The version I saw had the entire orchestra go out except for two saxophones and the stage crew came out and started tearing down the set. The background and side curtains were raised and the only things left were the bare structures and the Cabaret sign. While this went on the Emcee came down looking miserable. He delivered his lines half-heartedly as he went down the cabaret stairs. He finished his last lines and the saxophones ran off. The Cabaret sign went up and a concentration camp sign replaced it. The warm stage lights were replaced by bright and harsh fluorescent lights. When the Emcee revealed his concentration camp uniform, two nazi banners came down on either side of him. He stared at the audience blankly for like 10 seconds before the lights began to strobe. Sirens started wailing and the cast and crew came out in nazi uniforms and commanded us to get out of our seats and get out of the theater. A harsh goodbye for a harsh story
@@JewishJeff839… Well we *could* go into the fact I am actually a director in real life (though that doesn't denote much, it's not even my primary role in the theater world), but I would never direct Cabaret because I don’t personally have anything new to bring to the material and am just happy seeing what the Sam Mendeses and Rebecca Frecknalls of the world can bring to it, and I also, you know, am a male. But honestly this fictional character you’ve invented in your mind as a means to feel like you’re owning someone on the internet seems pretty intriguing. What’s her name? What is her motivation?
I get chills at the end when he says "Auf Wiedersehen....À bientôt..." Cause both of them mean "Goodbye....See you soon..." Alan does an excellent job with playing the emcee. Such an eerie and sad ending.
This is a small thing, but I prefer the way the MC takes off his coat to reveal the prisoners' outfit after he finishes the last lines rather than beforehand, and having to say them when the audience already knows what's about to happen. I think it's because revealing it after allows him to totally drop the act and enter the reality of the situation during the last few seconds, instead of still having to be a little comedic after the audience already understands.
Bok Choy The way the cast did it for the show I saw two days ago was that MC says his lines, and goes "even the orchestra is beautiful!" and spotlights wander on the balcony the orchestra would be on, which is now empty. He looks back at the balcony, then toward the audience again, confused. he then goes to a back room, "looking" for the other members... only to somberly walk out a center door in a gray coat with the star of david sign on it. the rest of the cast who stayed in Berlin follows (besides those known to be Nazis), all wearing dreary clothes, headscarves and such. The young child who sang an opera piece for our show hands MC his hat, which he takes and puts on. He then sings a final line of goodbye with no music behind him, the entire cast takes a breath, then the lights go off at the same time a loud clanging sound resonates. it was chilling and wonderful, and I personally prefer it to some other endings I've seen...yet I still haven't figured out if the clanging noise is supposed to be a boxcar door shutting or perhaps the door to the gas chambers.
God, Alan is so breathtakingly amazing in this. He COMPLETELY reinvented this character into something horrifying and mystical. Emcee is one of my favorite characters of all time because he's cute and funny and wonderful but then he has moments that are absolutely bone chilling. It's those moments that make him seem like a supernatural entity and that makes the audience question if he was ever even real in the first place.
What I got was that sometimes he's himself, and that sometimes he was Germany. Those moments where he's not doing anything at all, he's just there and you're incredibly aware of his presence, or even when he does something but clearly not as the Emcee, that is when I feel like he is Germany, you always thought something would happen with him, and sometimes it did, like when the brick was thrown. I also felt that he was both at the end when he dies, he physically died and so did the way Germany used to be.
+Jay P Two years late but also emcee appeals to the conscience of the audience and each and every character in the play, it's an element of the Brechtian theatre and the whole play represents the blindness of society and sarcasm, everything out there is falling appart but not here in the cabaret, in the end that reality has to catch up with you, that's why Emcee is always present, a narrator, the MC and a human but also it's why he is androgenous and even creepy. also Sum bitch interpretation is beautiful
The ending I saw at the performance I went to last night had the men performers from the Cabaret beaten to death and the female performers being slapped repeatedly with Herr Schultz getting shot and his lifeless body just gets tossed and The Master of Ceremonies gets down on his knees, holds his arms in a 'do your worst' gesture, and the play ended with him getting shot and the house lights shutting down fast while the Cabaret sign slowly fades It was my first time ever seeing the musical and listening to it and honestly I was shocked but it was a hell of a performance and I would see it again and again if given the chance
@@brucecoleman4228 This production just changed the game so much on how one could do Cabaret it's hard to reinvent the wheel. That said, while the Frecknall version that's coming to Broadway is a tad beholden to this production, I think they actually make some fairly radical choices, particularly in the second act.
"There was a cabaret, and there was a master of ceremonies, and there was a city called Berlin, in a country called Germany. IT was the end of the world, and I was dancing with Sally Bowles and we were both fast asleep." Hits you everytime.
Each version of Cabaret with Alan as the Emcee is so captivating and diverse. He's so creative and imaginative to be able to flush out the character in so many ways. I have seen this particular clip multiple times, and the facial expressions from Alan at 1:09, never fails to take my breath away with its chilling, haunting, and grotesque beauty. In these few gestures, it seems as if the character is coming to terms with the inevitable. Bravo, Alan!
I experienced Alan's mesmerizing, chilling performance in person in 1999, just feet from the stage. He is an artistic genius. Unforgettable experience.
The bow at the end is supposed to represent his suicide by jumping onto the electrical fence of the concentration camp, right? My friends, mother, and a few other people seem to have understood this but others don't seem to realize that this is the case. With the flashing lights and the angle his neck is at, I thought for sure it was the case.
1:06 - 1:40 there’s something about this scene when he’s just looking around, it makes me feel a bit uneasy for some reason. I don’t know how to explain it. There’s no emotion on his face that you can read, he’s not saying anything as the music plays. Along with the makeup It’s haunting in a way especially the ending. When he takes off the coat with a creaky smile only to reveal a prisoners uniform. Alan is truly the best Emcee
What the camera's not showing is he's looking in the direction of spotlights coming up on Fraulein Schneider, Herr Schultz, Sally, and Cliff. There's an element of reminding us of where these characters are at by the end of the story and a massive question mark over what's gonna happen to them next, which I think makes it even more terrifying.
