London Revival of Cabaret Slated to Open in October

By: May. 26, 2006
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The West End is in for a dose of divine decadence; a revival of Cabaret has been confirmed to open on October 10th at the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, after beginning previews on September 22nd.

Bill Kenwright has signed on to produce the classic Kander and Ebb musical, which is set in the Kit Kat Klub in Weimar-era Berlin, and concerns flamboyant cabaret singer Sally Bowles, who blinds herself to the political terrors just around the corner. Rufus Norris (Festen) is set to direct, according to Whatonstage.com.

No casting has been announced for the revival, although the popular UK theatre website states that Denis Van Outen (West End's Chicago) and Martine McCutcheon (My Fair Lady) have been mentioned as candidates for Sally.

The 1966 Broadway classic features music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Joe Masteroff (based on Christopher Isherwood's The Berlin Stories). It won eight 1967 Tony Awards--including ones for Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (Joel Grey) and Best Director (Hal Prince). Ron Field choreographed. The 1972 film version--with a somewhat different plot--was directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse, and starred Liza Minnelli as Sally; Fosse, Minnelli and Grey (who repeated his role as the Emcee) all won Oscars. The 1998 revival, directed by Sam Mendes, was also a long-running hit and won four Tony Awards--including Tonys for stars Natasha Richardson and Alan Cumming. A 1987 revival, directed again by Prince, preceded it on Broadway.

Cabaret was previously produced on the West End in 1968 (with Dame Judi Dench as Sally), in 1986 and in 1993 at the Donmar Warehouse (with Cumming and Jane Horrocks). That production served as the basis for Mendes' Broadway revival.

Cabaret will be among several high-profile West End musical openings. The London transfers of Wicked and Spamalot open on September 27th and October 16th, respectively. Other upcoming musicals include Dirty Dancing, the revival of The Sound of Music, the Michael Grandage-directed revival of Evita, the transfer of Avenue Q and the Australian musical adaptation of Dirty Dancing.




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