Micky Joe (0:00)

Oh, my God. Hey, my name is Micky Joe and Vilkommen, bienvenue. Welcome back to my theatre themed YouTube channel, where today we will be discussing what is without a doubt the biggest theatre news of the day, maybe of the week. Because the award winning, smash hit, immersive West End revival of the Kandernab musical Cabaret is officially going to be transferring to Broadway. Which first of all doesn't really come as a surprise, simply because there have been months of rumours and speculation, innuendo, outuendo. And while not every hugely successful Broadway show comes over to the West End, usually things work pretty well in reverse. That is to say, if something is a decent hit in the West End, it has a pretty good chance of going to Broadway, even if the last Cabaret revival on Broadway wasn't all that long ago. All things considered. In fact, the only real question marks around the transfer of this revival of Cabaret to Broadway have been its casting, which we'll talk about in a bit, and what theatre it might go to. That is because when this revival opened in the West End, it did a huge renovation of what was the Playhouse Theatre and has now been renamed the Kit Kat Club, temporarily renamed the Kitkat Club. Although I say that as if this production has any plans of ever leaving that theatre, which it seems not to. It's doing very well. Not only has the auditorium, which used to have awful sightlines, been converted to a space that is now in the round with audience on either side of the stage, but they've also fully renovated the bar areas and the backstage areas, giving the audience a pathway from the stage door where they enter through an underground bar, up to the main foyer bar and finally into the auditorium. In those spaces you have additional performers who make up the prologue cast, who perform a little bit of an atmospheric pre show inside the auditorium, as well as the staging being in the round, you also have Cabaret tables on both sides fitted with telephones. The whole thing is completely immersive. It wants to transport you to the world of the Kit Kat Club before the show has even begun. And it's very successful in doing so. But with that being such a huge component of the show's success and of its identity, people have been assuming that the production wouldn't want to transfer to Broadway without retaining that same gimmick, shall I say? And thus the question has been, what theatre could possibly accommodate this revival? Well, now we finally have our answer. Although there was speculation that it would be going into the Majestic Theatre, where the Phantom of the Opera has recently closed, a theatre which is currently having a huge renovation. It won't. It will, in fact, be going to the August Wilson Theatre, where Funny Girl is currently playing, and due to close this September. This is exciting to me because this is one of the few Broadway theaters that I have actually been to. I visited this theater when I saw Funny Girl on my New York trip in March of this year. And it's one of the few that has a decent foyer space, which I think is probably a very big factor in why it's been chosen for this show. Americans, if the word foyer is getting lost in translation here, I'm talking about the lobby space that you have in the building before you get into the auditorium, because not every theatre on Broadway really has one to speak of that can actually accommodate a decent number of people. Most theatres in the West End have decent foyer spaces, have decent bar areas, but more commonly on Broadway, many of the bars will actually be situated at the back of the orchestra, which is American for stores. And in a lot of Broadway theatres, as soon as you go through the doors of the building, pretty soon afterwards you are stepping through the doors into the auditorium. But like I said, the August Wilson actually has a decent foyer lobby space. Before you go into the auditorium, it has a bar that's in that space as well. Whether they'll be able to do the same thing about having the audience enter via a stage door and then get redirected up through this basement, I don't know. I love that about the London version of the show. It feels a little bit seedier, a little bit more Berlin nightlife and a little bit less glitzy night on the town in London. And there's so many cool things about that first basement corridor you go through, like how every cast member who's left the show has their portrait that's been kind of, like, sketched onto the wall. There is an attendant there who will offer you a shot of schnapps or of beer or of water. It's just a cool vibe. It's a very cool vibe. And needless to say, with theater ticket prices rising, offering that kind of an immersive experience to ticket holders is something that usually goes down very well. It makes people feel as though they've got a little bit value for money, which is what people want in this day and age. That's why immersive has proven to be such a popular concept here in the West End. We have revivals of Guys and Dolls, even Lord of the Rings. So many shows trying their hand at offering some kind of an immersive pre show element. And that's not just happening in the West End on Broadway. The new musical Here Lies Love has completely renovated its auditorium space with an incredible design by David Corin's that allows audience members to stand amongst this sort of amazing disco staging. Again, offer a unique theatrical experience on top of the material of the show. So now we know that Cabaret is going to be opening on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre, but there's a lot of things that we still don't know. How is this production going to do in New York? I'm going to be letting you know what my thoughts about that are because it's not necessarily a given answer. And critically, who do we think might be starring in it? I'm going to answer both of those questions today. Don't go away. If you enjoyed today's video, make sure to subscribe to my theatre themed YouTube channel for plenty more