One thing you don't see: in "Wilkommen" when Emcee says "Even the orchestra is beautiful" the curtains above the stage open up and there's a full band up there, also dressed very sexily. When he says it during the finale, the curtains open again but now there's nobody up there.
My school did a production of Cabaret earlier this year, and I'm happy to say it was just as chilling and horrifying as this version. I'm happy that the directors didn't stray from the piece, and in some parts we were more raunchy than the original (some people had to leave, as if they were surprised) Our ending was different, though. A man in a soldier's uniform approaches Cliffe, saying the same things, and when he says "and the orchestra is beautiful" a light appears on the platform the small orchestra was playing on, all with the nazi symbol on their arm. The soldier removes his hat and reveals himself as MC, and supposedly he is Hitler, and most of the cast, including all the kit kat boys and girls, the Jewish farmer, and Cliffe's friend (who was a soldier, we used him to represent how people say they were in the Nazi party, but were of Jewish lines/gay/ect) all rise on a platform coming from the orchestra pit with their heads bowed, and smoke (aka the gas) falling from above, as Hitler/MC laughs off sage I've been told by my family that they were surprised that my school would show such a explicit play, but that's part of being in an arts school
Man... I need to see this production if I ever get the chance. I've seen the film, but Cumming's MC seems like it might be much darker than Grey's, though both are quite dark. It appears that the show takes the subtext of the rise of the nazis in the film and brings it far more up front. It offers a snapshot of what life in Berlin was like before World War II, with a vibrant LBGT scene, but hints at the darker things that were brewing and eventually rose.
J W the movie honestly ruins so much of the original story. The whole “love triangle “ thing makes it seems more the ppls “fault” they were killed. They just kinda botched the story in my opinion
In our production we held that violin note for a very long time as a german officer flipped the breaker in the theatre and walked into the club demanding the Emcee remove his coat. It was so unexpected and upsetting to see him go.
@@JewishJeff839Well I am assuming you’ve *also* seen the Sam Mendes version, considering you’ve been so virulently defending it against perceived slights.
There are some actors who simply own a part. Of course others come along and play it, but you still think "Oh, how I wish I had seen..." Zero Mostel as Tevye. Yul Brynner as The King. And you'd think of Joel Grey as the Emcee - except that Alan Cumming took it and made it HIS. Breathtaking.
Its nice that they left the bows in at the end - a few uploads of similar recordings cut them out/didn't include them. I want to hear the applause for the cast and see their reactions :)
One of the most profound productions I saw was in Denver done by a cast comprised totally of people with disabilities. Everybody in the cast was had some sort of disability and at the very end they all took off their cloaks to reveal outfits with stripes. Because, have they lived during the Nazi regime they would’ve all been killed. So impactful!
i was just thinking, since the world is actually falling apart around emcee, what if the whole show is more or less a figment of his imagination? or a figment of his long past memories as he tries ignoring his life in the concentration camp? idk, just a thought.
It might. But the heavy use of satire and the ignorance of people in the cabaret and elsewhere is quite dark and a mirror to the society. I don't think the MC, in his imagination in the horrific concentration camp would visualize his life with such a grim undertone.
Saw this last week, five feet from the stage. Too good for this world. I am still reeling..Most blessed, and raunchy,, and heartfelt thing I've ever witnessed live. Thank you to all involved.. thank
@@Marcel_Audubon ... You do know there are quite literally dozens of films and written accounts depicting the general theatrical and nightclub scene in Berlin during the "end of the Weimar/rise of the Nazis" years, right? Like, say...the writings of Christopher Isherwood that Cabaret is based on, for example..? The early 20th century isn't exactly the Dark Ages in terms of there being a complete dearth of contemporary knowledge; there's an almost ridiculous number of resources available even to the general public to know about what was "historically accurate" to 1920s-1930s Berlin. It's only just beginning to no longer be within living memory, for goodness sake...
@@overlydramaticpanda sure, sweetie, and 'Zeppolino' consulted every one of those resources before leaving his comment, right? Is this your first day on the internet, naive creature?
The ending of the stage show are such a kick in the gut. Especially if you are a fan and student of history. I mean, tears and a feeling of absolute dread. Never Forget The subdued applause means everyone else felt it too.
Ugh, gets me every time. I always forget that this makes me cry whenever I watch it. I'm like, "oh hey, watch this cool scene from one of my favorite musicals!" and then I end up bawling haha
Breathtakingly chilling. I was riveted. Watched some of the backstory on Alan Cummings documentary The Real Caberet. So interesting to learn of the origins of the musical. Alan Cummings is a diverse and masterful actor who brought greatness to this new interpretation of the role of the emcee. Dark and mysterious.
My college's production does something interesting (I assume, since I'm usually backstage waiting to go on for bows) for the finale. The Emcee gives his "Where are your troubles now?" monologue immediately, and when he says "Even the orchestra is beautiful," the band keeps playing how they are supposed to. I assume this makes the audience think the actor is too early. When they get halfway through the cannibalized version of Wilkommen (as I like to call it), they just stop, like in a rehearsal, if a correction is needed. I assume this is done to give the audience the feeling that something has been done wrong, or somebody messed up. I'm not sure what's going on onstage, though. I have to wait until the recording is posted on UA-cam.
Part of what was fun about seeing the 2014 revival knowing this was going to happen was hearing people who had been kind of nervously taking in the increasingly obvious depictions of the rise of the Nazis desperately trying to laugh as Alan was unbuttoning the coat hoping he would have something funny underneath, and then just going dead quiet when he removed the coat. Really the 2014 revival had this problem where audience members who came to see the show mainly because of Alan Cumming and the various Sally Bowles were having a hard time getting the subtext of Act 2 and would be laughing at the more satirical parts that were very obviously not funny, so hearing them get a bit of karma when they saw the coat come off was pretty satisfying.
