Cabaret the Musical

A new revival of the classic John Kander and Fred Ebb musical Cabaret in London directed by Rufus Norris.

Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome, in cabaret, au cabaret, to cabaret!

John Kander and Fred Ebb's legendary landmark musical Cabaret turns Weimar Berlin of 1931 into a dark and sexually charged haven of decadence where its extraordinary and morally ambiguous inhabitants are determined to keep up appearances as the real world - outside the comfortable sanctuary of the cabaret - prepares for the nightmarish chaos of war. It is here that Sally Bowles performs nightly at the infamous Kit Kat Klub in "a shimmering masterpiece of a show guaranteed night after night! It's divine decadence darling!"

"A breathtaking new production" The Daily Express

Cabaret the Musical has book by Joe Matseroff, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, and is was based on John van Druten's play I Am A Camera which in turn took its inspiration from Christopher Isherwood's Berlin stories Goodbye to Berlin. Originally seen on Broadway in 1966 where it won eight Tony Awards including for Best Musical and Best Composer and Lyricist, Cabaret the Musical is best known for the 1972 film version which starred Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey and Michael York and which won eight Oscars. This major London revival of Cabaret the Musical is directed by the award-winning director Rufus Norris. The choreography is by the internationally renowned Javier De Frutos, who has won a South Bank Award for his work and created pieces for The Royal New Zealand Ballet and The Rambert Dance Company.

Please Note: This show contains both male and female full frontal nudity and so in not appropriate for children.

"Rufus Norris' production is the most stunningly fresh and imaginative revival of a classic musical I have ever seen. A musical masterpiece rediscovered in a masterpiece of a production"
The Independent

"Cabaret does work as a good-night-out musical in that some of John Kander and Fred Ebb's big numbers play on in the head long after the curtain has come down. This production is far, far more than the sum of its tunes... [it] is a compelling production that works on every level." The Sunday Telegraph

"A strong and daring revival of a great musical that combines unforgettable songs with genuinely gripping and disturbing drama" The Daily Telegraph

"A stage set of heavy purple velvet and harsh spotlighting does a good job of suggesting a sleazy Berlin nightspot... Unfortunately... it's all so darned obvious and in your face... there is no erotic charge to this brazen style. A 21st-century audience is hardly prudish, and it isn't going to be shocked by this approach - just bored. Specifically, your imagination is bored: it hasn't anything left to do." The Sunday Times

"Brilliant - Cabaret increasingly looks one of the defining musicals of the post-war era" The Guardian

"This Shaftesbury Avenue production really isn't Norris at his exhilarating artistic best and overall, the evening falls slightly flat. Perhaps having everyone living in a gloomy expressionistic bunker from the outset is a premature downer... Still, Cabaret is food for thought with its anxious portrait of a wantonly self-absorbed, liberal society carelessly dancing its way to destruction and letting xenophobia creep in en route." The Independent on Sunday

"Rufus Norris' superbly dark, edgy production succeeds brilliantly" The Financial Times

The fall of the German Empire resulted in the birth of the Weimar Republic - a democratic government that fostered liberalism and paved the way for a mini cultural revolution. Thus Berlin in the 1920s gained an 'anything goes' reputation. The cabaret was particularly renowned for its taboo breaking with risque songs that challenged traditional ideas of morality. Despite the liberal themes of the songs, however, some performers had an ambiguous relationship with their material, and it wasn't always clear whether they were seeking to celebrate or lampoon diversity. Much of the material was of the nudge-nudge-wink-wink variety, more sensationalist than truly transgressive, and a good percentage of the 'degeneracy' was staged for the voyeuristic tourists who visited in droves.

What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play...

A seemingly detached stance is at the heart of Christopher Isherwood's 1939 short novel, Goodbye to Berlin, in which the narrator opens with the now-famous lines: "I am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking. Recording the man shaving at the window opposite and the woman in the kimono washing her hair. Some day, all this will have to he developed, carefully printed, fixed." Of course, in reality Isherwood was no passive observer. The very act of selecting and recording these specific events meant he was taking a position, and the result was a nuanced novel that is now regarded as one of the most politically significant of the 20th century. Indeed, Time magazine included it in its recent list of the 100 greatest English-language novels written since 1923. The episodic nature of the material made Goodbye to Berlin perfect for a stage adaptation and in 1951 Isherwood's friend John Van Druten turned it into the play I Am A Camera. Streamlining the book to focus on a handful of characters, the play and its subsequent film version were a huge success and put Isherwood on the literary map. Hal Prince then took the material a step further when he collaborated with librettist Joe Masteroff and composing team John Kander and Fred Ebb to produce the first musical version. Cabaret the Musical opened on Broadway on 20 November 1966 and became one of the earliest major 'concept musicals'. It has since gained classic status and is regularly cited as one of the greatest musicals of all time.