriffith2953
      @thomasgriffith2953 Před 16 dny +1

      Another rehash of CABARET ... 🤮

  • @finmiles965
    @finmiles965 Před 3 měsíci +31

    Very well researched and presented-I’m currently in a production of cabaret and have fallen down an absolute rabbit hole in the best of ways

  • @crimewizards
    @crimewizards Před 3 měsíci +19

    i got to work on a production of cabaret in 2018 in a theater that could fit maybe 60 people. to me, that's always going to be the definitive cabaret - tiny theater, grand piano on the stage that we could not move, no orchestra, instruments played by the actors and cobbled together from the cast's own collections. the piano became cliff's typewriter and the light booth became our backstage area. i couldnt tell you if the production was incredible or not, but im definitely not going to forget the experience nor the chills i got every time the lights went out after ludwig slammed the audience door in the finale

  • @linpollitt8950
    @linpollitt8950 Před 3 měsíci +12

    In 2012 I directed the play 'I Am A Camera'. It's a really good play and I had a wonderful cast. I read Isherwood's books and researched his life. He was a fascinating man indeed. Our production won several awards and it remains one of the plays of which I'm most proud.

  • @host_theghost507
    @host_theghost507 Před 3 měsíci +19

    This is a wonderful exploration of one of my all-time favorite musicals. It's exciting to see how modern productions continue to find new magic in Cabaret, but it's also good to reflect on what's been lost along the way. We've become so focused on celebrating the queer elegance of the Kit Kat Klub that we've forgotten it was originally an indictment of a mostly middle-class audience watching it in 1966. Kander and Ebb's "What Would You Do?" is as relevant now as it was then. Thank you also for giving Jean Ross her due. I've often suspected that "Sally Bowles" was mainly a self-portrait. In real life, it was Jean Ross who had the good sense to get out and Isherwood who was living in denial.
    By the way, let's not forget one of the best Isherwood stories about Cabaret (maybe apocryphal, but fun anyway): he was somehow dragged to see the musical and was asked if it was accurate. "Not in the least," he said. "I've never f****d a woman in my life."
    This channel deserves an audience. Thank you so much.

  • @kato3247
    @kato3247 Před 3 měsíci +6

    I was lucky enough to see the west end production in March 2023 and have not stopped thinking about it since. This is a crazy good show, literally life-changing.

  • @robertd.carver6240
    @robertd.carver6240 Před 3 měsíci +19

    Contrary to the statement made in the narrative, "Cabaret" was NOT "the first concept musical. "Lady in the Dark" (all the songs occur only in therapy sessions experienced by the titular heroine under hypnosis) and "Love Life" (following the marriage of a couple over the course of two centuries, during which neither of them age beyond their mid-to-late 20s) both shows with music by Kurt Weill, can lay claim to that distinction. One might even include another show with his music, "Street Scene." Rodgers' & Hammerstein's "Allegro" also qualifies, its plot concerning the life of a single protagonist from his birth through his early 40s. Hammerstein's original intent was to carry his hero all the way to his death, but that proved too much to handle in a single evening. Other musicals could possibly qualify, Hammerstein & Kern's "Show Boat" being one, but those three in particular are undoubtedly in the category.

    • @StagedRight
      @StagedRight  Před 3 měsíci +7

      "Often contested"... is a great way for the narrative to not engage in the hellfire of this conversation which would surely push the video into a miniseries. I had a lot of trouble digesting research that regarded "Cabaret" as the first, so I threw in 'often contested"...
      Just so you know... X

    • @treesny
      @treesny Před 3 měsíci +1

      There's also Rodgers and Hart's "Pal Joey."

  • @rixx46
    @rixx46 Před 3 měsíci +15

    Thanks for this fascinating history of such an iconic classic. I would love to have seen the various stage revivals - but I was lucky to see Joel Grey in a touring revival in the 90s.

    • @kallen868
      @kallen868 Před 3 měsíci

      Me too! Boston Colonial!❤🎉🥂

  • @Laurenteamec
    @Laurenteamec Před 3 měsíci +37

    Words cannot express how much I want to see the current West End production. I will just have to spend all my wages on it one day, I think it’s worth it.

  • @macmachine
    @macmachine Před 3 měsíci +10

    Like all great theatre, Cabaret´s themes are universal enough to be reimagined a 1000 times. yet keep fascinating each new generation. And this little documentary brilliantly explores how and why. Well done, sir.