@@JewishJeff839 And I'm clearly an idiot, because... I have no idea what your issue is with my comment from four years ago. Like are you saying I don't understand the show? Are you asking why am I not Sam Mendes? Very confusing.
@@JewishJeff839my guy. Who said anything about the whole crowd, other than you? I’m saying there were people at Roundabout’s remount of this production in 2014 who were clearly not fully comprehending the direction the show was going based on their audible reactions in the theater. And it wasn’t isolated to one performance: I saw the show three times, one for each Sally Bowles. This happened a lot (it was especially bad during Emma Stone’s run, Alan Cumming couldn’t get through the intro to Cabaret without people wolf whistling and interrupting him).
We were both fast asleep. If I were still in school I would write a term paper on that line. Are we all asleep now? Is that why some are considering voting for him?
Fabulous stage show. Of course, I know the film and the book, but I felt that the film did not want to show the reality. The book ends with the hero,leaving Germany . What an ending
@@tomshea8382it does work… but I’m just mystified by it. I’m not sure if it’s the camera or this production had slightly different makeup in 1998 than 2014.
@@kilimenjiro3753 He’s a troll, I guess. He’s been blatantly attacking people like some sort of internet warrior on Twitter. Anyway, I can’t seem to the source boot of this video and many other videos from this production. It seems to have been scrubbed off the internet and I’m going crazy in finding it…
the emcee symbolizes the wonder and abandonment that had ceased the world after the Great War (WWI.) Germany had suffered greatly after the war because the country's economy had taken a beating and the Treaty of Versailles had place most of the blame for the war on Germany's shoulders. the cabaret acts as sample of what is happening in Germany at the time. the emcee is based on a real man who worked in the club in the original book this show is taken from. ........
Whether or not the penalties imposed by Versailles was the right way to go, laying the blame for WW1 on Germany's shoulders was justified. Check out BBC miniseries 37 Days: ua-cam.com/video/4B08zSvOJvk/v-deo.html
What is your interpretation of the 30 seconds (!!) of silence and shifting looks from the Emcee at 1:02? What is he thinking? Trying to convey? What is this supposed to impart to the audience? Is this like a contemplation of the ghastliness we've seen/the horror to come?
.........the books are hard to find I think. there is a video elsewhere on youtube titled "the real cabaret" about an hour long. you see the changes represented in the cabaret as the play advances, also in the movie. the emcee goes on with the show until in the end even he must face what has happened and we see him in a camp uniform with both a pink triangle (homosexual) and yellow star (Jewish.)this is only in the stage play. In the film the cabaret is audience is filled with Nazis at the end.
Apparently there are multiple versions of this with , I guess, a flexible book. I am so intrigued. And Alan rocks in each version. Is this the more recent production Alan did? He did one on Broadway and one on the West End I believe
No because Natasha Richardson is Sally Bowles, so it would have been the late 90s production.its kind of hilarious we can't tell because Alan looks the same in the 2014 version.
I think bootlegs don't quite capture audience energy. Especially this production, the whole room's on the edge of their seat by the end, which is part of why the performers are giving such an effective performance.
@@JewishJeff839You saw the production didn’t you? One would think you would have noticed. I mean, you did pay full price tickets for it in New York and London right? Because you make money???
@@kilimenjiro3753 Why would I pay for tickets given to me? Why did I see the West End production and the 1998 production? Almost like I was a producer...
The pink triangle indicates that the emcee is LGBT and the yellow star indicates that he’s Jewish. Both groups were systematically murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust.
Thats a choice particular to this production, it’s not necessarily “canon” (the West End one that’s about to transfer doesn’t do this) although a lot of amateur and even professional productions copy what this one did.
As much as I love this production, one thing has always bothered me: what are those marks on everyone's faces? It's a fantastic bit of makeup, but I'm just not sure what they're supposed to be.
Mark Badolato I also saw it on Broadway in the early 2000's although I think it was rewritten with darker elements a few years later. The marks represent the population being beat up by the rise of the Nazis.
Dammit, can't I edit or delete that last comment? Well this is what i meant to say: I would also see it as an allegory to the developing Zeitgeist: in the end all the flashiness and gaiety of the ´30's Weimar Germany era was leading up to the skeletal figures of the concentration camps :(.
Cliff was literally beat up in a scene before this one. That said, based on what I saw when the production came back in 2014, I think there might be something going on with the video quality that makes it look like everyone has more dark patches than there actually were (unless they made a different choice in ‘98).
It depends on the production - I’ve heard of a few that do the latter version of what you describe, I.e. a figure who “buried his head in the sand”. In this one, though, the pink triangle implies he was convicted for “homosexual activity.”
@@JewishJeff839I didn’t say he was Jewish, OP thought that’s what the uniform implied, I pointed out the pink triangle and what that actually symbolizes. One would think, having seen this production, it’s obvious the emcee is meant to be pan or bisexual. Besides being played by one of the most openly bi people out there, Alan Cumming’s emcee spent the whole show groping and humping boys and girls alike.
@@JewishJeff839 And again - someone points out how dark the ending is, and you come in with an accusation of racism. It's like you think everyone who comes here to rave about this ending is actually trying to crap on it.
Why in this production, did they drop the Red Star. Here, they just make the Emcee a Jew and Homosexual...they 'dropped' LOL, the Communist label. Maybe in that production or City, too many Democrats ....
@@JewishJeff839see right here: This guy is just pointing out they dropped an aspect from the earlier Mendes ‘93 production, where the emcee had a pink triangle, a Jewish star, and a red star, implying he was gay, Jewish, and a communist. Whereas by cutting the red star in this version it looks like he was just Jewish and gay (because, as anyone with two eyes can see, the star and the triangle are still there). And you come in with unnecessary hostility as if this person is claiming camps only had Jewish people, and pedantry about what the triangle symbolized (not that the Nazis cared that there was a difference between a person who was gay and one who was bisexual). You are a product of your own persecution complex.
