Cabaret: Then and Now

Adam Lambert, Auli’I Cravalho to join “Cabaret” Broadway cast. Photo credit: The New York Theatre Guide

I recently learned that Queen frontman Adam Lambert has been cast to play the Master of Ceremonies in the newest Broadway production of Cabaret. The themes in the show are as relevant today as ever.

This version creates an immersive experience. The theater is designed to look like the1920s Berlin Kit Kat Klub with drinks and food even being served. Phones, as seen in the 1972 Liza Minelli movie production, are on the tables so cast members can call audience members.

Adam recognizes how relevant Cabaret is in today’s world. We are still dealing with issues like anti-Semitism, fascism, and women’s rights. Adam talks about how he sees his part as the MC from his own perspective as a gay, Jewish man and how he is seeing these dark trends of the 1930s Berlin in the current world.

Joel Gray played the MC role in the 1972 movie, and Alan Cumming portrayed him in the 1993 Broadway revival. Both actors played the character as MCs and as victims of the Nazi regime. The Alan Cumming version was even more explicit with the MC being imprisoned at the end and killed in the concentration camps.

Alan Cumming Photo Credit: Tumblr

Like Eddie Redmayne’s portrayal of the MC in London 2021, Adam’s portrayal of the role extends beyond entertainer of the Kit Kat Club. It also reflects the soul of Berlin as the city succumbed to Nazism, which is why the MC becomes a sympathizer and not victim of the Nazis. In this current version, as Berlin becomes more corrupted by Nazism, the MC also becomes more corrupt.

Christopher Isherwood inspired Cabaret through his book, Goodbye to Berlin, first published in1934. Isherwood was a gay man living in Berlin during the Nazi occupation. He secretly dated men and was a part of the Berlin gay club night scene.

Christopher hung out with Magnus Hirschfeld, a gay Jewish German man, physician, and sexologist who created a clinic in Berlin. It was a haven for the Berlin gay and trans community. Hirschfeld created identification cards to help Germans transitioning.

Credit: Amazon

Lili Elbe, who Eddie Redmayne brilliantly portrayed in The Danish Girl, was one of Hirschfeld’s clients. Hirschfeld performed one of the early successful gender reassignment surgeries at his clinic. The Nazis tried to kill him many times.

The Nazi authorities were most threatened by Magnus’ belief that gay and being trans were a natural part of human sexuality and gender. The Nazis eventually destroyed Magnus’ clinic with all his research. Luckily, Magnus’ legacy continues to be celebrated by the LGBTQ+ community. In Germany he is a pioneer and hero.

Christopher Isherwood learned early that the Nazis would never tolerate him and other gay Germans. He escaped Berlin with his German boyfriend. He talks about their relationship in a novel he later wrote called Christopher and His Kind: A Memoir, 1929-1939.

Eventually, Christopher moved to California and had a long-term relationship with artist/painter Don Bachardy who Christopher described as the love of his life. Christopher passed away from cancer in 1986, but Don is still alive and continues to talk about how much his relationship with Christopher meant to him.

When asked in an interview why he painted Christoper during his dying days, Don said he wanted to preserve the last moment he had with his lover. It was a way to always remember him.

In this new production of Cabaret, despite the darker moments, there is still hope. This new production celebrates diversity and queerness, including trans people as cast members both on stage and backstage. Auli’I Cravalho, the new lead for Sally Bowles, known for her role as Disney’s Moana, says she feels very supported as an Asian, queer, bisexual actor.

Adam said when he was doing theater in his 20s in the early 2000s, he still experienced some homophobia, with people telling him to “butch it up” and not show his gayness, and not to wear nail polish to rehearsals.

With this production of Cabaret, Adam can be his flamboyant and mischievous self, with the freedom to express the character however he wants. Regardless, the show reminds us that we have a choice.  We do not have to adopt authoritarianism. We can choose a better way.  We can choose love and compassion and celebrate diversity.

The choice is up to us, but Cabaret encourages people to choose freedom of expression for everyone.