At the end of October, the famed musical Cabaret will return to the city of its origin with Berlin’s Bar jeder Vernunft being transformed into the dodgy yet flamboyant Kit Kat Klub of the 1920s.
Set on the eve of the Nazi uprising, Cabaret is the story of Sally Bowles, an English nightclub singer. The musical centers on Bowles’ relationship with Cliff Bradshaw, an American writer, while a subplot features a romance between Fraulein Schneider, a German boarding house owner, and Herr Schultz, a Jewish fruit vendor and one of Schneider’s tenants. An emcee narrates and serves as master of ceremonies at the Kit Kat Klub. The musical tackles a number of issues including abortion and anti-Semitism.
Cabaret is based on John Van Druten’s play, I Am a Camera, which was an adaptation of a collection of short stories called Goodbye to Berlin and the novel Mr. Norris Changes Trains by Christopher Isherwood, an Englishman who lived in Berlin in the 1920s.
As a sidenote: Cabaret is a French word for the cafes or taprooms where the cabaret style of entertainment was hatched. The word is derived from the Middle Dutch cabret, the Old North French camberette and the Late Latin, camera. It basically means “small room.”
The musical has been produced as both a stage play as well as a film. The 1966 Broadway production, a 1,165-performance run, was an instant hit and spawned numerous revivals as well as the 1972 film. The film starred Liza Minnelli as Sally Bowels (they changed Sally into an American for the film version) and was directed by Bob Fosse. The movie received eight Academy Awards, although “The Godfather” beat it for Best Picture. In 2006, the American Film Institute ranked it #5 on the list of best musicals.
In 1998, a second Broadway revival was produced, co-directed by Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall. After 2,377 performances, it became the third longest-running revival in Broadway history. Mendes’ version varied a great deal from the original and many subsequent productions, such as the 2006 version staged in French at the Folies Bergere in Paris, followed his lead.
The current revival of Cabaret stars Anna-Loos Liefers in the role of Sally, Guido Kleineidam as Clifford Bradshaw, and Angela Winkler as Fraulein Schneider. The staging has been adapted by director and choreographer Vincent Paterson, known for his work with Madonna and Michael Jackson as well as the film “Dancer in the Dark.”
Bar jeder Vernunft is located at Schaperstr. 24, 10719 Berlin. For reservations: reservierungen@bar-jeder-vernunft.de.