Same! although i see it more as the more aggressive edge is in the next line "we have no troubles here!" Honestly Alan Cumming is my favorite Emcee because of his portrayal i can say is honestly the best what i can imagine the Emcee is;provocative & eerily welcoming without giving any true information or strong emotion for others as he is there to entertain,adding a mysterious and eerie/"creepy" charm to him this making him more engaging. he truly steals every show he's in tbh and i love the effect he's made for further productions and revivals for cabaret adding such a more complex/darker and engaging character rather then Joel Gray's more vaudeville-esque emcee [although gray's emcee is great aswell! just a less dimensional character] which is a more fun character.Especially with the ending! - Once again i love the slight aggressive and forceful edge in some lines & Cumming's fake misleading happiness in it giving a fake "mask" vibe pushing the problem away and avoiding it as everything crumbling down around him he still likes to push happiness into the act and forcing the audiences "troubles" away although still obviously present and the ultimate downfall of the character. at the end you feel sympathetic and empty and more attached to the character he has made although not giving any personal situations to share with the audience in the show which I think is so great because so many characters rely upon that in order for them to be liked,for the audience to know what they're going through first hand. While the Emcee slightly hints at it as the show progresses with bruises,more sincere-like dialogue when introducing sally for the last time [still with the fake optimism but is clearly seen to be high and at a low since Berlin is progressively getting worse],and the empty-more distant expressions in "finale" barley holding on to the forceful optimism while it still being there for the "show".I love how this is more effective and sickening to watch in the end. Honestly my favorite musical by far and the shows Alan has done has been my favorite thing and it makes the Emcee a more dynamic character making him one of my favorite! It truly adds a great twist to the "narrator" part of things as he parallels much within Sally's story and Berlin without being the true main character and not directly telling it aloud.
It's incredible how his makeup doesn't change at all, but it's purpose changes completely with his clothing and expression. He goes from the Emcee to the Holocaust in less than a second.
Just saw it on Broadway last week. What an incredibly powerful and haunting piece of theatre. I was left completely stunned by that final image of the piercing white illuminating everyone in their own private prison. Alan Cumming + Michelle Williams were fantastic.
I completely concur!!! While Joel is known for "inventing" the role, I think Cumming will be remembered for reinventing it with a deeper, darker, more true picture of the M.C. written about in the memoirs and later the novel. Cumming's interpretation and performance, give the character a depth that is so powerful, it leaves the viewer completely still and silent after the last cymbal strike.
Your vids of the show are amazing (especially for those who want to admire Alan in one of his best roles ever ^^, like me, yes) You were lucky to attend the show! Thanks so much for sharing!
The version I saw had the entire orchestra go out except for two saxophones and the stage crew came out and started tearing down the set. The background and side curtains were raised and the only things left were the bare structures and the Cabaret sign. While this went on the Emcee came down looking miserable. He delivered his lines half-heartedly as he went down the cabaret stairs. He finished his last lines and the saxophones ran off. The Cabaret sign went up and a concentration camp sign replaced it. The warm stage lights were replaced by bright and harsh fluorescent lights. When the Emcee revealed his concentration camp uniform, two nazi banners came down on either side of him. He stared at the audience blankly for like 10 seconds before the lights began to strobe. Sirens started wailing and the cast and crew came out in nazi uniforms and commanded us to get out of our seats and get out of the theater.
A harsh goodbye for a harsh story
Part of me wishes I didn’t read that because it’s too ingenious to not use at all.
Did YOU direct this?
Oof! Where did you see it - which production was this?
@@JewishJeff839your automatic response to these comments is hostility and it’s making you more of the “Karen” than anyone else here…
@@JewishJeff839… Well we *could* go into the fact I am actually a director in real life (though that doesn't denote much, it's not even my primary role in the theater world), but I would never direct Cabaret because I don’t personally have anything new to bring to the material and am just happy seeing what the Sam Mendeses and Rebecca Frecknalls of the world can bring to it, and I also, you know, am a male.
But honestly this fictional character you’ve invented in your mind as a means to feel like you’re owning someone on the internet seems pretty intriguing. What’s her name? What is her motivation?
The quality of this video makes it more terrifying than it already is
Truly I watch an old recording of money and it’s terrifying
this is like an old vhs horror film
The part that always gets me is when Cliff says "It was the end of the world" and that upbeat piano starts. So ominous.
Fr
I get chills at the end when he says "Auf Wiedersehen....À bientôt..." Cause both of them mean "Goodbye....See you soon..." Alan does an excellent job with playing the emcee. Such an eerie and sad ending.
Same ahaha
Why does he make that pose anyway
@@freddiology He is symbolising the cross. He died because he was a) A Jewish man, b) homosexual and c) left-wing.
The other sad thing is he never says "Goodbye", which is the counterpart of "Welcome". He dies before he finishes.
@@KittyKatt_Luna80s He "dies" or is in a camp? Why would a Jew think Jesus existed? Is he gay or bisexual? Did you watch with your eyes?
This is a small thing, but I prefer the way the MC takes off his coat to reveal the prisoners' outfit after he finishes the last lines rather than beforehand, and having to say them when the audience already knows what's about to happen. I think it's because revealing it after allows him to totally drop the act and enter the reality of the situation during the last few seconds, instead of still having to be a little comedic after the audience already understands.
Bok Choy The way the cast did it for the show I saw two days ago was that MC says his lines, and goes "even the orchestra is beautiful!" and spotlights wander on the balcony the orchestra would be on, which is now empty. He looks back at the balcony, then toward the audience again, confused. he then goes to a back room, "looking" for the other members... only to somberly walk out a center door in a gray coat with the star of david sign on it. the rest of the cast who stayed in Berlin follows (besides those known to be Nazis), all wearing dreary clothes, headscarves and such. The young child who sang an opera piece for our show hands MC his hat, which he takes and puts on. He then sings a final line of goodbye with no music behind him, the entire cast takes a breath, then the lights go off at the same time a loud clanging sound resonates. it was chilling and wonderful, and I personally prefer it to some other endings I've seen...yet I still haven't figured out if the clanging noise is supposed to be a boxcar door shutting or perhaps the door to the gas chambers.
