The legendary, risqué Folies Bergère of Paris will become the legendary, risqué (if fictional) Kit Kat Klub of Weimar Berlin when Stage Entertainment France produces Cabaret at the famed theatre beginning October 14, 2006.
"The originality of the show, designed and directed by Sam Mendes, lies in the reproduction of the Kit Kat Klub setting in the Folies Bergère theater, with its cabaret chairs and tables. The show, entirely adapted in French, will be performed by French artists and musicians, selected through auditions soon to be held in Paris," state press notes on the 1966 Broadway classic with a score by John Kander and Fred Ebb and a book by Joe Masteroff (based on Christopher Isherwood's The Berlin Stories)Sam Mendes' revival of Cabaret was a major Broadway success: 2377 performances in six years (1998-2004) and four 1998 Tony Awards--including Tonys for stars Natsha Richardson and Alan Cumming, as well as for the revival itself. "Assisted by choreographer Rob Marshall, Mendes designed an innovative staging for a contemporary show....The Parisian Cabaret audience will discover the dark spot of freedom and transgression imagined by Sam Mendes...Thus the cabaret chairs and tables, lit by red lamps, will replace some of the Folies Bergère orchestra seats. The Kit Kat Klub nightlife is a fascinating world in which the audience will truly play its role for an evening, according to press notes.Videos