Sally Bowles Portrayals

[bwayobsessed]

Cabaret is one of my favorite musicals of all time and therefore I have seen many different portrayals of all the characters. One of the characters that is always different is Sally Bowles. I get that she is a singer in a sleazy club but she is still a broadway leading lady which is why it always annoys me when she is portrayed as a non singer. However, while I think Liza did well with what she was given she certainly is nothing like the Sally's on broadway. That being said, I think Susan Egan may have done one of the best performances of Sally. She acts incredibly well but also has an amazing singing voice. What are your thoughts?

[MusicalBoy]

Natasha Richardson.

[broadway guy]

I always thought Sally wasn't suppose to be as great of a singer as she thinks she is?

[MusicalBoy]

^ Throw in a gritty, realistic production, the smoking and drinking, the brash characterisation and the dingy cabaret club, Sally really shouldn't be a strong singer, to my taste it doesn't wash right.

ESPECIALLY the way that the last revival had 'Life is a cabaret' directed, strong, or at least polished singing, wouldn't have been right.

[luvtheEmcee]

One of the only things we know for sure about the real woman behind Sally is that she was a horrible singer. Truly truly terrible.

Sally should be a bad singer. The whole point to Sally is that she's a bad singer. If she's great, what's she doing stuck in a place like that? I've seen actresses act the hell out of the part but sing far too beautifully, and it detracts something from the performance, unfortunately. Ironically.

[GlindatheGood22]

But there's a difference between the Kit Kat Klub numbers and the book songs. Does Sally know she's singing during Perfectly Marvelous? If not, it has to mean that she is not necessarily terrible then since she's not aware she's performing. I don't usually like to get into that issue. It complicates things so much, especially since she only has one book song, depending on how Maybe This Time is played.

[bwayobsessed]

I really do love the 1998 revival (especially the way Alan Cummings portrayed Emcee) but it just bothers me when Sally has very little actual vocal ability. I understand that the "real" Sally wouldn't have been a good singer but she's still the leading lady.

[MusicalBoy]

Why does being a 'leading lady' mean she has to be an excellent singer?

Tell that one to tony award winners Rosalind Russell and Glynis Johns...

[luvtheEmcee]

Right; the two sides of the coin are whether you want your leading lady to sing well, or to give a true portrayal. I like my Cabaret gritty. Down to the sound. I'm not saying I don't care about vocal quality ever. Some roles are meant to be sung well -- others, IMO, aren't. That's not what they're about. It doesn't work if she sounds like a Disney princess. And frankly, it takes a good performer to convincingly and appropriately sing badly.

[luvtheEmcee]

That's a good point, re: Maybe This Time, though I think if I were directing I'd vote for consistency, maybe with just a little less edge in the scenes that aren't club performances. But if you're switching the entire sound of the voice, then that's going to take people out.

[ComingUpRoses2]

I like my Sally to be a bad singer. Not ear piercingly terrible, but just kinda off key, It makes it grittier and more tragic. It certainly opened up the replacement casting process during the revival. I'd have loved to have seen Jennifer Jason Leigh's Sally. She played a similar character in Georgia and was brilliant.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Natasha Richardson was not a bad singer. She sang on pitch and with nuance and power. She didn't have a particularly trained sound, but she's not unpleasant to listen to. And, as Sally Bowles, she also happens to have given the greatest acting performance I've ever seen.

But I don't have a problem with a great singer playing the role. I think Liza made the case beautifully in the movie. Instead of being someone who couldn't do better than the Kit Kat Club, her Sally chose to be at the Kit Kat Club. It's just a different take.

[henrikegerman]

Just as not every performer in sleazy Berlin nightclubs of the early 30s was not a non-great singer, not every Broadway musical lead has to be a great singer. Just as Henry Higgins can be brilliantly played by a non-singer, Sally Bowles can be quite brilliantly played by and or as a non-singer, e.g.. Natasha Richardson.
Fraulein Judi Dench

[CarlosAlberto]

I wish I had been alive to have seen Jill Haworth in the role. I absolutely adore her on the Original Broadway Cast recording.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

I disagree that the whole point of Sally is that she's not a great singer. There's plenty of people who might have some talent but who'll never make it, and I think you can have a Sally who sings great (like Liza does) and still have it work without losing the impact of the role. At the same time, I do think there's a sense that Liza's Sally is a completely different animal and no one should try to replicate that performance, especially since CABARET as a film is just almost an entirely different show altogether. I love a Sally who isn't a spectacular singer, it's the kind of role that calls for an utmost interpreter of emotion rather than someone who should wow me vocally.

[darquegk]

In the professionally-filmed video of the '90s production, before its transfer to Broadway, Sally is played by British comedian Jane Horrocks, who is a non-singer. But not like Natasha Richardson, a GENUINE non-singer. Her "Cabaret devolves into visceral groaning and screaming by the bridge. Not a single note sung.

Terrifying.

[MusicalBoy]

^ Jane Horrocks is actually a very talented singer, known largely for having starred in the film 'Little Voice'. She made the choice to scream her way through the abortion-metaphor-heavy-Life is a cabaret at the Donmar Warehouse, perhaps a little too brash, but altogether thrilling.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Yeah, Horrocks (she of Little Voice) is definitely not, in real life, a non-singer.

[theeatah]

Well, if you caught Horrocks in Annie Get Your Gun, you might have come away with the impression that she's a non-singer...

[GlindatheGood22]

I hate Jane Horrocks' Sally. Her acting in the final scene is phenomenal, so I suspect it's more a directing issue. She was the first Sally in Mendes' version of the show, and she's really, really, really crazy. Thankfully that was toned down by the time the show got to Broadway.

[theeatah]

I love Horrocks in the role. I understand criticism of her singing, and a middle ground could have been found if she were a more experienced singer. But her birdlike, "child-woman" quality worked wonderfully. And how many Sallys have got a laugh on "a rather taciturn Malaysian"?

[bigbelterbaby]

I love Lea Thompson as Sally personally. but Natasha Richardson is always the correct answer lol . I love her 'darker' interpretation compared to Liza's more subdued performance but better singing.

Judi Dench and Alyson Reed were OK Sally's but Jill Haworth was bad imo and that's why she wasn't nominated for a Tony.

[americanboy99]

Horrocks' "Cabaret" is one of my personal favorite performances of that song (or rather ANY song) from the video recorded musical theatre canon. It really hits me.

[broadway guy]

Not to Hijack this thread or anything but wouldn't Patti Lupone make a Marvelous Fräulein Schneider?!

[all that jazz]

I know I'm probably on the minority here, while I understand that Sally isn't supposed to be a great singer, I like a Sally that belts the hell out of the score, so I'm parcial to Liza. Hated Jane Horrocks, although I understand why she did it, It was painful to listen to one of my favorite scores being butchered.

I'm not saying she should sound pretty by any means (London 1986 revival, anyone?), and she should definitely have her crazy moments, but while still singing. To me a powerful belt, acted right can be chilling, and just as effective, if not more than screaming.

Of course this is all a matter of taste, this is just my opinion.