Ray Webb the clang is the sound of electricity as he commits suicide on the electric fence
Joel Grey is marvelous but Alan Cummings is so gifted that he makes me cry. I can see all the emotions in his face...wow
God, Alan is so breathtakingly amazing in this. He COMPLETELY reinvented this character into something horrifying and mystical. Emcee is one of my favorite characters of all time because he's cute and funny and wonderful but then he has moments that are absolutely bone chilling. It's those moments that make him seem like a supernatural entity and that makes the audience question if he was ever even real in the first place.
What I got was that sometimes he's himself, and that sometimes he was Germany. Those moments where he's not doing anything at all, he's just there and you're incredibly aware of his presence, or even when he does something but clearly not as the Emcee, that is when I feel like he is Germany, you always thought something would happen with him, and sometimes it did, like when the brick was thrown. I also felt that he was both at the end when he dies, he physically died and so did the way Germany used to be.
+Jay P Two years late but also emcee appeals to the conscience of the audience and each and every character in the play, it's an element of the Brechtian theatre and the whole play represents the blindness of society and sarcasm, everything out there is falling appart but not here in the cabaret, in the end that reality has to catch up with you, that's why Emcee is always present, a narrator, the MC and a human but also it's why he is androgenous and even creepy.
also Sum bitch interpretation is beautiful
Agreed
Do you know who Peter Lorre was?
Aye, I do yeah. Why?
The ending I saw at the performance I went to last night had the men performers from the Cabaret beaten to death and the female performers being slapped repeatedly with Herr Schultz getting shot and his lifeless body just gets tossed and The Master of Ceremonies gets down on his knees, holds his arms in a 'do your worst' gesture, and the play ended with him getting shot and the house lights shutting down fast while the Cabaret sign slowly fades
It was my first time ever seeing the musical and listening to it and honestly I was shocked but it was a hell of a performance and I would see it again and again if given the chance
What's the play about
Wow.... That IS a shocking interpretation.... :O Original though! Must have been powerful to witness live.
it was super powerful I was so speechless
Was it the current tour? With Randy Harrison and Andrea Goss?
No, it was a local production
I LOVE Cabaret, and I especially love that each production is unique and done differently it's so great.
What's it about
+Cole McDaniel it's basically about the rise of the Nazi party in Germany but told through events in the nightclub.
@@colemcdaniel5587 it’s a cautionary tale about the dangers of ignoring politics by using the most extreme example the Nazis
Nowadays most productions copy this revival. Its very disheartening.
@@brucecoleman4228 This production just changed the game so much on how one could do Cabaret it's hard to reinvent the wheel. That said, while the Frecknall version that's coming to Broadway is a tad beholden to this production, I think they actually make some fairly radical choices, particularly in the second act.
"There was a cabaret, and there was a master of ceremonies, and there was a city called Berlin, in a country called Germany. IT was the end of the world, and I was dancing with Sally Bowles and we were both fast asleep."
Hits you everytime.
Each version of Cabaret with Alan as the Emcee is so captivating and diverse. He's so creative and imaginative to be able to flush out the character in so many ways. I have seen this particular clip multiple times, and the facial expressions from Alan at 1:09, never fails to take my breath away with its chilling, haunting, and grotesque beauty. In these few gestures, it seems as if the character is coming to terms with the inevitable. Bravo, Alan!
I experienced Alan's mesmerizing, chilling performance in person in 1999, just feet from the stage.
He is an artistic genius. Unforgettable experience.
"Each version"?? So why did all the other actors try and fail to be Alan?
@@JewishJeff839ok boomer
@@joshuaklein8465 Jealous?
@@JewishJeff839 of?
The irony of a Trump campaign ad playing before this is not lost on me.
I was thinking the same thing before I read your post, my friend.
Sauer Kraut that is the scariest comment I have ever read on UA-cam.
Well, I'm a Trump supporter and I loved this performance, so broaden your horizons.
Bet you really loved the ending, too.
Nazi horizons
It does not matter how many times I watch this, it makes my blood run cold every time.
The bow at the end is supposed to represent his suicide by jumping onto the electrical fence of the concentration camp, right? My friends, mother, and a few other people seem to have understood this but others don't seem to realize that this is the case. With the flashing lights and the angle his neck is at, I thought for sure it was the case.
Yes, that is entirely correct.
Oh, wow I didn't know that. I knew he was dying but I thought he was hung and his arms going out to the side was him starting to flail.
I thought the drum roll had you feel as though there's an invisible firing squad taking aim, and the flash is when he is shot.
No he gets shot
+Tickles Mv Yup. In the version I saw he dies in a gas chamber.
1:06 - 1:40 there’s something about this scene when he’s just looking around, it makes me feel a bit uneasy for some reason. I don’t know how to explain it. There’s no emotion on his face that you can read, he’s not saying anything as the music plays. Along with the makeup It’s haunting in a way especially the ending. When he takes off the coat with a creaky smile only to reveal a prisoners uniform. Alan is truly the best Emcee
What the camera's not showing is he's looking in the direction of spotlights coming up on Fraulein Schneider, Herr Schultz, Sally, and Cliff. There's an element of reminding us of where these characters are at by the end of the story and a massive question mark over what's gonna happen to them next, which I think makes it even more terrifying.
@@kilimenjiro3753 Karen is a camera Karen without a JOB now.
@@JewishJeff839My offer for a free ticket stands. But hey if you can afford it, be my guest.
One thing you don't see: in "Wilkommen" when Emcee says "Even the orchestra is beautiful" the curtains above the stage open up and there's a full band up there, also dressed very sexily. When he says it during the finale, the curtains open again but now there's nobody up there.
