John Kander & Dame Judi Dench on How CABARET Came to Be

With Cabaret back on Broadway, composer John Kander and original London star Dame Judi Dench have penned a pair of essays for The Guardian, detailing their beginnings in the show, and how it came to be.

In his piece, Kander writes:

"As I see it, I was part of the last generation that was allowed to fail. In 1965, my writing partner Freddie Ebb and I were about to open our first musical, Flora the Red Menace, in New York. Things were not going well, and Hal Prince, the producer, said: "Whatever happens with this show, we'll meet at my house and talk about the next project." Flora opened and it was a terrible flop - but the next day, we were at Hal's house talking about the next show, just as he'd promised. That show turned out to be Cabaret."

His star, Dench, "who was without question the best Sally Bowles I've ever seen in my life," focuses her essay on her trepidation to lead a musical, and opening night nerves:

"Rehearsals were very tough - everything was new to me. There was a very fast dance where I had to jump backwards on to somebody's shoulders - very exciting - and the score was different from anything I'd ever heard. I had singing lesson after singing lesson. I remember saying at one point: "I don't think I can do that last note of Cabaret." Someone in the crew was going back to America and asked if there was anything he could bring me back. I said: "You can bring me back the last note."

I was so frightened on the opening night: people thought I had a cold, and we had to explain to them it was just nerves. I have no idea what the reviews were like, but it was a thrilling thing to do. I wouldn't have missed it for anything."

For the full essays, click here.

CABARET features some of the best-known songs in musical theatre, including "Willkommen," "Maybe This Time" and "Cabaret." John Kander and Fred Ebb are two of the most successful and prolific collaborators in the American Theatre and are currently represented on Broadway with the award-winning revival of Chicago.

Photo by RD / Retna, LLC.

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