The story behind the hit musical Cabaret has existed in one form or another for nearly 90 years. The musical—which was also made into an Oscar-winning film starring Liza Minnelli—was based on the 1951 play I Am a Camera, which in turn was based on Christopher Isherwood’s 1939 novel, Goodbye to Berlin. In all cases, the setting is the last days of Weimar Berlin, where culture is king but disaster looms.
It’s a tale that has drawn audiences over and over again during its long life—a quick trip to the theater side of TikTok offers videos of Cabaret emcees Alan Cumming and Eddie Redmayne with more than half a million views—and now the New Jewish Theatre is bringing their take to St. Louis audiences.
Stay up-to-date with the local arts scene
Subscribe to the weekly St. Louis Arts+Culture newsletter to discover must-attend art exhibits, performances, festivals, and more.
NJT artistic director Rebekah Scallet says that Cabaret, on stage at The J’s Wool Theatre beginning March 20, was a bucket-list show for her for a long time, and one of the first that jumped to mind when she began programming productions for the New Jewish Theatre.
“It fits our mission so perfectly,” Scallet says. “It is a story created by Jewish authors, the great Kander and Ebb…but also obviously the story is super relevant, especially now, with the rise of Nazism and the need to speak up against anti-Semitism and intolerance.”
The NJT production will take audiences into Berlin’s Kit-Kat Club, where the familiar cast of characters—the charismatic, enigmatic club Emcee; British chanteuse Sally Bowles; the Cabaret girls and boys—entertain visitors.
The J’s Wool Theatre provides both challenges and opportunities for the production. In many ways, the black-box theatre is just the kind of small, dark performance space that can easily transform into a Weimar-era nightclub—and it will. Cabaret tables will be added to the space, and the cast will move through and interact with the audience. However, the space constraints also require a small cast, meaning many of the 11 NJT cast members involved in the show are pulling double (or triple) duty throughout the production.
“There’s not a bad seat in the house,” Scallet says. “You get to really see every facial expression, every minute change, so you can engage with the show in a super close-up way that you don’t get when you’re sitting in a balcony. Feeling like you are there, like you’re a member of the club, a part of the action, I think, is really cool.”
It also leaves “nowhere to hide” for the show’s talented cast, which features Spencer Davis Milford as the Emcee, Hailey Medrano as Sally Bowles, and Dustin Lane Petrillo as Cliff.
“It really does put some added pressure on the company because of their number, but I think that’s a really fun opportunity as well,” Scallet says. “We have a really fantastic ensemble made up of all local St. Louis actors, St. Louis designers, and we put this show up fast. We have about three weeks of rehearsal, which is nothing for a show of this size, and I’m just so excited by all the passion and the hard work that they’re putting into it. I think it’s going to be really special.”
The audience at the club is encouraged by the denizens of the Kit-Kat Club to leave their troubles outside, but they gather there, growing ever more pressing. As the Germany outside begins to change, those troubles grasp at the club, its characters, and their very world. It’s a story that has felt all-too-familiar for audiences from the very beginning.
“I think [Cabaret] speaks to the fact that in every generation there continues to be issues or problems that people don’t want to engage with. Cabaret reminds us of how important it is to open our eyes,” Scallet says. “At the end of the show, [Cliff] talks about himself and Sally, reflecting on his time in Berlin that they were ‘dancing and they were both fast asleep.’ And I think the show tells us that we need to wake up.”