  • @Ozymandi_as
    @Ozymandi_as Před 3 měsíci +6

    What an illuminating and entertaining investigation of the cultural phenomenon we call Cabaret. The way that it has undergone so many alterations and reinterpretations, from the original source material created by Isherwood in his stories about Weimar Berlin, is a truly fascinating story in itself, and also illustrates the way that art is continually adapting to the times in which it is made. I loved Isherwood's stories, which were in themselves adapted from reality, not least in the way he presented himself. That 'I am a camera' business was a pretence, an attempt to give his stories a journalistic, objective quality; in truth, he vigorously engaged with the opportunities that the city offered to people of 'his kind'.
    As a young gay man. the atmosphere in Britain at that time for the generation that had just missed being slaughtered in the Great War was dour and oppressive, without any possibility of sexual liberation. Berlin, on the other hand, was then probably the most sexually permissive place in the entire world, a reputation that drew Isherwood like a moth, to go there, and enjoy, at least for a period, a life of sexual hedonism, without constant fear of being exposed, stigmatized or criminalized. That didn't last, sadly, as National Socialism viewed any kind of non-traditional sexual expression as a corruption of the Aaryan ideal to which Hitler was enslaved. His gay adventures were too much for publication in the 30s, however, and had to go. He knew about the demands of censors, so it's a little odd that he was so unsympathetic to the dilemmas faced by his adapters. And it is a pity that he was so set against Cabaret in any of its incarnations, and failed to see what a powerful work of art it is. To grumble about its success, all the way to the banks is a little disingenuous.

  • @jons.105
    @jons.105 Před 3 měsíci +12

    Excellent summation. I was 8 when the movie "Cabaret" opened, and the ads on TV and in the newspaper had me transfixed! I knew it was 'naughty' and I knew I wanted to be a part of it!

  • @argusfleibeit1165
    @argusfleibeit1165 Před 3 měsíci +29

    What would I do? What ARE we doing? Not enough.

  • @PhoebeFayRuthLouise
    @PhoebeFayRuthLouise Před 3 měsíci +8

    This was a fabulous video! Thank you for all the detailed information of the various versions! I’ve only seen the movie, and the portrayal of the rise of the Nazis shakes me to my core every time I see it. The version where the emcee is in concentration camp clothes at the end really struck me as what would happen to the character irl.

  • @lomion79
    @lomion79 Před 3 měsíci +8

    There was a London revival directed by Gillian Lynne in the mid-eighties which was described as an agit-prop production. It was also the first major production to incorporate songs from the movie.
    The 2012 London production was a revival of an earlier 2006 London production which produced a tour featuring Samantha Barks as Sally and Wayne Sleep as Emcee. Sleep had played the role in the 80s revival.
    Just prior to the pandemic this production was revived for another UK tour and featured further revisions in its staging. This production integrated the music throughout and its final moment had the Kit Kat Klub ensemble appear naked as if in concentration camp showers and rather than the famous final drum roll the only sound heard was the hiss of the gas. Utterly chilling and a really powerful production.
    Hal Prince had delineated three spaces in his production: the 'real' world of the book scenes, the 'cabaret' world and the 'limbo' area. I always considered the Mendes version as set throughout in the cabaret world whilst the 2006 + London production was in a limbo world all its own which made it beautifully haunting in its own way.

  • @robertafierro5592
    @robertafierro5592 Před 3 měsíci +9

    The movie is Fabulous! Liza and Joel! What a TEAM!

  • @jarabaa
    @jarabaa Před 3 měsíci +5

    Brilliantly accurate, full and nuanced. It's a complex story, with so many (complicated, sophisticated) versions and authors along the way, representing numerous transmutations. Told and illustrated beautifully here. With tons of fascinating information about Hal Prince and Lotte Kenya! Plus the key gay/queer content finally traced honestly and clearly.

  • @judithl.morton9178
    @judithl.morton9178 Před 3 měsíci +5

    Hey, thank you. I've seen both stage production in the movie and I love them. This video brings back a lot of memories. Cabaret was the first my first adult movie I was. 14 and my mother took me because she wanted to see the movie. And I believe that she thought I would not understand what was going on on the screen. We never talked about it. I'm now 67. And she is still alive and to this day. She does not know that I knew. 😊

  • @kc-lp6wg
    @kc-lp6wg Před 3 měsíci +16

    Your research is always top notch. I always end up learning new facts from your videos about shows that are near and dear to my heart!

