Cabaret (Revised 1987)

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Cabaret (Revised 1987)

Full-Length Musical, Drama  /  3w, 4m

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

Daring, provocative and exuberantly entertaining, Cabaret explores the dark and heady life of Bohemian Berlin as Germany slowly yields to the emerging Third Reich.

Image: 2021 West End Production (Marc Brenner)

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    3w, 4m
  • Duration
    Duration
    More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Adaptation (Literature), Period, Docudrama/History
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult, Pre-Teen (Age 11-13), Teen (Age 14-18)
Accolades
Accolades
  • Winner! Eight 1967 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Composer/Lyricist
    Winner! 1967 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Production
    Winner! 1967 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical
    Winner! Four 1998 Tony Awards for Revival, Actor, Actress, and Featured Actor
    Winner! Three 1998 Drama Desk Awards, for Outstanding Revival, Actor and Actress
    Winner! Three 1998 Outer Critics Circle Awards, for Outstanding Revival, Actor and Actress
    Nominee: Two 2014 Tony Awards, for Featured Actor and Actress
    Winner! Seven 2022 Olivier Awards, including Best Musical Revival
    Nominee: Nine 2024 Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical

Details

Summary

In a Berlin nightclub, as the 1920s draw to a close, a garish Master of Ceremonies welcomes the audience and assures them they will forget all their troubles at the Cabaret. With the Emcee’s bawdy songs as wry commentary, Cabaret explores the dark, heady and tumultuous life of Berlin’s natives and expatriates as Germany slowly yields to the emerging Third Reich. Cliff, a young American writer newly arrived in Berlin, is immediately taken with English singer Sally Bowles. Meanwhile, Fräulein Schneider, proprietor of Cliff and Sally’s boarding house, tentatively begins a romance with Herr Schultz, a mild-mannered fruit seller who happens to be Jewish. Musical numbers include “Willkommen,” “Cabaret,” “Don't Tell Mama” and “Two Ladies.”

Professional Artwork Available for Your Production of Cabaret!
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NOTE: Three Broadway versions of this show (1966, 1987, and 1998) are available for licensing. Though all three follow the same story and share most songs, there are some differences in the script and score for each:

  • Only the Original 1966 version includes “Why Should I Wake Up?” and “Meeskite.”
  • Only this Revised 1987 version includes “Don’t Go.”
  • Only the 1998 version includes “Mein Herr” and “Maybe This Time.”
  • The 1966 and 1987 versions include “The Telephone Song” and “Sitting Pretty.” The 1998 version does not.
  • The 1987 and 1998 versions include “The Money Song” and “I Don’t Care Much.” The Original 1966 version does not.
  • The three versions differ in their treatment of the character of Cliff: In the Original 1966 version, there is no suggestion that he may be gay or bisexual. In this Revised 1987 version, his bisexuality is implied, and in the 1998 version, he is clearly gay or bisexual.

All three versions include “Willkommen,” “So What,” “Don’t Tell Mama,” “Perfectly Marvelous,” “Two Ladies,” “It Couldn’t Please Me More (The Pineapple Song),” “Tomorrow Belongs to Me,” “Married,” “If You Could See Her” and “Cabaret.”

History
Cabaret opened on Broadway on November 20, 1966, and played for 1,165 performances at the Broadhurst, Imperial, and Broadway Theatres. The London production ran for 336 performances at the Palace Theatre. The show was revised for Broadway, first in 1987, when it played for 261 performances at the Imperial and Minskoff Theatres, and again in 1998 at Studio 54, where it played for 2,377 performances. In 2014, Cabaret returned to Broadway at Studio 54, playing an additional 388 performances.

Act I

Germany, New Year’s Eve, 1929: The Master of Ceremonies, or Emcee, welcomes the audience to the Kit Kat Klub, a seedy Berlin nightspot (“Willkommen”). Meanwhile, in a railway car, an aspiring young American writer named Clifford Bradshaw heads towards Berlin in hopes of finding inspiration for a new novel. Cliff meets Ernst Ludwig, a German who appears to be in the smuggling business. When Cliff inadvertently helps him, Ernst recommends a boarding house in Berlin. Fräulein Schneider, the proprietress of the boarding house, offers Cliff a room for one hundred marks. When he hesitates, she accepts half the usual price; years of oppression have left her weary but pragmatic (“So What?).

