Interview: Joanna A. Jones Talks About Bringing The Infamous Fraulein Sally Bowles To Life in CABARET at The Old Globe

Joanna A. Jones plays the iconic “toast of Mayfair,  Fraulein Sally Bowles!” in CABARET playing at The Old Globe through October 15th.  Joanna talks about the new approach to the show and Sally, and one of her favorite moments when she gets to float above the stage.

Joanna A. Jones has tackled other iconic musical roles like  Eliza in HAMILTON and in London’s West End in THRILLER LIVE.  Now she takes to The Old Globe stage as Sally Bowles, the charismatic headliner for the Kit Kat Club in Berlin in this Josh Rhodes directed and choreographed production.

This production reinvents the club from the dirty and broken down cabaret club other shows have done, and instead, this celebrates the talent, and the sumptuous elegance of a high-class club at this time. With glitz, and glam this isn’t a CABARET you may have seen before.  Joanna says that this allows the difference between the inside and outside the club to make an even more impactful statement 

“I love what Josh did with the production bringing glamour and elegance to the club and all the members of it. I love the juxtaposition of having these so glamorous and then when it starts to crumble  it's really more of a shock for the audience.”

Jones joined The Old Globe production and did not work on the Florida production like many of her cast, and found the collaborative process of working on this show with them to be thrilling.

“It was a very collaborative experience which I'm so thankful for; even though a lot of things were set, of course, the choreography-wise and stuff like that.  There was a lot of room to play and who my Sally was in this world.

Especially in the scene where it was Alan (Alan Chandler who plays Cliff) and Josh Rhodes - they created such a beautiful collaborative space to build it together.”

The character of Sally also has a different approach to match the successful and beautiful setting.  Jones' Sally is confident, driven, and who is a headliner due to her talent.  Her hindrance to mainstream success is not lack of talent, but rather society's attitudes towards performers of color.  Joanna says that this was a wonderful new way to look at the character 

“I honestly, I never thought that I would have the opportunity to play Sally.  When I saw the breakdown that they were looking for a person of color I was just really excited because I don't think I had realized until that opportunity came up that it actually was a dream role for me. I'm just thankful to have the opportunity to play her!”

Even with the re-imagined reasons that brought Sally to the club, Jones says that her focus on performing is to make her character as grounded and real as possible, even if she is a person whose actions make it harder to love her.

“ At the end of the day, my Sally doesn't see any reason why she shouldn't be a star.  There are no obstacles in her mind for why she should be the best.  

She is making all these bad decisions, but she's really just masking her pain, and a desire to matter and to be seen and to be remembered and to be valued.  Sally’s one of those characters that I like to call a beautiful mess.”

Regardless of how messy Sally may be, she does get to wear some gorgeous costumes in this production.  While she has many beautiful dresses, Jones says her favorite costume is the one she wears while she gets to hang out with while floating above the stage. Luckily, Joanna says that she’s not afraid of heights!

"I love all the dresses, they're so stunning. But when I'm in Mein Herr, I feel like it's so powerful.  I don't know how you can beat that.”

How To Get Tickets

You can see Joanna A. Jones and the entire cast of CABARET at The Old Globe through October 15th.  For ticket and show time information go to www.theoldglobe.org 

Photo Credit: Jim Cox.