CONTENT ADVISORY

CABARET is set in Berlin, Germany in the 1930s. The language, behavior, and events in the script/score reflect the biases and perspectives of the time period.

This production contains instances of "adult language" (profanity/innuendo) as well as depictions of/references to the following:

• Nazis and Nazism

• historical acts of hatred and genocide

• antisemitism

• racism

• sexism

• homophobia

• physical/sexual intimacy

• physical violence

• sex work

• death and dying

• termination of pregnancy

• drug/alcohol use and smoking

University Of Utah Land Acknowledgment

The land acknowledgment included in the preshow announcement recognizes and honors the fact that this university is located on the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Shoshone, Paiute, Goshute and Ute tribes; Utah is home to eight distinct tribal nations.

The Native American Land Use Committee worked for about a year to develop this statement. To read the acknowledgment and find out more about the committee, visit https://president.utah.edu/indigenous-land-acknowledgment/

Support Resources

Campus Resources

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) https://diversity.utah.edu https://diversity.utah.edu/cesb

Center for Equity and Student Belonging.................................

Department of History .................................................................................. https://history.utah.edu

LGBT Resource Center ........................................................................................ https://lgbt.utah.edu

School for Cultural and Social Transformation

Tanner Center for Human Rights

Community Resources

https://transform.utah.edu https://humanrights.utah.edu https://www.acluutah.org

ACLU Utah.....................................................................................................

Anti-Defamation League (ADL)......................................................................... https://www.adl.org

ADL Central Pacific Regional Office, serving Northern California, Utah, and Hawaii ............................ https://sanfrancisco.adl.org https://www.hillelutah.org

Hillel Utah .....................................................................................................

I.J. & Jeanné Wagner Jewish Community Center (JCC) .................................. https://slcjcc.org

Jewish Family Services

Salt Lake Interfaith Roundtable https://www.jfsutah.org https://www.interfaithroundtable.org

United Jewish Federation of Utah .................................................. https://www.shalomutah.org

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum..................................... https://www.ushmm.org

Utah Division of Multicultural Affairs https://multicultural.utah.gov

"Why Cabaret Now?"

With a book by Joe Masteroff (who also wrote the book for the musical She Loves Me), and music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb, (also of Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Steel Pier, Curtains, The Scottsboro Boys, and the soon-to-open New York, New York), Cabaret opened on Broadway in 1966. The play that provided the source material for Cabaret was based on Christopher Isherwood’s Goodbye to Berlin (Hogarth Press, 1939). Isherwood’s novel draws upon his experiences in Germany’s Weimar Republic, mostly in Berlin, from 1929-1932. Sadly, despite the time that has passed since its Broadway opening and the historical period it depicts, Cabaret still resonates today.

Under the entertaining surface of this show lies a darker story about self-preservation and prejudice — issues still prevalent today. Some of our greatest challenges as human beings come from our inability to see ourselves in others and our failure to approach other humans with compassion and equality, regardless of differences in race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, ability, age, size, and more. Instead we continue to “other” our fellow human beings, focusing on and demonizing differences, instead of embracing similarities.

Parallels between the historical setting of Cabaret and the present day are increasingly impossible to ignore. For example, according to the Anti-Defamation League (adl.org), strongly anti-Semitic behaviors and attitudes are on the rise in the United States, with a record-breaking 3,697 incidents of assault, harassment, and vandalism in 2022. This is “the largest number of incidents against Jews in the U.S. recorded by ADL since 1979,” and a 36% increase over 2021. One need look no further than the current revival of the musical Parade on Broadway, which has drawn openly neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic protestors to the sidewalks outside the Jacob Theatre.

As we seek to understand and address root causes of widespread, persistent, rising sentiments of hatred and prejudice, the story of Cabaret suggests one answer: selfpreservation. Some characters are so focused on themselves, their immediate needs, and their fears, that they do not see what is going on around them. They neglect to ask how they can help their neighbors, how they may change or interrupt hate, and what they might gain in the long-term by relinquishing perceived short-term, immediate benefits. When people become targets of prejudice — whether due to political fervor, power-seeking, ethnocentrism, ignorance, or fear — it’s far simpler for those who are not targeted to remain uninformed and uninvolved, to think first (and perhaps only) of themselves.

Today, just as it did in 1966, Cabaret provides a dark reflection of the present day, illuminating the dangers of ignorance, inaction, and self-preservation. During the “Finale,” the original production of Cabaret famously lowered a large mirror, tilted toward the audience, which required the audience to see themselves. Our theatre is arranged so that, while viewing the performance, you may also look across the stage at your fellow audience members, to reflect on what you see, and to perhaps see yourself in their eyes. We hope that Cabaret not only entertains you, but also moves you — to care, to take responsibility, and to take action.

— David Eggers, Director