  • @franklinajohnson
    @franklinajohnson Před 3 měsíci +16

    This is my Roman Empire

  • @aneesejones6814
    @aneesejones6814 Před 3 měsíci +4

    My ex wife and I saw the roundabout theatre production on Broadway in the early 2,000s. It starred Gina Gershon as Sally. It was incredible.

  • @fabrisseterbrugghe8567
    @fabrisseterbrugghe8567 Před 3 měsíci +5

    My parents saw Judi Dench as Sally in London. They said it was wonderful.

  • @kathyastrom1315
    @kathyastrom1315 Před 3 měsíci +7

    I have an okay singing voice at best, but I still love to sing, especially musical theater songs. I auditioned for every musical my high school put on while I was there, but was only cast when I auditioned with “Maybe This Time.” That probably worked for me because I knew it so well, having grown up listening to the “Liza with a Z” album countless times. (It got me into the chorus for The Pajama Game. In rehearsals, the director was impressed with how low my alto voice was. Being completely untrained-I was in the band, not the choir-I was just flailing throughout rehearsals!)
    Anyway, that’s my favorite song in Cabaret!

  • @tracy4290
    @tracy4290 Před 3 měsíci +7

    In the late 1980s I was a stagehand (and "pineapple wrangler") for a version performed in a small dinner theater in mid-Florida (read: really conservative time and area; they were still kicking kids with AIDS out of schools). It had a profound effect on me and how I conceptualized right and wrong and action and inaction. Thank you for this compact and intense overview.

  • @marmeecruz6191
    @marmeecruz6191 Před 3 měsíci +10

    In 2001, I saw a Broadway reiteration of "Cabaret" with Brooke Shields as Sally. It was also held at Studio 54 staged as a night club. I was so thrilled to see Brooke Shields in person!

  • @emjay5577
    @emjay5577 Před 13 dny

    I had the opportunity to play Herr Schultz in the St. Leo College production back in 1974. We had a great cast and it was one of the highlights of my life. I was only 19 then. Now I’m older than the character was!

  • @thomasgriffith2953
    @thomasgriffith2953 Před 16 dny +1

    Can't beat the original stage version with Joel and then the movie version with Liza & Joel!!!!

  • @AstroBuoyant
    @AstroBuoyant Před 3 měsíci +6

    Excellent history of the visions, versions …
    For me, Fosse”s film version is what I know best.

  • @Rufus..Calhoun
    @Rufus..Calhoun Před měsícem +1

    i met mr isherwood once, we were taken to his lovely home in santa monica, don was there.....both such delightful creative souls.....my how time flys, but not at the kit kat klub.....

  • @CynthiaMcG
    @CynthiaMcG Před 3 měsíci +3

    In the late 1990s, I went with a friend to an MCC production in San Francisco. It was chilling as hell.

  • @SallyWilliams
    @SallyWilliams Před 3 měsíci +6

    Such a great video my dear. A lot of very interesting informations about the history and the various incarnations. Thank you ! I saw the movie 1st on german tv as a young teenager and it was an epiphany for me. Still my favourite movie of all time. I became a lifelong Liza fan. I also saw 2 different german stage productions. It's fantastic & important that it has developed over the decades and stayed relevant.

  • @hillerymcdonald2303
    @hillerymcdonald2303 Před 3 měsíci +8

    Ooooo I just love your work. This is wonderful, thank you for these deep dives!! This channel deserves so much more attention.

  • @robertalipp9161
    @robertalipp9161 Před 3 měsíci +1

    My father told me about this when I was a kid. He saw it in Boston and again when it came to New York, and he said they had changed that line (from If You Could See Her), apparently it was too much. I was always glad they put it back into the film. It’s so powerful.

  • @AJSoto-vy2fw
    @AJSoto-vy2fw Před 3 měsíci +11

    LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS!!! It’s very insightful and the little facts weaved in like gems make the entire video stellar!

  • @MusiCoLab
    @MusiCoLab Před 2 měsíci

    Outstanding documentary! I've taught the history of Cabaret for years and you've done a spectacular job of compiling clips and telling the story clearly in your script.

