Study Guide for Cabaret

Book by Joe Masteroff; based the play I Am a Camera by John van Druten,
and Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood
Music by John Kander; Lyrics by Fred Ebb

Page and Stage Event | Sunday, July 22, 2012

Study Guide prepared by Cristopher Tibbetts

©2012 Lyric Arts Main Street Stage • 420 East Main Street • Anoka, Minnesota 55303
 Study Guide for Cabaret
Lyric Arts 2011–2012 Season

About the Show

Synopsis
Struggling American novelist Cliff Bradshaw arrives in 1930’s Berlin in search of inspiration for his next
book, but instead he finds a budding romance with British cabaret performer Sally Bowles amongst the
seedy nightlife of the Kit Kat Klub. As their relationship grows, the world around them deteriorates. They,
along with the Klub’s frequent visitors, distract themselves with a life of indulgence and turn a blind eye to
the Nazi party’s imminent rise to power. This classic musical represents the most acclaimed collaboration
between by John Kander and Fred Ebb, and features classic songs such as Willkommen, Don’t Tell Mama,
Tomorrow Belongs to Me, and Cabaret.

Genre and Style of Cabaret

The genre of Cabaret is musical melodrama—music and dance combine in and with the text to tell a story
with heightened dramatic circumstances that leads to an epiphany for, at least, the protagonist, but often
several characters, and the ending is either ambiguous or happy. Though there are humorous elements in
the text of Cabaret, the intent and effect of the authors is to shock the audience with the actions of the
characters into a realization about the social situation.

The style of Cabaret is based on the Epic Theatre movement of German playwright/ director Bertolt
Brecht (1898-1956). Epic Theatre proposed that a play should not cause the spectator to identify
emotionally with the characters or action before him or her, but should instead provoke rational self-
reflection and a critical view of the action on the stage. Brecht thought that the experience of a climactic
catharsis of emotion left an audience complacent. Instead, he wanted his audiences to adopt a critical
perspective in order to recognize social injustice and exploitation, and to be moved to go forth from the
theatre and effect change in the world outside. For this purpose, Brecht employed the use of techniques
that remind the spectator that the play is a representation of reality and not reality itself. By highlighting
the constructed nature of the theatrical event, Brecht hoped to communicate that the audience’s reality
was equally constructed and, as such, was changeable.

Production History
The original Broadway production, directed by Harold Prince and choreographed by Ron Field, opened
on November 20, 1966 at the Broadhurst Theatre, eventually transferring first to the Imperial, and then
the Broadway, before finally completing its 1,165-performance run. The cast included Jill Haworth as Sally,
Bert Convy as Cliff, Lotte Lenya as Fräulein Schneider, Jack Gilford as Herr Schultz, Joel Grey as the
Emcee, Edward Winter as Ernst and Peg Murray as Fräulein Kost.

The first London production opened on February 28, 1968 at the Palace Theatre, with Judi Dench as
Sally, Barry Dennen as the Emcee, Lila Kedrova as Fräulein Schneider and Peter Sallis as Herr Schultz. It
ran for 336 performances.

The first Broadway revival opened on October 22, 1987, with direction and choreography once again by
Prince and Field. The revival opened at the Imperial Theatre, eventually transferring to the Minskoff to
complete its 261-performance run. Joel Grey received star billing as the Emcee, with Alyson Reed as
Sally, Gregg Edelman as Cliff, Regina Resnik as Fräulein Schneider, Werner Klemperer as Herr Schultz,
and David Staller as Ernst Ludwig. The song Don’t Go was added for Cliff’s character.

The second Broadway revival was based on a 1993 Sam Mendes production at London’s Donmar
Warehouse. For the Broadway transfer, Rob Marshall was brought on board as co-director and
choreographer. The production opened on March 19, 1998 at the Kit Kat Klub, housed in what previously
had been known as Henry Miller’s Theatre. Later that year it transferred to Studio 54, where it remained
for the rest of its 2,377-performance run, becoming the third longest-running revival in Broadway musical
history, after O, Calcutta! and Chicago. For the Broadway production, Alan Cumming reprised his Donmar
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Warehouse role as the Emcee, opposite Natasha Richardson as Sally, John Benjamin Hickey as Cliff, Ron
Rifkin as Herr Schultz, Michelle Pawk as Fräulein Kost, and Mary Louise Wilson as Fräulein Schneider.
This production featured a number of notable replacements later in the run: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Joely
Fisher, Gina Gershon, Deborah Gibson, Teri Hatcher, Jane Leeves, Molly Ringwald, Brooke Shields,
and Lea Thompson as Sally; Michael C. Hall, Raúl Esparza, Neil Patrick Harris, Jon Secada, and John
Stamos as the Emcee; Tom Bosley, Hal Linden, Laurence Luckinbill, and Tony Roberts as Herr Schultz;
and Blair Brown, Polly Bergen, Mariette Hartley, and Carole Shelley as Fräulein Schneider.