On his first night in Berlin, Cliff visits the Kit Kat Klub. The Emcee introduces a young English singer named Sally Bowles, who performs a provocative number called “Don’t Tell Mama.” Sally flirts and tries to shock Cliff. Intrigued, Cliff invites her home, but she refuses, explaining that her boyfriend Max, owner of the club, “is most terribly jealous." The telephone on Cliff’s table rings; the guests at the Kit Kat Klub flirt with one another via an internal phone system (“The Telephone Song”).

The next day, as Cliff finishes teaching an English lesson to Ernst, Sally suddenly appears in Cliff's room with her baggage. Max has thrown her out, and she convinces Cliff (and Fräulein Schneider) to let her move in (“Perfectly Marvelous”). The Emcee and two companions sing a bawdy number about cohabitation (“Two Ladies”).

Herr Schultz, a Jewish fruit seller, woos Fräulein Schneider with the gift of a costly pineapple (“It Couldn't Please Me More”). In the Kit Kat Klub, a young waiter starts to sing a song—a patriotic anthem to the Fatherland that slowly descends into a darker, Nazi-inspired march ("Tomorrow Belongs to Me").

Months pass. Cliff is getting nowhere with his novel, but has grown accustomed to life with Sally (“Don’t Go”). Sally reveals that she is pregnant. After the initial shock, Cliff is excited by the prospect of fatherhood. Ernst arrives and offers Cliff a job smuggling a briefcase into Germany, and Cliff accepts. The Emcee comments on everyone’s need for cash (“The Money Song/Sitting Pretty”).

Meanwhile, Fräulein Schneider has caught one of her boarders, Fräulein Kost, soliciting sailors in her room. Fräulein Kost notes Fräulein Schneider’s hypocrisy; she has seen Herr Schultz spend the night in Fräulein Schneider’s room. To save Fräulein Schneider’s reputation, Herr Schultz declares they are engaged to be wed in three weeks (“Married”).

At the engagement party, Cliff hands Ernst the smuggled suitcase in exchange for an envelope full of cash. Ernst removes his coat, revealing a swastika armband. Realizing that Herr Schultz is Jewish, Ernst goes to leave, but Fräulein Kost stops him, singing “Tomorrow Belongs To Me.” As Cliff, Sally, Herr Schultz and Fräulein Schneider look on, the entire ensemble joins in singing the Nazi anthem.

Act II

The second act begins with the Kit Kat Girls and the Emcee, in drag, dancing in a kick-line that morphs into a goosestep. Fräulein Schneider expresses her concerns about marrying Herr Schultz, but he assuages her fears (“Married” Reprise). But their moment of reconciliation is interrupted by the crash of a brick thrown through the window of Herr Schultz’s shop. At the Kit Kat Klub, the Emcee performs a duet with a female gorilla, explaining that society will not accept their love (“If You Could See Her”).

Fräulein Schultz breaks off her engagement to Herr Schultz (“What Would You Do?”). Cliff decides to take Sally back to America where they can raise the baby together. Sally protests, declaring how wonderful their life in Berlin is, and Cliff sharply tells her to "wake up" and take notice of the growing unrest around them. As the Emcee sings a rueful ballad (“I Don’t Care Much”), Cliff and Sally brutally waken each other to the truth. At the Kit Kat Klub, Cliff and Ernst argue, and Ernst's Nazi bodyguards beat Cliff and drag him out. On stage, the Emcee introduces Sally, who enters to perform again, singing that "life is a cabaret, old chum," cementing her decision to live in carefree ignorance ("Cabaret").

The next morning, as Cliff is packing to leave, Herr Schultz explains that he is moving to another boardinghouse, confident that the bad times will soon pass. He understands the German people, he says, because he is a German too. When Sally returns, she reveals that she’s had an abortion; Cliff slaps her. As Cliff leaves, Sally asks him to dedicate his novel to her.

On the train to Paris, Cliff begins to write his novel, reflecting on his experiences: "There was a cabaret, and there was a master of ceremonies, and there was a city called Berlin, in a country called Germany... and it was the end of the world." (“Willkommen” Reprise). In the Kit Kat Klub, the Emcee welcomes the audience (“Willkommen”), but it is now harsh and violent. He sings, "Auf Wiedersehen...à bientôt..." followed by a crescendo drum roll and a cymbal crash.