Wow...
@@JewishJeff839”Wow”? I thought Richboi here produced the show. One would think you’d know that already
@@kilimenjiro3753what are you even talking about
My school did a production of Cabaret earlier this year, and I'm happy to say it was just as chilling and horrifying as this version. I'm happy that the directors didn't stray from the piece, and in some parts we were more raunchy than the original (some people had to leave, as if they were surprised)
Our ending was different, though. A man in a soldier's uniform approaches Cliffe, saying the same things, and when he says "and the orchestra is beautiful" a light appears on the platform the small orchestra was playing on, all with the nazi symbol on their arm. The soldier removes his hat and reveals himself as MC, and supposedly he is Hitler, and most of the cast, including all the kit kat boys and girls, the Jewish farmer, and Cliffe's friend (who was a soldier, we used him to represent how people say they were in the Nazi party, but were of Jewish lines/gay/ect) all rise on a platform coming from the orchestra pit with their heads bowed, and smoke (aka the gas) falling from above, as Hitler/MC laughs off sage
I've been told by my family that they were surprised that my school would show such a explicit play, but that's part of being in an arts school
That's quite the elementary school you went to... hehehe...
@@PtolemyJones I think that would be a High School...
WHAT an intense performance. Every second he spends on stage is amazing.
Man... I need to see this production if I ever get the chance. I've seen the film, but Cumming's MC seems like it might be much darker than Grey's, though both are quite dark. It appears that the show takes the subtext of the rise of the nazis in the film and brings it far more up front. It offers a snapshot of what life in Berlin was like before World War II, with a vibrant LBGT scene, but hints at the darker things that were brewing and eventually rose.
It's very dark and he's just got some strange brilliant charisma that makes the role something else entirely
J W the movie honestly ruins so much of the original story. The whole “love triangle “ thing makes it seems more the ppls “fault” they were killed. They just kinda botched the story in my opinion
About a month ago a 2k upscale of the performance was released to youtube!
@@mothmansgrampsmay i ask what the name of the video is or who uploaded it? 😊
It's uploaded by sugar and dirt and called Cabaret - 1993 Donmar Warehouse (directed by Sam Mendes)[2k upscale]
“we have no. troubles. here.”
In our production we held that violin note for a very long time as a german officer flipped the breaker in the theatre and walked into the club demanding the Emcee remove his coat. It was so unexpected and upsetting to see him go.
NOT in the books from the musical.
@@JewishJeff839 not every production has to replicate a previous one, dude. I mean... that is literally how we got the Sam Mendes version...
@@JewishJeff839Well I am assuming you’ve *also* seen the Sam Mendes version, considering you’ve been so virulently defending it against perceived slights.
There are some actors who simply own a part. Of course others come along and play it, but you still think "Oh, how I wish I had seen..." Zero Mostel as Tevye. Yul Brynner as The King. And you'd think of Joel Grey as the Emcee - except that Alan Cumming took it and made it HIS. Breathtaking.
Its nice that they left the bows in at the end - a few uploads of similar recordings cut them out/didn't include them. I want to hear the applause for the cast and see their reactions :)
My son played Emcee in his college performance of Cabaret. This scene always gives me pause. Beautiful done!
I went to see this a few months ago: I already knew what was going to happen, but this final number still a real shocker.
@@JewishJeff839 No, on a Friday.
One of the most profound productions I saw was in Denver done by a cast comprised totally of people with disabilities. Everybody in the cast was had some sort of disability and at the very end they all took off their cloaks to reveal outfits with stripes. Because, have they lived during the Nazi regime they would’ve all been killed. So impactful!
On this performance ; his portrayal as the MC is much darker.
Read "I Am a Camera" and "The Berlin Stories" to see where this version came from.
i was just thinking, since the world is actually falling apart around emcee, what if the whole show is more or less a figment of his imagination? or a figment of his long past memories as he tries ignoring his life in the concentration camp? idk, just a thought.
Alicia Allen I always thought maybe the mc doesn't even exist
Maybe he is a metaphor for the events we see
Spastic pug that's also another thought i had. because he is pretty much disconnected from the entire story
It might. But the heavy use of satire and the ignorance of people in the cabaret and elsewhere is quite dark and a mirror to the society. I don't think the MC, in his imagination in the horrific concentration camp would visualize his life with such a grim undertone.
@@Alicia____Marie I've always thought of Emcee as basically a one man Greek Chorus
Read the books.
Best Version as it is dark, it is provocative and Alan is PERFECT in this roll. I would LOVE a full version of THIS Cabaret.
Saw this last week, five feet from the stage. Too good for this world. I am still reeling..Most blessed, and raunchy,, and heartfelt thing I've ever witnessed live. Thank you to all involved..
thank
I know this is a 9 year old comment but
thank
Cabaret is the one instance where stage will always triumph film.
I saw this production. It was breathtaking. Just watching it gives me goosebumps all over again. Alan Cumming was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
Great ending. And I love the historically correct Brechtian quality of the entire production....
as if you'd know what was historically correct - what a pretentious comment
@@Marcel_Audubon ... You do know there are quite literally dozens of films and written accounts depicting the general theatrical and nightclub scene in Berlin during the "end of the Weimar/rise of the Nazis" years, right? Like, say...the writings of Christopher Isherwood that Cabaret is based on, for example..? The early 20th century isn't exactly the Dark Ages in terms of there being a complete dearth of contemporary knowledge; there's an almost ridiculous number of resources available even to the general public to know about what was "historically accurate" to 1920s-1930s Berlin. It's only just beginning to no longer be within living memory, for goodness sake...
@@overlydramaticpanda sure, sweetie, and 'Zeppolino' consulted every one of those resources before leaving his comment, right?
Is this your first day on the internet, naive creature?
That's breathtaking. Alan stole the show.