Awards and Honors

1967 Tony Awards
Best Musical; Best Score (John Kander and Fred Ebb); Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
(Joel Grey, The Emcee); Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical (Peg Murray, Fraulein Kost);
Best Direction of a Musical (Harold Prince); Best Choreography (Ron Field); Best Scenic Design (Boris
Aronson); Best Costume Design (Patricia Zipprodt).

1998 Tony Awards

Best Revival of a Musical; Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (Alan Cuming, The Emcee);
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical (Natasha Richardson, Sally); Best Performance by a
Featured Actor in a Musical (Ron Rifkin, Herr Schultz); Best Direction of a Musical (Sam Mendes and Rob
Marshall); Best Choreography (Rob Marshall); Best Orchestrations (Michael Gibson); Best Costume Design
(William Ivey Long); Best Lighting Design (Peggy Eisenhauer and Mike Baldassari).

Cabaret On Film
In 1972, the film version of Cabaret, starring Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey, and Michael York, and directed by Bob
Fosse, was released to great success.

The film is significantly different from the musical. To accommodate Minnelli, Sally
Bowles is Americanized. The character of Cliff Bradshaw was renamed Brian Roberts
and made British. The characters, and plot lines involving, Fritz, Natalia and Max do
not exist in the play (although there is a minor character named Max in the stage
version, the owner of the Kit Kat Club, who bears no relation to the character in
the film). The Broadway version used special settings to separate the fantasy world
of the Cabaret from the darker rest of the world. In the stage version (along with
Isherwood’s original story), Sally’s a terrible singer (preventing her from becoming
the actress she wants to be and keeping her trapped at the Kit Kat Club), who thinks
she’s better than she actually is; in the film Sally’s portrayed as a skilled singer.

Fosse cut several of the songs, leaving only those that are sung within the confines
of the Kit Kat Klub, and Tomorrow Belongs to Me, which is sung in a beer garden.
Kander and Ebb wrote several new songs for the movie and removed others; Don’t
Tell Mama was replaced by Mein Herr, and The Money Song was replaced by Money, Money. Interestingly,
Mein Herr and Money, Money, which were composed for the film version, have, due to their popularity, now
been added to performances of the stage musical alongside the original numbers. The song Maybe This
Time, which Sally performs at the cabaret, was not written for the film. Kander and Ebb had written it years
earlier for Kaye Ballard.

Several characters were cut from the film (including Herr Schultz, with Fraulein Schneider’s part greatly
reduced and the whole romantic subplot removed) and several from Isherwood’s original stories put back in.
The entire score was re-orchestrated, with all the numbers being accompanied by the stage band.

Cabaret won eight Academy Awards in 1973, including Best Director (Bob Fosse); Best Actress (Liza
Minnelli); and Best Supporting Actor (Joel Grey).
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About the Authors

John Kander (born 1927) and Fred Ebb (1928-2004) were introduced to one another
in 1962. Their collaboration began with a never-produced musical, Golden Gate,
followed by the mildly successful Flora, the Red Menace (1965), which starred their
friend and frequent collaborator Liza Minnelli. Their biggest success came with
Cabaret (1966). Kander and Ebb’s musicals include Flora, the Red Menace; Cabaret;
The Happy Time; Zorba; 70, Girls, 70; Chicago; Woman of the Year; The Rink; Kiss of
the Spider Woman; Steel Pier; The Visit; and two musicals produced after Ebb’s death,
Curtains and The Scottsboro Boys. They wrote original material for the film versions
of Cabaret and Chicago, as well as writing the scores for
the film musicals Funny Lady and New York, New York.

Joe Masteroff (born 1931) wrote the book for the musicals She Loves Me,
Cabaret, and 70, Girls, 70; the libretto for the opera Desire Under the Elms;
and the book and lyrics for the musicals Six Wives and Paramour.

Questions for Discussion

1. Compare and contrast the experience of reading the text of a play, as opposed to seeing it onstage. Which do
you prefer? Would you read a text even if you were not going to see a production? Does reading the text help
you appreciate the production?

2. In what ways can you tell, based on the text, that Cabaret was revolutionary at the time of its writing? Look
at the section on the genre and style of Cabaret. How is this text different than the books (texts) of most
musicals? How do those differences inform your experience as a reader?

3. Political commentary has always been an integral part of Cabaret. What was going on in 1966 that served as
a parallel to the events happening in 1935 Berlin? What are contemporary events or trends that keep Cabaret
timely for today’s audiences?

4. Does knowing famous songs from the score (Cabaret, Wilkommen, Don’t Tell Mama) enhance your
enjoyment of the show as a whole? These songs certainly prove that they stand alone, but do they also work in
the context of the show, and help move the story forward?

5. Who is the protagonist of Cabaret? Is there an antagonist? Explain the device of the Emcee.

6. Having just read the text, what are you looking forward to seeing dramatized or staged or “acted out?” Was
anything clarified by having read the text?

7. Have you seen the movie of Cabaret? Which do you like better? What are your favorite elements of each?

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