In 1966, the newest musical project of Kander and Ebb was finished. The musical was set in 1930’s Berlin, and depicted a man, a showgirl, a club, and the end of the world and they called it “Cabaret”
Cabaret premiered on Broadway shortly after being written. The musical is a political commentary, and it portrays the Nazi takeover of Germany in an uncanny and effective way. It also airs on the dangers of bystanding, and how simply shrugging your shoulders and saying “it’s just politics” is just making problems worse. It uses a seedy underground club, called the “Kit-Kat Club” to act as a metaphor for the disarray Germany was falling into and also serves as a distraction from the political climate portrayed throughout the show.
The aggressive nature of the musical originally caused many walkouts. Over time, audiences began to take it for what it was, a work of genius. Eventually, it became a 1972 film of the same name featuring Liza Minnelli. Since, Cabaret has secured its place in the musical theater canon as one of the moving pieces of art that has ever graced the stage and screen.
Recently, alongside the Broadway revival, Cabaret has experienced another resurgence by no other than TikTok. Post-election, many who were politically frustrated turned to the musical. Drawing many connections by the situations within the musical and the political troubles faced today. Many also agreed that the song “Money” resembles how many turned a blind eye were willing to shoulder political injustices for something as silly as eggs. Others have pointed to a line spoken by the character Sally Boles while the main character Cliff worries about the fate of those whom they care about due to the Nazi invasion. She says “It’ll all work out. It’s just politics. What’s that got to do with us?” which sends the chilling visualization of how many are so passive whilst those around them are affected by the terrors of the world, or are just too ignorant to care. What’s worse, it’s eerily similar to the things being said today bearing in mind the setting of the musical.
On the other hand, Cabaret has been popularized on tiktok for other reasons as of late. A recent production in Ukraine has taken TikTok by storm. But for reasons far from the musical’s messaging and relevance. But instead, it was popularized for how attractive the man playing the emcee is and how “fun” the show looks. Distracted from all meaning and political implications, blinded by the flashy colors of the show and fun music. Many went so far as to declare that they wished they could live in Ukraine so they could see it, ignoring the war and destruction Ukraine is suffering. Which, as you may have noticed, is literally the whole entire point of the musical.
Outside of tiktok, the recent Broadway revival has been getting a lot of attention as well due to the actor playing the emcee (Adam Lambert) needing to scold the audience for their lack of media literacy due to an insensitive reaction. The song “If You Could See Her” is a song initially supposed to be played as a joke, with a twist at the end throwing a whole different shade over the entire song. Throughout the song the emcee sings of his sweetheart and how wonderful she is, but his sweetheart turns out to be a gorilla. He insists that if we, the audience, could see her as he does we’d understand just how beautiful she was on the inside. The audience is supposed to laugh along until the final line, “But if you could see her through my eyes, she wouldn’t look Jewish at all” before he leaves the stage leaving the audience shocked and horrified by the metaphor. But in a recent performance, the audience laughed at the final line as if it were a light joke. Adam Lambert then halted the show to reprimand the audience, “No. This is not comedy. Pay attention.”
It is extremely fortunate that there are performers out there like Lambert who are willing to go out of their way to put an end to bigotry/ignorance, but this incident shows why media literacy is so important and the dangers of ignorance. You are free to enjoy art however you please, but you must consider every angle of it, aligned with the current climate of the world.
Musicals such as Cabaret have stood the test of time in all the worst ways, showing that if we do not consider and learn from the mistakes and dangers of the past we are doomed to repeat them. And with the way the world has shifted recently and the recent lax on political/media education, it’s more important than ever to stay vigilant and educated on all matters past and present.