When I was 15 years old, I saw Cabaret for the first time, at a community theater in northeast Ohio. Though I considered myself sophisticated in important ways (I recall that I was wearing a wide-leg Donna Karan bodysuit that evening), my experience as a theatergoer was then limited to The Sound of Music and Ice Capades: Let's Celebrate.
I wonder if my parents, who had season tickets to the theater, knew that the show wasn't exactly "family" entertainment. Set in 1931 Berlin as it careens toward the abyss, Cabaret depicts alternating stories. There's the doomed romance between a fledgling novelist named Clifford Bradshaw and a young singer of supreme charisma (and mediocre talent) named Sally Bowles. And then there's the seedy nightclub, the Kit Kat Club, which is populated with a highly sexualized cast of misfits and overseen by a ghoulish Master of Ceremonies.
The show's ethos-the glamour and terror, the irreverence, the campiness, the unreality-shaped my taste forever, and I knew that I had just experienced one of the greatest works of art ever created. I would never look at theater, or life, in the same way again.
Over three decades later, I've seen more stage productions of Cabaret than any other show, including a revival starring the original Emcee, Joel Grey; I've seen the Bob Fosse film version over 50 times. I've pretty much always got one of Fred Ebb's sardonic lyrics jangling around in my head. Today, it's "You'll never turn the vinegar to jam, mein Herr," and I couldn't agree more.
Youthful exposure to Cabaret also turned out to be a life-changing event for the star of the new production opening this month on Broadway, Eddie Redmayne. "Weirdly, when I was 15, it was the first thing that made me believe in this whole process," he says. Redmayne was a student at Eton when he first played the Emcee; he had never seen Cabaret when he was cast.
Denne historien er fra April 2024-utgaven av Vogue US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra April 2024-utgaven av Vogue US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Machines Like Us
A new musical on Broadway—imported from Seoul—asks age-old questions about romance, mortality, and living life to the fullest. The twist? Robots.
HEAT WAVE
A seductive, feverishly celebrated revival of A Streetcar Named Desire arrives in Brooklyn with a blockbuster cast—including an antihero for the ages.
The End of the Affair
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's new novel, Dream Count, is haunted by the idea of what could have been. Here, she tells the story of her own first love.
ALL IN THE FAMILY
New fiction looks at the ties that bind.
A Singular Man
Haider Ackermann took a call from Tom Ford, and everything changed: Now he's taking the helm of the brand Ford founded.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
With new hotels and resorts, Big Sky, Montana, opens up.
AN EYE ON YVES
Hamish Bowles spent decades collecting the groundbreaking work of Yves Saint Laurent. Now, he writes, it's going on exhibit in the late designer's Marrakech museum.
TWO PRINCES
At a proving moment in men's tennis, a pair of young challengers on either side of the Atlantic are stepping up.
Play time
How does Sabrina Carpenter manage to be modern and nostalgic, girly and glam, sweetly romantic and totally risqué all at the same time? Abby Aguirre meets an irresistible pop conundrum.
Another World
A decade ago the artist Lorna Simpson took up painting for the first time. A monumental new show at The Metropolitan Museum of Art reveals all she's accomplished.
