Book by Joe Masteroff
Based on the play by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood
Music by John Kander
Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Broadway production directed by Harold Prince
Produced for the Broadway Stage by Harold Prince
At the edge of a collapsing civilisation, on the cusp of 1929 and 1930, a young, aspiring author arrives in Berlin searching for a creative spark. Amid political upheaval, hunger, poverty, and the looming threat of Nazism, Clifford Bradshaw finds small oases of freedom hidden in the shadows, basement clubs, and crumbling rooms.
Taking up residence with the once prosperous but now street-smart Fräulein Schneider, Clifford becomes part of a small urban family of individuals striving to endure and navigate an increasingly challenging future that looms over them. In the concrete maze surrounding Nollendorfplatz, Cliff discovers how much love and hidden beauty can be found even in the darkest times, especially when he encounters Sally Bowles, his muse, his sister, and, perhaps, his soulmate.
The musical Cabaret premiered on Broadway in 1966. It was directed by Harold Prince, with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and a book by Joe Masteroff. The musical is based on John Van Druten’s I Am a Camera, an adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s cult (and partly autobiographical) novel Goodbye to Berlin from 1939.
In Cabaret, Masteroff weaves Van Druten’s play and Isherwood’s novel to bring to the stage a world on the verge of collapse, just before the eruption of a volcano or a great flood. In such a world, some choose death and destruction in the name of the future, while others, pioneers of freedom, greet the coming catastrophe with open arms. These latter ones, the despised, led by Sally Bowles (unforgettably portrayed by Liza Minnelli in Bob Fosse’s film adaptation), would rather face the end dancing or dying of laughter than of politics, boredom, or despair.
Despite the darkness, the filth, and fascism, Clifford and Sally, urban counterparts to Romeo and Juliet, a homosexual man and his Frau, managed to create a fleeting haven of hope in the icy Berlin nights, together dreaming the dreams that were never meant to be fulfilled.
This production of Cabaret, a joint project of the Drama, Opera, and Ballet ensemble, is directed by the beloved choreographer and director Leo Mujić, with Ivan Josip Skender as the conductor.
In 2026, the theatre production Cabaret won the Golden Studio Award for Best Theatre Production of the Year.
Cabaret is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com.
Duration
Part I – 90 minutes
Interval – 20 minutes
Part II – 90 minutes