  • @morganniciomhair8284
    @morganniciomhair8284 Před 13 dny

    THANK YOU. Cabaret is one of my all time favourite movies.I wish I could have seen a live show.This was really interesting ❤

  • @scottydub5785
    @scottydub5785 Před 3 měsíci +3

    Very well done, researched, and presented video, my man…great material here!

  • @Marcelvilaros
    @Marcelvilaros Před 2 měsíci +1

    Great exposition. Thanks a lot.

  • @RLS-bu4bj
    @RLS-bu4bj Před 3 měsíci +3

    Saw Mason Alexander Park in the role of MC at a regional theatre. It was exceptional

  • @gstone8255
    @gstone8255 Před 3 měsíci +4

    I am Swedish🇸🇪
    I saw a recent Production in Stockholm in 2021.

  • @rabrab3
    @rabrab3 Před 3 měsíci +4

    Excellent observations and analysis. Loved the book and the movie (Liza version). Shaped my thinking and my artworks.

  • @derrickdouglass9177
    @derrickdouglass9177 Před měsícem

    Thank you for taking the time to make an insightful deep dive.......I watched it in prep for helping to paint scenes in my college's stage production of Cabaret.

  • @imagographics5096
    @imagographics5096 Před 3 měsíci +3

    Very interesting and well-made. Thanks so much.

  • @jlasf
    @jlasf Před 3 měsíci +2

    Fantastic job! I am a movie/Broadway buff and, while I know most of the material covered, you put it in a very cohesive and clear way. Your opinions are there, but not in an overbearing manner. You tell the story - with a few asides.
    I think Fosse is a true genius; his name has become an adjective, like Hitchcock. The greatest problem with the movie is - ironically - also the greatest asset: Liza. You gain a riveting performance by a great singer that is dramatically wrong for the role. She is, quite simply, too talented. Sally/Liza COULD be discovered and be a star. But the point of the story is that Sally is deluding herself and the final song is her deep dive into that delusion.
    Anyway, great work. Congratulations.

  • @bev9708
    @bev9708 Před 3 měsíci +1

    Just outstanding !!! BRAVO!!! Fascinating story !!

  • @NextSummon
    @NextSummon Před 3 měsíci +3

    Just want to say thanks for another great video.

  • @oly_olympiadis
    @oly_olympiadis Před 3 měsíci +6

    Excellent video! Thank you so much for talking about the creation of the emcee, I found it very interesting! Another thing: 42:30 isn't the point of Cabaret to shock the audience? I mean just this scene alone 42:05 always scares me. I'm not a big fan of disturbing films/series, etc. for example I don't like horror movies where it's so obvious the creators are trying to make disgusting, instead of scary, scenery just to get any form of reaction. Still, I think the Mendes production did a great job, with a show that's already meant to shock its audience and make them reflect on themselves and their actions.

  • @ChrisHoppe-wordmeme
    @ChrisHoppe-wordmeme Před 2 měsíci +1

    I'm here to thank you for your whole body of theatre review work. #21 helped me appreciate Cabaret as part of my growing ❤ of musical theatre. It's led to a fascinating deeper dive through all your commentary. I hope you continue many more episodes of similar quality! This is what CZcams is made for, IMHO. Monetization be damned, creative quality is king. 😊
    Be well....🎉

  • @pandamonium4506
    @pandamonium4506 Před 3 měsíci +4

    Excellent dramaturgy!

  • @Dschildkret
    @Dschildkret Před 3 měsíci +5

    Wonderfully researched and engaging 👏🏼

  • @jayden.rainnie
    @jayden.rainnie Před 3 měsíci +2

    These videos are amazing!!

  • @ericcaers7249
    @ericcaers7249 Před 2 měsíci

    Rarely does one find this combination of serious research, sharp analysis and historical accuracy on CZcams. Well done!

  • @shanemcconnell4372
    @shanemcconnell4372 Před 2 měsíci

    My God that was riveting!!! Thank you so much for this fascinating and smart narrative about an iconic and beloved piece of our shared culture. ❤❤❤

  • @DreamsoundsVideo
    @DreamsoundsVideo Před 3 měsíci

    Such a wonderful video - thank you!

    • @StagedRight
      @StagedRight  Před 3 měsíci +1

      Thank you! Your videos are awesome! xo

  • @marclubbers1744
    @marclubbers1744 Před 16 dny

    Wonderful work - thank you so much! I'm preparing Herr Schultz for a production this summer in central Pennsylvania.