news, features, reviews, interviews and all things theatre coming very soon. Now let's talk about Cabaret on Broadway. So I want to talk to you about how this revival might do on Broadway. And to do that, we're going to cast our minds backwards just over 20 years. So less than a decade either side of the last millennium. There were two revivals of Cabaret that opened in London, one directed by Sam Mendes at the Donmar Warehouse and another a few years later directed by the current artistic director of the National Theatre, Rufus Norris. This production was in the West End at the Lyric theatre. Now the 90s Donmar production never transferred to the West End, but it did transfer to Broadway in 1998 with Alan Cummings reprising his role opposite the late great Natasha Richardson. The production became a huge success that ran for a significant period with replacement actors including Michael C. Hall and Neil Patrick Harris and Raoul Esparza and Debbie Gibson and Susan Egan, amongst others, as Sally Bowles. But while that production hadn't really caught on fire in the West End, the subsequent revival in 2006, directed by Rufus Norris, did. That production, after its West End run, was then toured around the country by Bill Kenright. It's toured around so many times with Will Young starring as the mc with John Partridge starring as the mc, even returned to London, I believe at one point. I think it played a little run at the Savoy Theatre as Sally Bowles. It's featured Samantha Barks, Michelle Ryan, Louise Redknapp. And so what you have here are two different productions that have had very different success on either side of the Atlantic. Meanwhile, years after the Sam Mendes revival closed on Broadway, it was actually brought back at Studio 54 with Alan Cummings again reprising his role as the MC, this time opposite actresses such as Michelle Williams, Emma Stone and Sienna Miller. What you may be noticing here is that these two leading roles tend to attract a pretty high caliber of performer, but we're going to discuss that more later on. For now, I want to give you a couple more examples that illustrate that shows don't necessarily have the same success on either side of the Atlantic. Look at the recent West End Olivier Award winning play Life of PI that transferred over to Broadway and is unfortunately ending its run early, having won a bunch of Tony Awards for design elements, but not even being nominated for the Tony Award for Best New Play, even though it won the Olivier in the same category. Another similar example would be the Inheritance, mesmerizingly well received over here, winning a bunch of awards. And even though it had some critical love in New York, again, it didn't really set the city on fire. City on fire. What I'm trying to say is that London's success definitely doesn't guarantee New York success. Long running shows like A Chorus Line didn't have that same kind of life in London. Les Mis, which continues to run in London, ultimately didn't run as long in New York. So if I was one of the producers on this cabaret revival, I would say there's a little bit still to be nervous about. Certainly the length of time for which that previous Sam Mendes revival ran in New York is going to prove a memory that it will be challenging to outshine for a lot of theatre goers. But this new revival, which is directed by Rebecca Frecknell, who won an Olivier Award for her work on it, has a bunch of awards to its name as well as consistent love from audiences. In fact, not in recent memory has a show swept the Olivier Awards quite as successfully as Cabaret did. It won every single musical acting category there was to win. And if it has the same critical reception in New York that it did in London and it's beloved by the critics and it goes on to win some Tony Awards, then it can combine that sort of critical love with the fact that it's a well known name. Throw in star casting as well, and you can sort of assume that the show's going to run the star casting part again. We're going to talk about it. We'll get to it. Don't rush me. But I do want to talk briefly about the Tony Awards because we don't know everything that's going to be in this season. There are still some surprises yet to unveil themselves. But we do know that Cabaret would be looking to win the Tony Award for Best revival of a musical. It might hope to take director and design and acting categories as well, but Best revival of a Musical would certainly be a big one for it to take home. And we already know it's going to be up against at least Merrily We Roll along and the Wiz. This is already shaping up to be a pretty big year for revivals. My gut feeling and instinct here is that this has all of the key components it needs in order to be able to succeed in New York. But I am conscious of this lingering shadow of the previous revival. I think maybe, like this recent Funny Girl revival, Cabaret will have a decent life. It might have a slightly stronger start than the Funny Girl revival did, but I don't know if it will go on to run for years and years and years like it's proving to here in London. As always, time will tell. We shall see. Maybe I'll get to see it on Broadway. Right now, I have no idea. Who knows where the winds will take us? For now, I've kept you waiting long enough. It's time to speculate wildly about who might be starring in the thing. Let's talk about casting. So at this point, the writing is very much on the wall that Eddie Redmayne is presumably going to be continuing with the show and starring as the mc. He opened the show here in London. He was a big force in getting it off the ground. He was kind of essentially was almost part of the creative team, basically. He acknowledged in his Olivier Awards speech that he kind of cast himself in the role. And he also had some say on the casting of Sally Bowles because he gave an interview where he said that Jesse Buckley, who played the role opposite him, they both won Olivier Awards. They were great. I saw them. I loved it. He said that she was his pick for Sally, which is interesting, questionably