The ending of the stage show are such a kick in the gut. Especially if you are a fan and student of history. I mean, tears and a feeling of absolute dread. Never Forget
The subdued applause means everyone else felt it too.
Ugh, gets me every time. I always forget that this makes me cry whenever I watch it. I'm like, "oh hey, watch this cool scene from one of my favorite musicals!" and then I end up bawling haha
just saw this on broadway. pure genius.
this was a moment in life.....this is art at its finest.....
Holy shit. So haunting, so beautiful.
Breathtakingly chilling. I was riveted. Watched some of the backstory on Alan Cummings documentary The Real Caberet. So interesting to learn of the origins of the musical. Alan Cummings is a diverse and masterful actor who brought greatness to this new interpretation of the role of the emcee. Dark and mysterious.
My college's production does something interesting (I assume, since I'm usually backstage waiting to go on for bows) for the finale. The Emcee gives his "Where are your troubles now?" monologue immediately, and when he says "Even the orchestra is beautiful," the band keeps playing how they are supposed to. I assume this makes the audience think the actor is too early. When they get halfway through the cannibalized version of Wilkommen (as I like to call it), they just stop, like in a rehearsal, if a correction is needed. I assume this is done to give the audience the feeling that something has been done wrong, or somebody messed up. I'm not sure what's going on onstage, though. I have to wait until the recording is posted on UA-cam.
Woah. Please link the video here as well, would love to see it, sounds wonderful!
"College production"?? Tells you how bad it is.
@@JewishJeff839college productions are usually pretty good
@@JewishJeff839 snobbish elitism isn't a good look on you.
@@JewishJeff839 because it makes you look like an obnoxious cock. also you don't know what the term Karen means.
He's got the craziest eyes, I swear.
The most stunning performance I have ever seen!
Part of what was fun about seeing the 2014 revival knowing this was going to happen was hearing people who had been kind of nervously taking in the increasingly obvious depictions of the rise of the Nazis desperately trying to laugh as Alan was unbuttoning the coat hoping he would have something funny underneath, and then just going dead quiet when he removed the coat.
Really the 2014 revival had this problem where audience members who came to see the show mainly because of Alan Cumming and the various Sally Bowles were having a hard time getting the subtext of Act 2 and would be laughing at the more satirical parts that were very obviously not funny, so hearing them get a bit of karma when they saw the coat come off was pretty satisfying.
You have a very confrontational style of engagement, you know.
@@JewishJeff839 And I'm clearly an idiot, because... I have no idea what your issue is with my comment from four years ago.
Like are you saying I don't understand the show? Are you asking why am I not Sam Mendes? Very confusing.
@@JewishJeff839Okay boomer…
@@JewishJeff839touched a nerve there apparently… 🙄
@@JewishJeff839my guy. Who said anything about the whole crowd, other than you? I’m saying there were people at Roundabout’s remount of this production in 2014 who were clearly not fully comprehending the direction the show was going based on their audible reactions in the theater.
And it wasn’t isolated to one performance: I saw the show three times, one for each Sally Bowles. This happened a lot (it was especially bad during Emma Stone’s run, Alan Cumming couldn’t get through the intro to Cabaret without people wolf whistling and interrupting him).
We were both fast asleep. If I were still in school I would write a term paper on that line. Are we all asleep now? Is that why some are considering voting for him?
All too true, my friend.
Such hysterics and nothing bad has happened. Bet you thought the economy would crash too lmao
@@youwhat. hi it's 2020, how do you feel?
@@jormarques
Great, I'm gonna vote for him again lol
Hipster Madara you’ve learned nothing. you are asleep as well.
congratulations.
I couldn't possibly try to describe this to someone. I would have to make them watch it.
I wish Bob Fosse could see this.
God damn. I miss old broadway.
How I wish I could have seen this live!
Fabulous stage show. Of course, I know the film and the book, but I felt that the film did not want to show the reality. The book ends with the hero,leaving Germany . What an ending
Phenomenal. 😢
Clifford looked like a skeleton in this scene.
The whole clip looks like it was filmed with a "skull head" filter. It works.
@@tomshea8382it does work… but I’m just mystified by it. I’m not sure if it’s the camera or this production had slightly different makeup in 1998 than 2014.
@@kilimenjiro3753 Yes they had the exact SAME makeup, you fruity.
@@JewishJeff839And thaaaaats homophobia! What a fine patron of the arts you make
@@kilimenjiro3753 He’s a troll, I guess. He’s been blatantly attacking people like some sort of internet warrior on Twitter.
Anyway, I can’t seem to the source boot of this video and many other videos from this production. It seems to have been scrubbed off the internet and I’m going crazy in finding it…
That ending with the striped pjs is GUTTING
the emcee symbolizes the wonder and abandonment that had ceased the world after the Great War (WWI.) Germany had suffered greatly after the war because the country's economy had taken a beating and the Treaty of Versailles had place most of the blame for the war on Germany's shoulders. the cabaret acts as sample of what is happening in Germany at the time. the emcee is based on a real man who worked in the club in the original book this show is taken from. ........
Whether or not the penalties imposed by Versailles was the right way to go, laying the blame for WW1 on Germany's shoulders was justified. Check out BBC miniseries 37 Days: ua-cam.com/video/4B08zSvOJvk/v-deo.html
One of my top five experiences on Broadway is Alan in Cabaret 2014
Thank you for archives.
OH GOD the feels are coming back to me!!!
Oh, Natasha. Rest in peace, sweetie.
When did this video come out?
When the back up plan is the only plan
Does anyone have this particular “slime tutorial”?
What is your interpretation of the 30 seconds (!!) of silence and shifting looks from the Emcee at 1:02? What is he thinking? Trying to convey? What is this supposed to impart to the audience? Is this like a contemplation of the ghastliness we've seen/the horror to come?
wahou what en end..... I loved the movie i longue to see it on stage.
What's on Cliff's face?