  • @emilyrln
    @emilyrln Před 3 měsíci

    Excellent research and presentation! You've earned my sub 😊

  • @moniquedelaney7958
    @moniquedelaney7958 Před 3 měsíci

    Seen both , stage and movie . Love the movie .
    Good documentary here . Thank you

  • @wootentottle6570
    @wootentottle6570 Před 3 měsíci +1

    I saw the Sam Mendes production of Cabaret on tour four times, Rufus Norris production in London, and a local production in Minneapolis from Theater Latte Da. It's safe to say Cabaret is my favorite musical. I remember seeing it for the first time and being completely seduced by the spectacle and then punched in the gut for enjoying it. It was true theatrical catharsis.
    I think you presented the history of the show and what makes it so captivating very well and the research you did was excellent. Thanks much for creating this "perfectly marvelous" video. Cabaret is a musical that will always be a tilted mirror showing a reflection of society, something we need today more than ever.
    I only wish I had the money to see the new production. Maybe when it comes on tour in 3 year or so. 🙂

  • @AARONSINGSBROADWAY
    @AARONSINGSBROADWAY Před 3 měsíci +1

    love this xx

  • @steveb1164
    @steveb1164 Před 3 měsíci +7

    The real Sally, Jean Ross, was NOT happy with the way Isherwood portrayed her in the original story.

  • @OhioScot
    @OhioScot Před 3 měsíci

    I saw the 1998 revival in Cleveland at Playhouse Square in 2002 with my then wife, my mother, and my uncle. My uncle was in from NYC visiting my parents while he took a break from acting parts he was seeking. He had seen the show in NYC and since my mother loved the movie version he treated us to seeing it. I hadn't watched the movie before this and let alone listened to the soundtrack. My favorite musical I must say. After the show my ex wife and I explored the original Broadway recording and watched the movie.

  • @donaldcoppersmith1018

    I am finishing the Berlin stories by Mr Isherwood. I wonder why he wrote it in the manner of diaries? He wrote well descriptively and vividly of his characters. And he was a camera figuratively! He caught the bar cafe entertainment as well as telling the scenes on the streets. And his works endures because of how it was written Christopher Isherwood goes into the Chronicles of time ageless. His work can have countless interpretations, funny, sensitive and all to sobering. It begins with a myth to end tragically.

  • @BroadwayGuy
    @BroadwayGuy Před 3 měsíci +3

    I've watched nearly all of your video essays, and this is your BEST BY FAR--so meticulously researched, brilliantly presented, and endlessly fascinating. I was extremely underwhelmed by the 1955 "I Am A Camera" after being exposed to "CABARET" (1972 and 1998). Interesting how the 1972 film subverts the original 1966 production, and the 1998 revival tends to overshadow them both. It's anybody guess what impact Frecknell's imported production will have in 2024. I want to watch your segment on Jill Haworth again. The 1998 production with Alan Cumming will always be the definitive "CABARET" for me. Bravo, Excellent video!!

  • @henriqueprado331
    @henriqueprado331 Před 3 měsíci

    amazing content!

  • @Anthingll
    @Anthingll Před měsícem

    I saw the Donmar version with Alan Cummings, it was excellent, I’ve always loved the film, and earlier this year I saw the new version at The Playhouse, it too was excellent. I wouldn’t put any one of these above the other, each one is a version for its time and each one brought out different elements of the story.

  • @KikeNavarrete68
    @KikeNavarrete68 Před 3 měsíci +1

    My favorite musical

  • @lisatje777
    @lisatje777 Před 3 měsíci

    I love these episodes! Could you do one on Donna Murphy??

  • @lorraineevans681
    @lorraineevans681 Před 3 měsíci

    Thank you for explaining Cabaret so clearly...I never really 'got it'...which probably stems from living in the South Pacific...vinaka vakalevu

  • @raydunn8262
    @raydunn8262 Před 3 měsíci

    Great deep dive, thank you.
    There was a 2014 Broadway revival. It seemed to be an extension of the 1998 Mendes' revival; Mendes was director, again. The Tony awards decided this production was ineligible for nominations.