misogynistic, but also interesting. Now, if rumors are to be believed, Eddie Redmayne will once again be donning a series of wigs and a little party hat and playing the mc. But Jessie Buckley apparently is not returning as Sally Bowles. I don't know why this is. I don't know if she was holding out for more money. I don't know if maybe we're gonna have a surprise and maybe they will both return to their roles. I don't know if it's because she's working on a film. I don't know if she just doesn't want to do the show again. It was a pretty vulnerable and physically demanding performance that she gave when I saw her in the show. But you'd have to assume for someone to turn down the chance to play Sally Bowles in Cabaret on Broadway and open this new production and be eligible for Tony Awards, that they'd have to have a pretty good reason not to go for it. I'd say yes to that. And I'm not really right for the role, nor am I a trained actor, honestly. I just want to wear the green fur coat. There's always the possibility that Eddie Redmayne, being a slightly more well known movie star than Jessie Buckley, who has tended to star in more sort of smaller indie films and supporting roles, is definitely gaining traction in her career, but is not an Eddie Redmayne level of star yet. Potentially. She was not actually offered first refusal on Broadway because they want a bigger name. At the end of the day, it's names that are selling tickets. Hugh Jack and Sutton Foster both in the Music Man. He was not the only name. Back when A Little Night Music was last revived on Broadway, Angela Lansbury stipulated she did not want to be the only star name in the show, which is why Catherine Zeta Jones replaced Hannah Waddingham who was meant to be in the show. Yes, that is true and yes, I'm devastated she didn't get to do it in New York. But if that is true, who are these producers hoping to cast on Broadway? Well, because the theater industry is full of gossip mongers and rumors have been swirling around, there are several names in contention as of right now. The name that I'm currently seeing everywhere is Michaela diamond, the Tony Award nominated star of Parade opposite Ben Platt. She's having a very exciting career at the moment. She was kind of launched onto the scene as the youngest of three Cher's in the Cher show and she was fantastic as Lucille Frank in Parade. I think the best part of that show now I could absolutely see her as Sally Bowles and this would be a very interesting combination of performers to have the movie star opposite the legit Broadway performer who's had great acclaim as an actress. Again, it's a little bit music man, Hugh Jackman, Sutton Foster combination. She is American and on some previous occasions Broadway has opted to have an actual English actress playing the English Sally Bowles, like the late great Natasha Richardson who won the Tony award in the 98 revival. But I have faith in Michaela's ability to give you an accent. She did share. She did the south. Presumably she can also do British. Now, by the time you're watching this video, Michaela might even have been announced as Sally Bolsh. But on the off chance that she hasn't been, let me tell you a couple of other names that I've heard and some that I just think might be a good idea. So in terms of actresses I've heard rumoured for this role, there has been talk about Julia Garner, who was meant to be starring as Madonna in the Madonna biopic. Currently, the role of Sally Bowles in London is being played by American actress Maud Apatow, who not too long ago was starring off Broadway as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors. And there was a little bit of discourse about is she being brought to London so she can practice the role so that, like Eddie Redmayne, she will have already played it if they want to open with her on Broadway? I'm not too sure. I think she's a decent actress, but I don't think she really has the same kind of calibre to her name at this point as some of the other options floating around. But if that is the case, then we should also be considering Madeline Brewer from Orange Is the New Black, who was the third Sally Bowles to play the role in this London production. There is also Adrienne Warren, who won a Tony Award for playing Tina Turner. Up to this point. The casting of the MC and Sally in the this particular revival of Cabaret has been disappointingly non diverse. It would be fantastic to have a black actress playing Sally Bowles. In fact, this is a production that's been quite careful with authenticity in its casting and has made some quite deliberate choices. For example, the Jewish character Herr Schultz has been consistently played by Jewish actors. So it would be interesting for Michaela Diamond, a Jewish actress, to be playing Sally Bowles, a character who discernibly is not Jewish and doesn't really like. She's sympathetic to the potential plight of the Jewish people under the rise of fascism, but it's not her biggest concern. While we've been wondering who will play Sally Ann Cabaret, we've also been wondering what Lea Michele might do next, because she gave an interview to say her next job was already lined up. And it was, I believe she confirmed it was going to be another Broadway show and she said musically something completely different to Funny Girl. And it's that part of the interview that makes me think it's not going to be Cabaret, because I don't think you'd look at the scores for Cabaret and Funny Girl and call them completely different. They're from a similar era. They're not a million miles apart stylistically, and it would be great for her to just completely escape things she's already done on Glee. We've already heard her sing. Maybe this time her version of it is, let's be honest, so iconic that now that's the version that everyone auditions with. They do all of her choices at the end. I've heard it, so have you. But I'm gonna go on record and say it's probably not gonna be Lea Michele. Another name that has been mentioned, Billie Piper. Now, apparently she has