Musicals Blog

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.