  • @ryebread9299
    @ryebread9299 Před 3 měsíci +1

    Hoping to return to NYC to catch this revival

  • @kallen868
    @kallen868 Před 3 měsíci

    I've seen. Joel Grey his last tour in Boston. Also Molly Ringwald at Studio 54.❤🎉

  • @lemonade4446
    @lemonade4446 Před 2 měsíci +2

    i loveeeee jane horrock’s sally

  • @jamesbusjahn6962
    @jamesbusjahn6962 Před 3 měsíci +7

    The 1965 Kander and Ebb musical is "Flora the Red Menance", not "Flora and the Red Menance".

    • @marthawelch4289
      @marthawelch4289 Před 3 měsíci +1

      And the spelling is "Flora, the Red Menace". 🤗

    • @jamesbusjahn6962
      @jamesbusjahn6962 Před 3 měsíci +1

      @@marthawelch4289 thank you.

    • @marthawelch4289
      @marthawelch4289 Před 3 měsíci

      @@jamesbusjahn6962 Thanks for being kind in your response! Hope you have a happy and healthy 2024!

  • @claybyrd2
    @claybyrd2 Před 3 měsíci +2

    I have to wonder if we aren’t already living through the kind of political and social upheavals that form the subtext of Cabaret. We have a tangerine hitler vying to become president. I am reminded of the last words spoken by Cliff: I danced with Sally Bowles and we were both fast asleep.

  • @countrymonkOSB
    @countrymonkOSB Před 3 měsíci +4

    It always irritates me when people say that Liza Minelli's Sally was way too talented and would never have ended up in a sleazy club singing for pay, or "slumming" as you put it here. All you have to do is watch any reality singing show like American Idol or The Voice to see that sooooo many really talented people never make it big. Even the winners of those contests most often never get big or famous. I've always felt Liza's Sally is so self-destructed, childish, and deluded that she'd never hit the big time without totally screwing it up. And Liza's so perfectly wonderful in the role, singing/acting-wise, that I've always felt she's meant to embody the spirit of an age more than a real person, if that makes any sense, any more so than the Emcee is a "real" person. All that's to say, for all those Liza nay-sayers (including Hal Prince, who put the kibosh on her getting cast in the original stage play)--give it a rest! Liza is wonderful in the role in what is, for me, a perfect movie.

    • @theresaegan3129
      @theresaegan3129 Před měsícem +1

      I was thinking this too. You need a lot of luck to get famous and that’s why lots of great performers never get their big break. So in that way I think it works to have good singers play sally and even more sad because in that context she knows she has the chops for stardom and that’s why she stays in Berlin

    • @countrymonkOSB
      @countrymonkOSB Před měsícem

      @@theresaegan3129 AaHAA! Finally, someone who agrees with me!

  • @theowatson791
    @theowatson791 Před 3 měsíci +8

    I’ve seen the newest west end production and it was PHENOMENAL. I knew nothing about cabaret going in, so it was a totally unforgettable first time experience. My favourite part was actually John Maclean’s Emcee, which (to me) runs away from humanising him. I took him as this sort of ghostly timeless clown figure, not a grounded character at all but a living metaphor. It was absolutely haunting. To me, it hit hard as a reflection of the conservative backlash we’re living through. The Emcee/Ape song spoke to me specifically about rising transphobia - how we, as trans people, are made out to be dangerous and undesirable beasts. Having the production lean into its queerness increased this. The whole thing hit so hard. Sally Bowles’ brown suit crushed me - the complete removal of identity. This ill-fitting, boring, sad mask over her life, imposed upon us by people who want conformity and power. I’d love to say more, but can’t fit it all in a comment.
    I will say, having seen it at the west end, it was a bit strange to be surrounded by people who clearly did not have the same emotional connection to the material that I did. My friend and I were in tears by the end, but everyone else just got up and left. If I can see it on broadway, maybe it’ll feel different with an American crowd. I’d also like to say that I was NOT offered a drink at the Kit Kat Club!!!!! I shall be writing a strongly worded letter and will request my missing drink be shipped to me!!!

    • @theowatson791
      @theowatson791 Před 3 měsíci +2

      Also, you use a clip from a show at 53:17 - which production is this?

    • @StagedRight
      @StagedRight  Před 3 měsíci +2

      1993 Sam Mendes version taped for TV.

  • @themorticians
    @themorticians Před 3 měsíci +2

    Jake Shears was transcendent as the emcee in the Fall 2023 London production. Thank you for creating such a thorough video!

