CABARET

A HISTORY OF THE MUSICAL CABARET

Compiled by Hangar Theatre staff members

Cabaret, a musical adapted from Christopher Isherwood’s fictionalized memoir The Berlin Stories, was first produced in 1966. Since that time, it has received numerous revivals and reimagined productions. Follow its journey to the Hangar stage in this timeline tracking significant Cabaret milestones.

1945: Writer Christopher Isherwood publishes The Berlin Stories, inspired by his life in Berlin, Germany in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Isherwood was a British novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist who wrote relatively openly about his life as a Queer man during this historical period. The character of Sally Bowles is loosely based on his friendship with British writer, activist, fashion model and singer Jean Iris Ross Cockburn. 1951: I Am a Camera, playwright John Van Druten’s dramatic adaptation of Isherwood’s memoir, opens at Broadway’s Empire Theatre to mostly negative reviews. Julie Harris, playing Sally Bowles, wins her first Tony award for the performance.

1966: Cabaret, a musical based on I Am a Camera and The Berlin Stories, with a book by Joe Masteroff, music by John Kander, and lyrics by Fred Ebb, opens on Broadway. The production is helmed by renowned director Harold Prince and stars Joel Grey as the Emcee. Lotte Lenya, a legendary Austrian singer who had fled Nazi Germany herself to save her husband, composer Kurt Weill, plays the role of Fraulein Schneider. The production wins eight Tony Awards.

1972: A film adaptation of Cabaret, directed by Bob Fosse and starring Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey, wins eight Academy Awards. The movie script more closely resembles Isherwood’s original source material, with the central character of the writer identifying as bi-sexual. Fosse’s rendition eliminates several songs from the score and adds the iconic tunes “Money,” and “Maybe This Time.” Kander and Ebb are initially skeptical of this new version, but come to appreciate its value, with John Kander reflecting in a 2021 article in The Guardian, “I remember at the end of [the screening], we looked at each other and we sort of shook our heads because it wasn’t Cabaret and it took a while to shake that expectation out of our heads. Then, when we went to see it in the cinema with an audience, we realized it wasn’t Cabaret, but it was an extraordinary film.”

1982: The Hangar Theatre’s first production of Cabaret is directed by actor, director, and voice artist Jeff Steitzer and features Ithaca-area favorites Greg Bostwick and Susannah Berryman, as well as Hollywood actor Jimmy Smits and playwright and novelist James Magruder.

1987: The initial Broadway revival, produced by Prince, gives Grey’s Emcee an even more central role.

1993: Director Sam Mendes revives Cabaret at London’s Donmar Warehouse. The production boldly reimagines the musical, especially the character of the Emcee, now played by Alan Cumming. This rendition is much more vivid in its references to the Holocaust, and overt in its exploration of sexuality and gender roles.

1998: Roundabout Theater Company opens Cabaret, co-directed by Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall, and starring Cumming and Natasha Richardson. The production opens in a performance space that doubles as a nightclub, and then transfers to the famed Studio 54 space. The show wins four Tony Awards.

2003: Joel Grey, whose career continues to be defined by his evolving depiction of the Emcee in Cabaret, headlines the Hangar Theatre’s Spring Gala, performing at Ford Hall on the Ithaca College campus.

2021: A revival of Cabaret, starring Eddie Redmayne as the Emcee and Jessie Buckley as Sally Bowles, opens on London’s West End. The show goes on to win seven Olivier Awards, Britain’s equivalent of the Tonys. ▲

Book by Joe Masteroff

Music by John Kander

Lyrics by Fred Ebb

Based on the play by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood

JUNE 30–JULY 16, 2022

Scenic Design Meredith Reis† Costume Design Amanda Gladu†

Lighting Design Christopher Chambers† Sound Design Jeremiah Turner

Music Director Kevin Anthony Smith

Stage Manager Myles C. Hatch* Production Manager Adam Zonder

Co-Director/Co-Choregrapher Sanaz Ghajar+ & Ben Hobbs