By John M. Yelkich III
When considering theatrical works as tools for social change many productions come to mind. Falsettos and Angels in America both illuminate the AIDS epidemic in 1980’s America. Hadestown and Newsies are two highly relevant class commentaries that have enraptured modern audiences. However, one show stands above the rest both in its ability to maintain relevance and its control of the conversation. Cabaret first came to audiences in the 1960’s. The show tackles themes of escapism, political unrest, and willful ignorance in the face of fascism, all against the backdrop of 1940’s Berlin. Despite its inability to be divorced from the period and setting, the show has been talked about for years. The movie adaptation starring Liza Minnelli, was released in the 70’s, a Broadway revival helmed by Alan Cumming in the 90’s, and now another resurgence in the 2020’s. Each version has used various techniques to try to grip audiences of the time, and to impart their message to viewers in inventive and impactful ways.
During a recent trip to the UK I had the privilege of seeing “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club” starring Billy Porter and Marisha Wallance. This production, unlike many before it, featured an all black leading cast which completely transformed the subtext of the production; shifting it into a heart wrenching modern portrayal of a seasoned classic. In this essay I will explore the history of Cabaret, the real world events that inform the show, and the music within; as well as dissect the current west end production “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club”, to better understand how this production disseminates its messaging to audiences.
Cabaret found its origins in a society that was just two decades past the greatest conflict the world has ever seen. First hitting broadway in November of 1966, Cabaret opened to generally positive reviews. The show reflected the concepts that most people had familiarized themselves with following the war. It took a harsh look at how political inactivity and the urge to bury one’s head in the sand, gave the Nazi party the chance to rise to power. Audiences in the late sixties wanted an examination of World War Two that was cut and dry, they wanted a hero to root for, and villains to root against. So the first producers of cabaret gave it to them. They painted the “main character” Cliff Bradshaw as the quintessential hopeful American man. Throughout the show you see him come to Berlin in the hope of creating the next great American novel, only to be forced to grapple with the harsh realities of the world around him. As things get worse and worse he attempts to fight back against the rise of facism and wake up those around him, only to be beaten down time and time again. Characters like the Emcee and Sally Bowles served as examples of hedonism and tales of caution for viewers, rather than fully fleshed out characters.
In “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club” we see much more care given to the characters in this show. Cliff no longer feels like the main character. While the show opens and closes with him, we get the feeling that the show is truly about the Emcee. Rather than seeing the story of an American trying to face the horrors of the world, we are instead provided with the entwined narratives of several characters; served to us under the watchful eye of the Emcee. This brings me to the first rhetorical tool that this production uses and the first major point of analysis for this show, Immersion.
Immersion
“Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club” is by definition an immersive theatre experience. For this production the Playhouse theater in London is transformed into a Berlin nightclub circa 1940. When one first enters the theatre they do so not through the typical grand front facade, but instead through a side door normally reserved for crew members. A man dressed to resemble a footman greets members of the audience in a German accent, and tells them to “Enjoy ze show.” before you are led through a winding concrete starwell bathed in red light and filled with smoke. Exposed pipes overhead rattled unsettlingly, while performers in barred cutouts in the walls dance, some pour complimentary shots of brandy for the audience as they filter in. All of this serves to frame the experience of viewing the musical. Through this process of entry, the creators of the show are transforming the audience’s mindset by emulating the setting of the show they’re about to view. The seedy, filthy atmosphere perfectly aligns with the themes of the show and aids the audience in suspending their disbelief to a degree that is rarely seen in modern theatre.
Once in the venue, it is separated into three floors, each one with it’s own bar. The Red Bar is on the first level. It serves all the guests as they walk into the building, providing a quick and impersonal style of service. Across from the bar was another large barred room, in which members of the ensemble cast play instruments and dance. This bar is meant to most accurately emulate the feeling of the shows primary setting, the Kit Kat Club. It’s a dirty hole in the wall bar, where one goes to forget their troubles. The Gold Bar on the second level was a lesson in splendor. Dancers swayed on pedestals, and hung from bannisters above the bar. All the while the bartenders laughed and sang with the guests. This experience mirrored the show’s theme of decadence. It was a lavish and gluttonous experience in the gold bar, which is clearly by design. From there viewers could actually enter the auditorium. This production was done in the round, unlike those before it. This again lends to the immersion, as even when looking at the stage, rather than curtains, you see a club. The main floor was filled with two seat tables decorated with old fashioned sconces, the stage was bare, but the boxes above were filled with band members who provided the music for the show. Everywhere you looked there was decor and lighting and life. Performers walked among the audience, dancing and laughing with them before the show started; laying the foundation for a life changing experience.
