Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin will bring some Weimar decadence to Broadway.
The pair will star as The Emcee and Sally Bowles in a new and immersive production of “Cabaret.” The show, dubbed “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club,” was a sensation when it debuted in London with Redmayne and Jessie Buckley. A Broadway transfer has been buzzed about almost as soon as the the production across the pond was first unveiled. Rebecca Frecknall, who spearheaded the show, returns as director along with designer Tom Scutt. It will perform at the August Wilson Theatre.
Previews will begin April 1, 2024. The production will have win opening night gala celebrations starting April 20, with the official press opening on April 21.
In London’s West End the show was a hot ticket, winning seven Olivier Awards, the most for any musical revival in the awards’ history. Like that show, “Cabaret” will be performed in-the-round, with the auditorium decked out with “dreamlike spaces” which guests will be invited to explore before the show starts. These will feature entertainment, drinks, and dining, all of it evoking a certain pre-World War II period of German late night history.
“It was whilst playing ‘The Emcee’ in a student production of ‘Cabaret’ over 25 years ago that my love for theater was properly ignited,” Redmayne said. “It now feels completely thrilling and a little surreal to be a part of Rebecca’s truly unique vision of Masteroff, Kander, and Ebb’s brilliance as it arrives on Broadway, where the piece has such a history. I am beyond excited to be doing it arm-in-arm with the remarkable Gayle Rankin and a truly stunning cast and team. I am hoping we will create an experience for you quite unlike any other.”
“’Cabaret’ is a masterpiece of writing which continues to reveal its richness to us. Masteroff, Kander, and Ebb have created characters on the brink, in a world where the rules are changing,” Frecknall said. “Acts of courage, defiance, hope, delusion, fear, and anger ricochet between them and their circumstances, all intensely human responses to a world in chaos. I’m so excited to be reuniting with Eddie as our devilishly seductive Emcee, the metaphorical soul of Berlin, and I cannot wait to dive into rehearsals with Gayle, a fearless actor of supreme talent, as she explores Cabaret’s magnetic core, the breathtaking and heartbreaking Sally Bowles.”
“’Cabaret’ has been a wildly profound marker in my life,” Rankin said. “How I understand myself as an artist and citizen in the very fragile world we live in has proved to revolve on its axis. I am completely honored to hold hands with Sally inside of this singular, powerful production, and forever grateful to Rebecca, Eddie, and the whole family for inviting me into its creation on Broadway.”
Redmayne and Rankin are scheduled to play a limited engagement through August 31, 2024. Starting June 17, 2024 Redmayne will not perform on Monday evenings and Rankin will not perform at Wednesday matinees.
Redmayne won an Oscar for “The Theory of Everything” and was nominated for best actor for “The Danish Girl.” He has headlined the “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” franchise and recently starred in “The Good Nurse. On stage, he has appeared in “The Goat, Or Who is Sylvia?” “Richard II” and “Red,” for which he won both Tony and Olivier Awards. Rankin recently completed production on the second season of the “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon.” She was recently seen leading the FX series “Kindred” and appeared in the Netflix comedy series “Glow” and the HBO reboot of “Perry Mason.” On stage, Rankin recently starred opposite Oscar Isaac in the Public Theatre’s recent production of “Hamlet.”
Set in a barrier-pushing nightclub as the Nazis are beginning to come to power, “Cabaret” is considered to be one of the greatest musicals of all time, having inspired award-winning productions around the world and an Oscar-winning film. The show has music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and a book by Joe Masteroff. It is based on the play ” I Am a Camera” by John Van Druten, as well as stories by Christopher Isherwood. It features the songs “Wilkommen,” “Don’t Tell Mama,” “Mein Herr,” “Maybe This Time,” “Money,” and the title number.