Principals
(3 female; 4 male)

Master of Ceremonies (Emcee) — the host at the Kit Kat Klub
Clifford Bradshaw — an American novelist
Fräulein Schneider — a landlady who rents rooms in her large flat
Herr Schultz — one of Frl. Schneider’s roomers and the proprietor of a fruit shop
Fräulein Kost — another of Frl. Schneider’s roomers. Earns a living by offering favors to sailors
Sally Bowles — a British cabaret singer at the Kit Kat Klub
Ernst Ludwig — a friendly and likeable German

Supporting Roles
Telephone Girl — also Lady #1 in No. 8 “Two Ladies” and Klub Girl #1 in No. 6 “Telephone Dance”
Customs Officer — also Maitre D’ at the Kit Kat Klub
Two Ladies — #1 also Telephone Girl in No. 4 "Telephone Song";
#2 also Klub Girl #4 in No. 6 "Telephone Dance"
Maitre D‘ — also Customs Officer
Max — Sally’s jealous Klub acquaintance. Non-speaking ensemble dancer
Kissing Couple — He: also Second Sailor. She: also Lady #2 in “Two Ladies”
3 German Sailors — ensemble dancers. Second and Third Sailors are non-speaking
Second Sailor is also Kissing Man in No. 6 "Telephone Dance"
5 Kit Kat Klub Girls — ensemble singers. Girl #4 is also Lady #2 in “Two Ladies”
5 Klub Waiters — ensemble singers
Bobby — ensemble dancer
Victor — ensemble dancer
Assistant Customs Officer — non-speaking
Taxi Man — non-speaking
Gorilla — non-speaking
2 Nazi Guards — non-speaking
Girl Orchestra (Stage Band) — tenor saxophone, trombone, drums and piano/accordion

Ensemble
Company SATB singers and dancers, Klub Patrons and Fruit Shop Guests.

The original Broadway production had a cast of 27 performers, including chorus. Some doubling was employed in the minor parts, as outlined above.

  • Time Period 1930s, 1920s
  • Setting The Kit Kat Klub, a seedy nightclub in Berlin. New Year's Eve, 1929.
  • Features Period Costumes
  • Additional Features Not Applicable, Drag Performance
  • Duration More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • Cautions
    • Alcohol
    • Mild Adult Themes
    • Smoking

Media

Videos

  • Joel Grey discusses Cabaret youtube thumbnail

    Joel Grey discusses Cabaret

Photos

  • Cabaret (Revised 1987)

    Image: 2021 West End Production (Marc Brenner)

  • Cabaret (Revised 1987)

    Image: 2014 Roundabout Theatre Company Production (Joan Marcus)

  • Cabaret (Revised 1987)

    Image: 2014 Roundabout Theatre Company Production (Joan Marcus)

  • Cabaret (Revised 1987)

    Image: 2014 Roundabout Theatre Company Production (Joan Marcus)

  • Cabaret (Revised 1987)

    Image: 2014 Roundabout Theatre Company Production (Joan Marcus)

  • Cabaret (Revised 1987)

    Image: © Justin “Squigs” Robertson

Show more +

Music

Music Samples

Act I

1. “Willkommen” – M.C., Chorus of Klub Girls & Waiters, Stage Band & Orchestra
2. “Welcome To Berlin” – M.C.
3. “So What?” – Fraulein Schneider
4. “Telephone Song” – Klub Girl
5. “Don’t Tell Mama” – Sally & Chorus of Klub Girls
5a. Underscore: Don’t Tell Mama – Stage Band
6. “Telephone Dance” – Cliff and Chorus of Klub Girls & Male Patrons
6a.  Telephone Tag – Orchestra
7. “Perfectly Marvelous” – Sally & Cliff
8. “Two Ladies” – M.C. & Two Klub Girls
9. “It Couldn’t Please Me More (Pineapple Song)” – Schneider & Schultz
10. “Tomorrow Belongs To Me” – M.C. and Chorus of Waiters
11. Change of Scene – Orchestra
12. “Don’t Go” – Cliff
13. “The Money Song & Sitting Pretty” – M.C., Chorus of Klub Girls, & Bankers
14. Playoff & Scene Change – Orchestra
15. “Married” – Schultz & Schneider
15a. End of Scene 11 – Orchestra
15b. Opening Scene 12 – Stage Band
16. Fruit Shop Dance – Orchestra
17. Incidental: The Scene Continues – Stage Band
18. Reprise: “Tomorrow Belongs To Me” – Kost, Ernst, Chorus of Guests, Stage Accordion, & Orchestra