  • @malikhaya
    @malikhaya Před 25 dny

    I am obsessed with Cabaret. I've seen it on stage (London 2023), read Goodbye to Berlin & Insherwood and His Kind, and seen several reflections, like yours here on CZcams. I would very much like to buy copies of the other versions - I am a Camera, stage and film, the movie with Liza, and other versions of the stage productions through the years. Since you have some of the footage in this video, might you be able to point me in a direction where I might find such videos for purchase?

  • @richardwhite3924
    @richardwhite3924 Před 3 měsíci

    I had seen the 1966 Broadway production and later I directed what I believe was the first ever production of the stage version of "Cabaret" in Germany at the community theater on the American Army base at Augsburg, Germany in 1973. All of the actors were active American Army soldiers, their spouses and their children. I will never forget one dependent woman who had watched the movie multiple times, showed up at the auditions in full Liza Minnelli "drag" and was totally confused when she saw the play's script and it didn't match the Fosse/Minnelli abortion of a film.
    Many of our audience members were local Germans and we got great reviews in the local German newspapers. We had to add three more performances to the planned nine performances due to exceptional ticket sales.
    I wish someone would actually make a movie version of the Broadway musical someday.

  • @aspieringnerd9073
    @aspieringnerd9073 Před 2 měsíci

    I remember when I saw Cabaret during the UK tour in 2019, I was conflicted on whether or not to applause after "Tomorrow belongs to me" because on one hand, it was a good performance, but on the other, it's like yay, facism?

  • @brucequinn
    @brucequinn Před 3 měsíci

    Bravo.

  • @evaa-w5399
    @evaa-w5399 Před 11 dny

    I've seen the film with Liza Minelli, I watched a filmed stage version and I saw the London show in 2006, I think it was

  • @wonsworld61
    @wonsworld61 Před 3 měsíci

    I have been aware of the books but have never read them so I can only comment on what I have seen. The Fosse movie version I saw at the theatre and on TV and it was the first video we ever rented. So I liked it but I always thought that the characters were too "happy" for the lives that they were living (even if they were blind to the times... though I dont believe that anyone could be that blind as to what was going on). I didnt do a deep character study to figure this out, I just read the script and the lyrics. When I was in NYC and saw Studio 54 version (with Brooke Sheilds as Sally) I thought that the production finally got what the show could have been. The feeling that I got as I watched and that version remains the stand out version for me. I shall not be seeing the new version.

  • @corra7
    @corra7 Před 3 měsíci +2

    Must be seen on stage!

  • @amylou22snowhite
    @amylou22snowhite Před 3 měsíci

    I really want to see this.

  • @zura3339
    @zura3339 Před měsícem

    Was that Moira Rose's voice I heard???? This video is AWESOME!

    • @StagedRight
      @StagedRight  Před měsícem +1

      Thank you!
      Also - it took 2 months, but - so glad someone noticed!!

  • @rixx46
    @rixx46 Před 3 měsíci +9

    Sadly, neo-nazis in the US have adopted TOMORROW BELONGS TO ME to sing without irony at their rallies

    • @Mrstigger747
      @Mrstigger747 Před 3 měsíci +3

      Oooh, that’s really sad 😔
      👋🇨🇦

    • @danielwardin3609
      @danielwardin3609 Před 3 měsíci

      No joke: Anita Bryant recorded the song as a single before the show opened. (It was the practice then for producers to get name stars to record the songs before the show opened.) I wonder if she got the irony after the fact but I doubt it.

  • @morganniciomhair8284
    @morganniciomhair8284 Před 13 dny

    Due to a brain injury I can no longer fly.Im hoping one day it will come to Ireland !

  • @kallen868
    @kallen868 Před 3 měsíci

    Sterile Cuckoo is so under-rated!❤

  • @SANDRA-ey1tf
    @SANDRA-ey1tf Před 12 dny

    Mason Alexander as the M.C. is excellent.

  • @BethDiane
    @BethDiane Před 3 měsíci +1

    It sounds like Jean Ross was a far more serious person than her portrayals in Isherwood's stories.
    I think it's high time for someone to stage Cabaret with a Sally Bowles who was capable of becoming a Spanish civil war correspondent, a journalist, and an activist, as her real-life model did.