Using immersive techniques on audiences is one of the most effective ways to ensure audience engagement and interaction. This musical requires that the audience be fully tuned in in order to understand the themes being discussed. By bringing the audience into the world of the show before the plot has begun is a masterful strategy. In a time where people are more disconnected than ever, and theatre etiquette is dying off; immersing the audience in the sights and sounds that make the show what it is almost forces them to engage in a new way.
Beyond this, it also reframes the show. Rather than being about Cliff’s journey, we now feel like patrons of the club, which is decidedly the Emcee’s domain. In the opening number Willkommen, the Emcee says this, “Ich bin euer Confrencier, je suis votre comper. I am your host!” From the moment the music begins this character blurs the lines between actor and audience and encourages the viewer to see themselves not as a ticketholder, but as a patron of the Kit Kat Club. In the next line he perfectly encapsulates what this experience has been working toward thus far. “Leave your troubles outside… so, life is disappointing, eh? Well forget it! We have no troubles here.”
Subversion
In many ways Cabaret has always been subversive. It took topics as dark as war and fascism and managed to dissect them in a way that was glitzy and glamorous enough for broadway. Subversion is baked into the DNA of this show, but the most recent west end production leans on this subversive nature in a new way.
In the original production the character of Cliff Bradshaw, as discussed earlier, is the hopeful american novelist. He is innocent, if a bit naive at first, morally sound and driven. This production subverts that expectation. In the first several minutes of the show we see that this Cliff isn’t the innocent everyman he has been in other productions. After meeting Sally at the Kit Kat Club, she tells him he should come see her after the show so they can have a drink together, before she leaves him with a kiss. This proposition is rife with romantic tension, and does a fantastic job of setting up Cliff and Sally’s dynamic. She is a whirlwind, wild girl that is meant to bring inspiration or ruin to Cliff, and he is the conservative square that is changed for better or worse because of her. Yet in the same scene, after Sally exits, Bobby enters. Bobby is another performer at the Kit Kat Club, and the audience soon learns that he and Cliff have some history.
They exchange a few words and Bobby invites him to his apartment for the evening,
Cliff offers a rushed excuse and Bobby leaves him with a kiss.
This subversion of expectation helps to recharacterize Cliff Bradshaw in this new production. Where before his bisexuality was a speculative theory proposed by fans of the show, it is now canonized in the plot, and completely changes the way the audience views him. Rather than being a cookie cutter protagonist we see that he is a man that, like everyone in the show, found themselves in the Kit Kat CLub in an attempt to escape. In a world where Cliff couldn’t be his truest self he came to Berlin to be liberated. Now the audience can see he is a man with his own baggage and his own reasons for being at the club.
The next subversive technique that this production uses is through its casting. Traditionally, Sally, Cliff, and the Emcee are played by white actors. At first glance it’s easy to see why predominantly white casts were the norm for this show. The setting and time period weren’t known for being welcoming to people of color, in fact they would’ve faced even more scrutiny than the characters in the show do. Yet I believe this actually does a disservice to the show’s subject matter. This show is about outcasts. People with no hope, and no where to go who immerse themselves in Berlin’s nightlife to escape to horrors of reality. In truth I think that those among us who are most often subjected to marginalization and othering tell this story the best.
