You never know, there might be a R&H alternative version kicking around.


The thing with Cabaret is that it's about disillusionment. Not so much 'light heartedness' more so people coming to terms with what's really happening to and around them, and that is the scary part. It's like the song, "If You Could See Her" - it's a seemingly fine number until it gets to the very end and you're bombarded with "if you could see her through my eyes, she wouldn't look Jewish at all" - which ultimately changes the mood of the show. It's not supposed to be pretty, or pleasant to watch and that's surprisingly the most beautiful thing about it, particularly the revival... the fact that it takes pleasure in making you uncomfortable.

i saw this performed at a college and the finale was amazing, the stage moved backwards towards a very bright white wall and there was a sound like the crackling of fire and the entire cast was naked on stage and as they went backwards to the back of the stage, white paper started falling from the top of the theatre, to appear like ashes. it was VERY powerful, stuck with me for awhile after seeing it.

Did any other productions show Sally dying in the finale? I've only seen it done in one production other than my own, but it seems so clear from when she declares again "when I go, I'm going like Elsie."

I really loved our finale. It'd be almost impossible for me to explain through words, it took me so long to fully get it onto the stage and look right, but it was my favorite part of the show. We had Sally die, Schneider slam the door on Schultz on his line, "After all, what am I? German." We also had Kost, dressed very conservatively, Ludwig and the two children we used for Tomorrow Belongs To Me as Nazi officers that were getting the Kit Kat Girls and Schultz into a small group.
Once they left, it was only the Emcee, The Kit Kat Girls and Schultz onstage, and the Emcee slowly went a curtained exit in the back on the "Auf wiedersen, a bientot" and on the next beat, his hand appeared, and snapped, and a fog rolled in with the drum roll, and on the final beat, the red curtains that had been there for the entire show, dropped to reveal two Nazi flags.

I'm not sure how well I explained that, but it worked SO WELL. I'm willing to answer questions about it, since it's my masterpiece. I got so many compliments on it, which made me so happy, especially from one of the parents who was worried about how we would be dealing with the anti-semitism of the show. If I ever get the DVD of the show, I'll be posting lots and lots of videos.



Cabaret is NOT a happy musical. it's about how people deal with the enourmous problems in their life. It's about how people make it seem like things are simple and light hearted, when really they're going crazy about it, or how they completely ignore things until they can't anymore. They were plauged with Anti-Semitism the entire show, they just didn't deal with it. Ludwig is always a nazi in the show, it's just not always addressed, because that's what people did. It's showing how neutrality or ignorance can only fuel a problem.

The production I saw ended with all of the kit-kat club performers standing dressed like they were about to leave for deportation, with all of them having either a yellow star or a pink triangle on their coats. They leave, and the emcee comes on, removes his overcoat, and we see both the star and the triangle on his coat. He leaves to join them. The stage blackens, except for a small model train running across with noises of the deportations (yelling, engines, screams, shots) It ends, and the lights come back up. The curtain call was delayed for a while. Very powerful.

I've seen a regional where it goes into the finale, and Sally sings finale. She's back lit behind a screen and it looks like she's standing around piled dead bodies. A nazi then comes out and shoots her. She falls down. You hear her whimper, and she's shot again.
Than the Emcee come's out and says the good byes, and smoke begins to roll onstage. The screen in the back comes up, just as the Emcee collapses, and you see all the characters just laying there dead.

The thing is there was a drum roll and when the Emcee collapsed when the symbol went.

I had nightmares...

I'd have them too if I saw that!

...
um...so no bows take place? I can't imagine any applause with an ending like that, and only a very solemn one if there were...
My highschool is doing Cabaret next year, and I think it'd be really interesting to get a part like the Emcee.... but what's with him being in prison clothes? Does he turn out to be Jewish or something?

Me too!

Here's my own personal break-down on the character of The Emcee;

Throughout the play [if you're going by the revival], he changes his persona in order to reflect what's going outside of the club. In the beginning, when he sings "Willkommen" it's upbeat and fun. He stays in that 'upbeat and fun' mode for most of the first act, until he gets to "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" where he shifts into what most of Germany was shifting into at the time - fascism.

By the second act, when "If You Could See Her..." comes along, it is clearly evident he's playing the Anti-Semitic card. I always felt he's doing it for the following reasons;
A) To give the audience an idea of what's to come
B) Reflect the general feeling of Germans to Jews at the given time
C) To hide the fact that he may be Jewish, and by singing this song, may just be covering his own ass

The next time he appears in a dress, beaten up and dishelved, singing "I Don't Care Much". The purpose is that he's not only mirroring Sally and Cliff's relationship, but the desperation of Berliners who couldn't come to terms with what was going on around them.

At the end of the show is perhaps the most chilling transformation, when he changes from the German customs official to the Jew in concentration camp attire. I've always felt that this is, once again, reflecting Germany at the given time. He shifts into the concentration camp clothes because he is a prisoner, much like most of the population. It is left up to interpretation of how or why he's suddenly portrayed as Jew. Like I said earlier, he could be one the entire duration of the show and by putting on an act is his only way of covering up the pain he feels.

"He's a man, he's a woman, he's Hitler. He speaks all languages. He struts, he leers, he mocks and he observes everything." - CABARET: The Illustrated Book and Lyrics

I've seen productions where a bow is included at the end, usually five minutes or so [give or take] after the final transformation of the Emcee, because the audience is still in shock.

I must be the only one who prefers a more traditional "Finale" for Cabaret. I don't know, I'm just not a fan of the revival and the whole heavy-handed concentration camp "message" at the end. The whole echoing of old lines and that sort of thing is just neat. And I like the Emcee to remain sinister. I see him as an almost Satanic character, orchestrating these awful events and laughing at them. He's not just the Master of Ceremonies at the Kit Kat Klub, but he's the Master of Ceremonies for all the goings-on in the play.

In the new London revival, Herr Schultz walks across the stage, carrying a suitcase, singing "It Couldn't Please Me More", Fraulein Kost walks across singing "Tomorrow Belongs To Me", Fraulein Schneider walks across singing "So What", and, finally, Sally walks across singing "Cabaret". A Nazi officer then knocks down the "Kabaret" sign, letter by letter. The Emcee sings "Auf wieterzein, A bientot..." and you see the Kit Kat Klub boys and girls huddled together, naked. There's no drumroll, no cymbal crash, nothing. Just silence.

Now THAT'S what gave ME nightmares.

Random comment: I prefer that line in the original version. "She won't be a meeskite at all". It's a bit more innuendistic... euphemistic... whatever the word is. Granted, that's when "Meeskite" isn't cut.

@wc213, i like the idea of a nazi knocking down the sign. And yes, silence can be frightening.

@kittengoespop, i agree about the traditional finale, but i don't really see the emcee as a satan figure. i see him more as the embodiment of the hedonistic culture of 20's Berlin.

@Don'tTellMama, i love the quote about the emcee. very true.

I must be very romantic and traditional because to me, the seperation of Cliff and Sally seems to be more tragic to me than the holocaust. Not just that but how sad it is when Cliff leaves the Kit Kat Klub/Berlin for good.