Act II

19. Entr’acte – Stage Band
20. “Kick Like No. 1” – M.C. & Chorus of Klub Girls
20a. Kick Line No. 2 – Orchestra
21. Reprise: “Married” – Schultz
22. “If You Could See Her” – M.C.
23. Incidental & Underscore – Orchestra
24. “What Would You Do?” – Schneider
25. “I Don’t Care Much” – M.C.
25a. Cabaret Incidental – Stage Band
26. “Cabaret” – Sally
27. Incidental: Break Up – Orchestra
28. Finale Ultimo – Full Company, Stage Band, & Orchestra
29. Bows – Full Company
30. Exit Music – Orchestra

Full Orchestration

Reed 1: Flute, Piccolo, Clarinet, Eb Clarinet (or Bb Clarinet), Soprano Saxophone & Alto Saxophone
Reed 2: Flute (or Clarinet), Piccolo (or Clarinet), Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Soprano Saxophone & Alto Saxophone
Reed 3: Clarinet, Soprano Saxophone & Tenor Saxophone
Reed 4: Bassoon (or Bass Clarinet), Clarinet & Baritone Saxophone
Reed 5: Oboe & English Horn

Horn
Trumpet 1 &2 (1st doubling Flugelhorn)
Trombone 1 (Tenor, doubling Baritone or Euphonium)
Trombone 2 (Bass)

Percussion:

Bass Drum, Snare Drum, 2 Tom-toms, Floor Tom, High Bongo, Hi-Hat, Suspended Cymbals (Small, Chinese, Top, Crash, Ride), Cowbell, 2 Wood Blocks, 2 Temple Blocks, Timpani (2 drums), Bells, Xylophone, Triangle, Ratchet, Bird Whistle & Siren Whistle

Guitar/Banjo
Synthesizer: Registrations for Accordion, Celeste, String Pad, Harp, Pipe Organ, Pedal Steel Guitar (with various pitch wheel settings) & optional Cash Register SFX
Piano

Violin 1 & 2 (3 stands)
Viola (1 stand)
Cello (1 stand)
Bass

Stage Band Tenor Saxophone [cued in Reed III part]
Stage Band Trombone [cued in Trombone I part]
Stage Band Piano (doubling Accordion) [cued in Piano and Synthesizer parts, respectively]
Stage Band Percussion [cued in Percussion part]: Bass Drum, Snare Drum, Tom-tom, Hi-Hat, Suspended Cymbal, Cowbell & Wood Block

Flexible Combo (Flexbo) Instrumentation

The Flexbo is the best way to have the advantage of orchestral writing while using a smaller ensemble. The foundation of a Broadway orchestration is the rhythm section: Piano, Bass and Drums. The remainder of the orchestra — woodwinds, brass and strings — are the “melodic” parts added to provide richness, depth and tonal color. The number of players required for these added parts may be as few as nine and more often twenty to twenty-five. The four Flexbo parts, A, B, C and D, contain the essential musical lines heard from the “melodic” instruments in the full orchestration. While the best results will be achieved using all four Flexbo parts, they have been cued so that even fewer of them can be used.

1 Flexbo A: Trumpet, doubling Flugelhorn
1 Flexbo B: Alto Saxophone, Clarinet & optional Flute
1 Flexbo C: Tenor Saxophone & Clarinet
1 Flexbo D: Trombone with optional Bass trigger

1 Percussion:

Bass Drum, Snare Drum, 2 To-toms, Floor Tom, High Bongo, Hi-Hat, Suspended Cymbals (Small, Chinese, Top, Crash, Ride), Cowbell, 2 Wood Blocks, 2 Temple Blocks, Timpani (2 drums), Bells, Xylophone, Triangle, Ratchet, Bird Whistle & Siren Whistle

1 Guitar/Banjo
1 Synthesizer: Registrations for Accordion, Celeste, String Pad, Harp, Pipe Organ, Pedal Steel Guitar (with various pitch wheel settings) & optional Cash Register SFX
1 Piano (playing from the Piano-Conductor’s Score)
1 Bass

The Flexbo arrangement has been designed to sound complete when played by Piano only, or with the addition of one to eight players. The Piano is essential and must use the Piano-Conductor’s Score.