By casting all black leads this show takes on another dimension. Sally and Cliff’s plotline no longer feels attainable if not for his naivete and her impulsivity. Now the audience can see that the life they dream of building with each other was a pipe dream. The odds of a black couple, a novelist and a nightclub performer, who have a child out of wedlock, in nazi germany being able to “make it work” feels more impossible than ever. In the case of the Emcee, we see a character who relishes in the debauchery of the club, and who serves as our almost omniscient narrator throughout the story. In earlier productions this character added a layer of mystery and intrigue to the show. Billy Porter’s Emcee achieves the same, but with an added depth. Billy Porter gives the
Emcee a new kind of musicality. He sings with a soulful, bluesy style, that makes the Emcee feel like the belongs in a completely different time than that of the show, and yet it works. He blends traditional techniques with his own soulful style to make the Emcee feel amorphous and completely otherworldly. Rather than being an enigma, he is a traveller, he is the audience manifest within the plot. He dabbles in the revelry the way they do, he sings directly to them, he is their host in a space transformed and a plot that they are just as much a part of. In a show that immerses the audience so completely, it makes sense to use subtle subversive techniques that makes the cast and plot more representative of the audience members, further deepening their sense of immersion and connection to the message.
Shock
Finally one must discuss the production’s use of shock. Throughout the show there are several shocking moments, each of which is carefully executed to ensure it touches the audience as deeply as possible. Further, each pull of the rug helps to drive home some of the show’s themes. This use of shock is the main way by which the show enforces its messaging at seeks to make change socially.
The first moment is in the song “If You Could See Her” This song is performed by
BIlly Porter as the Emcee. We see the Emcee dancing to kitschy music with a gorilla.
They waltz around the stage, singing and dancing. Repeatedly talking about how much he loves her and how he wishes people would be more accepting of their love. He speaks of her virtues saying, “She’s clever, she’s smart, she reads music.” As the song goes on the audience is treated to an emotional downtempo in the songs composition. The Emcee speaks directly to the audience, “Meine dammen un herren, madames and missuers, ladies and genlement. Is it a crime to fall in love?” He continues to speak about the way their love is looked down on in society, and how he wishes they could be left alone together. The rug is finally pulled from beneath the audience in the final line of the song. “But if you could see her through my eyes… she wouldn’t look jewish at all.”
This song makes use of immersion and subversion before finally shocking the audience back to reality. They are jolted by the realization that this comedic song about a man and his hideous gorilla partner, is actually an allegory for racism. Even the audience fails to see this woman through the Emcee’s eyes, laughing at his foolishness until the final cord plays and we realize that people look down on her not because she’s an animal, but because of her heritage.
Another shocking moment is at the bottom of act one when the cast sings “Tomorrow Belongs to Me”. In this production this happens while the emcee is dressed in a skeletal gown, his hair resembling a german helmet, and the ensemble wear funerary shrouds. They sing take the stage before removing their veils to reveal their club garb beneath, before each of them lines up a wooden doll. The dolls are effigies of young children, wearing nazi uniforms, marching in place. As the round stage begins to spin we see the hitler youth walking ever onward as the case of revelers sing a traditional german folk song, that was co opted by the Nazi party. “The branch on the linden is leafy and green, the rhine gives it’s gold to the sea, but somewhere a glory awaits unseen, tomorrow belongs to me.”
This song is a gut punch to the audience, once again reminding them of the strife that boils just below the surface. The show is glamorous, the lights are bright and the characters party as the world slips into chaos. It leaves the viewer with a question. Will they be able to escape their fate? The answer comes in the final number.
The Emcee takes center stage as the main cast surrounds him. They break into a final rendition of the opening number “Willkommen.” The cast sings about the beauty of the cabaret, entreating the guest to stay and rest. They entice the audience with the premise that, like the characters, if they revel and folly while the world burns then they will be saved from the flames. The final line comes. “Where are your troubles now? Forgotten? I told you so! We have no troubles here.” With that the music cuts. And the cast tears away their club garb to reveal striped uniforms, like those worn by detainees in concentration camps.
This final shock to the audience, coupled with the music of the show reminds the audience of the productions main theme. No matter how hard you try to run from the world around you, all the ways we try to escape, they only invite it in and prove futile.
To summarize, Cabaret has always been a subversive musical. It encourages the audience to think about an old topic in new ways. Yet this newest production truly reimagines the story. They use immersive techniques to lull the audience into a sense of security, making them just as complacent as the characters they are viewing. By including modern themes and additions to the plot, they create a subversive new take.
Then it shocks the audience with deep cuts of reality that remind us that we must not be blind to what happens around us, no matter how much things sparkle and shine.