Search - Fred Ebb :: Cabaret (Original Broadway Cast)

A Classic

Tom George | Wash. DC | 07/22/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you want to hear Cabaret well sung, get the film soundtrack. Liza Minelli is sublime, and adapting the role of Sally Bowles to suit her talents was a stroke of genius, and part of the reason why so many consider the movie (arguably) a masterpiece.



If you want to hear it performed in the true spirit in which it was written, get the OBC. Not for Jill Hayworth as Sally, or even Joel Grey as the Emcee, both are excellent, but get it for Lotte Lenya as Frau Schneider. Her throaty, raspy, accented singing style is totally captivating. Her duets with Jack Gilford (also perfectly cast in the best role of his long career) are charming and bittersweet. But the real reason, and I think the core to Cabarets story, is the song, What Would You Do? It is gut wrenching, her delivery is full of pain, yearning and bewilderment. She asks the question that I'm sure thousands of Germans asked, pre-WWII, in the event of having to sacrifice or face painful consequences. No easy or pleasant answer, and what Cabaret is really about, the sacrifices each character must make, and the choices they have to choose."

A great original cast recording........

D. Pawl | Seattle | 05/14/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have never seen the film version of CABARET, nor the stage version. Yet, when I first heard the vinyl version of this original cast recording, I felt like I was in the audience, watching the creepy Master of Ceremonies (the wonderful and understatedly sleezy Joel Grey), beautiful British Sally Bowles (Jill Haworth), and her American boyfriend, Cliff (Bert Convy), from my seat on at mezzanine level, with a pair of field glasses on opening night!



The plot of CABARET is a bit elaborate, so, I won't go into details, here. What's more, giving away too much plot will ruin your experience. This is a musical that you just have to experience for yourself. Set during the height of Nazi occupation, the cabaret is the one venue people go to escape war and pain. The sleezy underworld of the cabaret runs rampant with sexual innuendo, dancing girls and hedonism. The Master of Ceremonies (Grey) presents sexy dancers, a dancing gorilla and welcome everyone to the venue in three languages ("Wilkommen"). Due to fate, he encounters Sally Bowles (Jill Haworth), a free spirited performer who falls in love with Cliff, an American (Burt Convey).



Okay, no more plot. I will tell you this. The music is catchy, wickedly bawdy and full of entendre. Written by John Kander and Fred Ebb, it examines the ins and outs of cultural clash, identity and human violence. The instrumental is deceptively peppy, as if to conceal a reality that the performers are desperately trying to hide. I reccomend this as an engrossing period piece, as well as a great example of the musical theater repertoire."

Je suis enchanté!

Joan Stewart Smith | USA | 10/20/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Get a group of baby boomers together and ask each what vinyl album he or she played to near extinction. In my case, I wore out my "Cabaret (Original Broadway Cast)" with the bright yellow album cover.



I cannot tell you how many hot tears fell upon that spinning black disc, how many times I sang the title song at the top of my lungs "alone in my room" along with Jill Haworth as Sally Bowles, a wondrous affirmation of life. Every scratch on that vinyl is like a groove on my heart.



I was thrilled to find this 1998 rerecording on audio CD, released the same year as the Broadway revival. Like memory itself, some of the tracks are different from the 1966 vinyl release. Much to my delight, it also included four previously unreleased Kander & Ebb demo cuts with brief intros. Although one cannot dispute that the Bob Fosse-directed movie with Liza Minnelli deserved its eight Oscars, the original Broadway cast recording is definitely worth exploring!



What's more, both the original Broadway production and film share the incomparable Joel Grey, who won both the Tony and the Oscar for his role as the Master of Ceremonies. Whatever version, Joel beckons to us, "Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome! Im Cabaret, au Cabaret, to Cabaret!""