Cabaret (1972)
by Claire J Rottenberg
Although "Cabaret" was a very successful
play, winning 6 Tony awards out of 10 nominations,
and a highly successful movie, winning 10 Academy
Awards out of 12 nominations, the two versions
differed significantly, both in plot and songs. In
the original play, the female lead, Sally Bowles, was
English but in the film she was American, probably to
better fit the role to the movie's star, Liza
Minnelli. As a balance to the play, the male lead was
switched from the American Cliff Bradshaw to the
British Brian Roberts in the movie version. The
second romantic leads were changed in the movie from
the play's old Jewish man (played by Jack
Gilford) and his German love interest (played by
Lotte Lenya) to a young Jewish socialite and a young
Jewish gigolo who, at first, hides his
Jewishness.
The scores for both the Broadway play and the movie
of "Cabaret" were written by John Kander
and Fred Ebb, but many of the songs from the play
were eliminated from the film version and several new
songs were added. Several of the songs that were
eliminated were sung in the original play by Jack
Gilford and Lotte Lenya and since their parts were
changed to young lovers, it is understandable that
the songs were cut from the movie version, but it is
unclear why some of the songs sung by the lead female
(Liza Minnelli) were replaced with new songs. In the
play, some of the songs helped move the plot along,
as is typical for the songs in a Broadway musical,
but in the film version of "Cabaret"
almost all of the songs are sung in the Kit Kat Club,
as part of the nightclub show. However, most of the
songs, such as the title song and "If You Could
See Her Through My Eyes," are very relevant to
the plot and the setting of
"Cabaret."
The movie version of "Cabaret" cast Joel
Grey in his Tony award-winning performance as the
M.C. and Liza Minelli, who achieved her initial
success on Broadway in "Flora the Red
Menace," as Sally Bowles. Michael York, at the
time a young British stage and film actor, was cast
as the male lead. Joel Grey was the only member of
the Broadway production who also appeared in the
movie version of "Cabaret." Both he and
Liza Minelli won Academy Awards for their
performances.
I saw the original Broadway production of
"Cabaret" and it was wonderful, but so is
the film version. Both, using the strengths of their
separate media formats, create a chilling picture of
Berlin in the early 1930s, at the start of the rise
of the Nazis.