been courted for the London production and she has twice been seen at the show, once for a gala night performance. This is not a coincidence. They say there's no smoke without fire. And there's been a lot of smoke around Billy Piper possibly being in cabaret. And when you get a big star like that, there are a lot of negotiations that have to happen in terms of casting. They'd have conversations, they'd be back and forth. And when they're trying to convince her to take this role, they do things like invite her to the gala. Come, Billy, see the show. See if you'd like to be a part of it. She's seen it twice now. I have to believe they have been trying to get her into this production, but potentially, would she open it on Broadway instead? I don't know how known Billie Piper is to an American audience. She's had a decent career here. She's had some acclaim recently as a legitimate actress on stage. Prior to that, she became a household name and is known to many audiences as Rose from Doctor who, from the early seasons of the reboot of Doctor who, opposite David Tennant and Christopher Eccleston. And for what it's worth, I think she would be astonishingly good as Sally Bowles. I am desperate to get to see her in the show, but from what it seems like there is a slight reluctance on her part to really pull the trigger. For my part when it comes to Sally Bowles, and in particular in this production, I don't rank being a fantastic singer as the highest of priorities. Someone I think would be great in this role, and I've been saying this for a while now, is Emma Watson. She's never really had that big stage debut and she's kind of musical theatre adjacent because of the live action Beauty and the Beast remake. I believe she was up for Emma Stone's role in La La Land. Emma Stone, who played Sally in the last Broadway revival. There's a comparison there. If I Were the producers of Cabaret, I would certainly be seeing if she was interested. Having seen what Daniel Radcliffe's star power can do for the box office of Merrily We Roll along, the Harry Potter pound is not to be underestimated. Or the Harry Potter dollar I should say. But those are just my thoughts. If you have any other suggestions or rumors about who might be playing Sally in the Broadway production of Cabaret, let us know in the comments section down below. As far as the supporting cast goes, there has been a very deliberate approach to the casting of Cliff in this revival and he has been cast with exclusively non white actors. Now Cliff has very little singing to do in this production. They don't put in his song in the second act. So I could very easily see someone more from the sort of dramatic side from the plays world. At which point we step a little bit out of my area of expertise and I don't really have any great suggestions for you, but I am open to hearing some exciting names. I wouldn't anticipate this being someone like a Jordan Fisher. I would have thought they'd have gone for someone a little bit more legitimate, maybe more of a classical actor. And not least of all because I think it'll be a little while before Jordan Fisher jumps back into a Broadway show. Having left Sweeney Todd early. What does excite me more are some of these other supporting roles. I think Donna Murphy would be a terrific Fraulein Schneider and I think opposite her for a Jewish actor playing Herr Schultz. If Chip Zine wasn't already committed to Harmony, I would be saying his name. But as it stands, I'm going to say Danny Burstein. I think he'd be terrific in this production. This production which has those characters both feeling a little bit more robust, a little more lively, a little bit more comedic, a little bit more passionate and sensual maybe. But equally if they wanted to take Liza Sadovi and Elliot Levy, both of whom won Olivier's for those performances in London, if they wanted to take them over to New York, I wouldn't be mad about that either and neither should Broadway. Then we move on to the character of Fraulein Cost which can so often be a scene stealing and award winning role. Usually if Schneider's not winning the awards, it's cost and this production is one of those that has cost. Also portraying one of the Kit Kat Club dancers, we had Anna Jane Casey with her incredible versatile skill set opening the West End production. And I think there are many talents that could also do the same thing on Broadway. I'm thinking about an Angie Schworer. Charlotte d'amboise is a name that one of my friends recently suggested. I think they'd both be terrific, but if they do things exactly the same way, then the actress playing Fraulein cost Fritzi. The KitKat club dancer also understudies Fraulein Schneider. And once I remember that, then I'm wondering if Bebe Neuwirth might want to do it. I mean, there's years of like veteran Fosse performers who would be terrific in both of those roles. And obviously it goes without saying, I hope they have the same commitment to trans and non binary performers to non white performers. I hope we see a super diverse KitKat club lineup and some really exciting casting. But for now, that has been the end of the dream casting portion of this video. As and when we get any more information about this production, I will be sure to update you either here or on my other social media channels. Ickyjotheatre on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and threads. Now let's see how that ages in this video. But for now, that is everything we know about Cabaret transferring to the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway. I hope you've enjoyed this video. If you did, make sure to to subscribe to my theatre themed YouTube channel. Hit the link in the description down below. If you want to become a channel member. That means you get to see all of my videos a little bit ahead of time. You get some exclusive content as well. I hope everyone is staying safe and that you have a Stagey Day. For ten more seconds. I'm Mickey Jo Theatre. Oh my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a Stagey Day. Subscribe.