Parts A, B, C and D must be added in alphabetical order. (Part B may not be used without Part A, etc.)

The rhythm section players may be added to the Piano in any sequence, although Bass and one Percussion (on trap set) are more valuable than the three remaining parts: the Guitar, the Synthesizer and the second Percussion (on mallet instruments).

All Stage Band music is included in the following parts:

Stage Band Tenor Saxophone [cued in Flexbo B]
Stage Band Trombone [cued in Flexbo A]
Stage Band Piano (doubling Accordion): Piano-Conductor’s Score [Accordion also cued in Synthesizer part]
Stage Band Percussion [cued in Percussion part]

  • Musical Style Classic Broadway
  • Dance Requirements Easy
  • Vocal DemandsModerate
  • Orchestra Size Medium
  • Chorus Size No Chorus

Licensing & Materials

  • PLEASE BE ADVISED: There are multiple versions of this title. Before you proceed, please double-check to ensure that you are applying for the version you want. We will not be able to refund rental or shipping fees if you pay for the wrong version.

    For additional information regarding the various versions of CABARET, see A Guide to Cabaret in Breaking Character.

    If you’re still not sure which version best suits your needs, you may purchase a perusal for each available version.

    CABARET (ORIGINAL 1966)

    CABARET (REVISED 1987)

    CABARET (1998 VERSION)

Music Rentals

Concord offers a full suite of resources to help you put on the show of a lifetime!
Full Package:
1 Piano-Conductor
15 Libretto-Vocal
1 Reed 1
1 Reed 2
1 Reed 3
1 Reed 4
1 Reed 5
1 Horn
2 Trumpet 1 & 2
1 Trombone 1
1 Trombone 2
1 Percussion
1 Guitar
1 Synthesizer
1 Piano
3 Violin 1 & 2
2 Viola
1 Cello
1 Bass
1 Stage Band Saxophone
1 Stage Band Trombone
1 Stage Band Piano
1 Stage Band Percussion

Flexbo:
1 Piano-Conductor
15 Libretto-Vocal
1 Flexbo A
1 Flexbo B
1 Flexbo C
1 Flexbo D
1 Percussion
1 Guitar
1 Synthesizer
1 Piano
1 Bass
1 Piano-Conductor
15 Libretto-Vocal

Add-Ons

Take a look below at how you can enhance your show!

Authors

Joe Masteroff

Born in 1919 in Philadelphia, Joe Masteroff had only one dream from infancy: to write for the theatre. After the essential lonely childhood and four-year stint in the Air Force, he came to New York to face his future: book writer or book seller? Luckily, luck intervened. Befo ...

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John Van Druten

John William Van Druten (June 1, 1901 – December 19, 1957) was an English playwright and theatre director. He began his career in London, and later moved to America, becoming a U.S. citizen. He was known for his plays of witty and urbane observations of contemporary life and ...
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Christopher Isherwood

Christopher Isherwood was a novelist, playwright, screen-writer, autobiographer, and diarist. He was homosexual and made this a theme of some of his writing. He was born near Manchester in the north of England in 1904, became a U.S. citizen in 1946, and died at home in Santa ...
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John Kander

John Kander is a Tony, Emmy and Grammy-winning composer, a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors Award, and a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame. With frequent collaborator Fred Ebb, he composed the score to dozens of Broadway musicals, including Cabaret, Zorba, Chi ...

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Fred Ebb

Fred Ebb (1933–2004) was an award-winning lyricist, librettist and director who frequently and successfully collaborated with composer John Kander. Ebb's work for the theatre included Flora, The Red Menace; Cabaret; The Happy Time; Zorba; 70, Girls, 70; Chicago; The Act; Woma ...

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