.........the books are hard to find I think. there is a video elsewhere on youtube titled "the real cabaret" about an hour long. you see the changes represented in the cabaret as the play advances, also in the movie. the emcee goes on with the show until in the end even he must face what has happened and we see him in a camp uniform with both a pink triangle (homosexual) and yellow star (Jewish.)this is only in the stage play. In the film the cabaret is audience is filled with Nazis at the end.
history
/ forever
Watching Natasha Richardson walk you and bow-that still hurts. 😔
WOW!!!! thats all i can say
haunting....we know what those stripe uniforms meant and that star.
msknighttime And the pink triangle as well
Vote blue
Apparently there are multiple versions of this with , I guess, a flexible book. I am so intrigued. And Alan rocks in each version. Is this the more recent production Alan did? He did one on Broadway and one on the West End I believe
No because Natasha Richardson is Sally Bowles, so it would have been the late 90s production.its kind of hilarious we can't tell because Alan looks the same in the 2014 version.
@@nicoletrudell2065 yes thank you Alan ages spectacularly so...I AM struggling to get the year/production right!
omg
Rodriguez Brenda Brown Elizabeth Johnson Steven
Alan Cumming in this scene is a better Joker than Jared Leto was in Suicide Squad.
❤❤❤супер!
At your recommendation, I will watch the Grey film. As long as you promise Liza won't ruin it for me. LOL
Liza was great in it.
That was the most lacklustre audience ever which heightens, even further, the fact that the cast gave it everything to brilliant effect.
I think bootlegs don't quite capture audience energy. Especially this production, the whole room's on the edge of their seat by the end, which is part of why the performers are giving such an effective performance.
@@kilimenjiro3753 "The whole room is on edge"? Prove that Karen...
@@JewishJeff839You saw the production didn’t you? One would think you would have noticed.
I mean, you did pay full price tickets for it in New York and London right? Because you make money???
@@kilimenjiro3753 Why would I pay for tickets given to me? Why did I see the West End production and the 1998 production? Almost like I was a producer...
@@JewishJeff839Now who’s a liar?
Which year was this?
This is from the '98 Broadway revival.
Wow 😢
They added a pink triangle. He has a pink triangle with the yellow star.
And a red star in some of them
The pink triangle indicates that the emcee is LGBT and the yellow star indicates that he’s Jewish. Both groups were systematically murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust.
WAIT WHAT DOES THIS MESN SOMEBODY EXPLANE PLEASE
?
nvm srry lol
IVE ONLY WATCHED THE MOVIE I DIDNT KNOW HE DIED HOLY SHIT
Thats a choice particular to this production, it’s not necessarily “canon” (the West End one that’s about to transfer doesn’t do this) although a lot of amateur and even professional productions copy what this one did.
As much as I love this production, one thing has always bothered me: what are those marks on everyone's faces? It's a fantastic bit of makeup, but I'm just not sure what they're supposed to be.
I think it's just the video quality as I've seen it on Broadway and there are no marks on their faces
***** Ah. That makes sense. Thank you. :)
Mark Badolato I also saw it on Broadway in the early 2000's although I think it was rewritten with darker elements a few years later. The marks represent the population being beat up by the rise of the Nazis.
Wayne Jones
Dammit, can't I edit or delete that last comment? Well this is what i meant to say: I would also see it as an allegory to the developing Zeitgeist: in the end all the flashiness and gaiety of the ´30's Weimar Germany era was leading up to the skeletal figures of the concentration camps :(.
Fuuuuuuuuck.
Why is everybody so beat up at the end?
Cliff was literally beat up in a scene before this one. That said, based on what I saw when the production came back in 2014, I think there might be something going on with the video quality that makes it look like everyone has more dark patches than there actually were (unless they made a different choice in ‘98).
@@kilimenjiro3753 "I think"? No one cares, Karen.
@@JewishJeff839OP literally asked but go off I guess.
So is the Emcee actually Jewish, or was he a symbol of people at the time who buried their heads in the sand?
He’s Jewish. In some variations he also has the pink triangle and the red star
@@shifra1967 Hitler ONLY enslaved and murdered Jews? Or was the sexuality of the Emcee in question to get him thrown into a camp?
It depends on the production - I’ve heard of a few that do the latter version of what you describe, I.e. a figure who “buried his head in the sand”. In this one, though, the pink triangle implies he was convicted for “homosexual activity.”
@@JewishJeff839I didn’t say he was Jewish, OP thought that’s what the uniform implied, I pointed out the pink triangle and what that actually symbolizes.
One would think, having seen this production, it’s obvious the emcee is meant to be pan or bisexual. Besides being played by one of the most openly bi people out there, Alan Cumming’s emcee spent the whole show groping and humping boys and girls alike.
@@JewishJeff839Yes. They did. Famously… en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_triangle
Cliff looks so old...
So if uniform is supposed to be accurate he is a Jewish political prisoner
1:07 what is he looking around at?
The spotlights linger on Fraulein Schneider, Herr Schultz, and Sally to sort of show where they’re at. I guess he’s taking them and their fates in.
@@kilimenjiro3753 ah I see. thanks vro
What is cabaret even about and is that one dude Frankenstein
+Cole McDaniel Nazis
He got beat up in a previous scene
pretty fucked up the ending.
Why? It shows what you racists are?
@@JewishJeff839 And again - someone points out how dark the ending is, and you come in with an accusation of racism. It's like you think everyone who comes here to rave about this ending is actually trying to crap on it.
What happened in real life was fucked up, too. The ending reflects what happened in reality.
Why in this production, did they drop the Red Star. Here, they just make the Emcee a Jew and Homosexual...they 'dropped' LOL, the Communist label. Maybe in that production or City, too many Democrats ....
Can you extend on that
ONLY Jews were encamped?? Is the Emcee bisexual? Go back to history class.
@@JewishJeff839see right here: This guy is just pointing out they dropped an aspect from the earlier Mendes ‘93 production, where the emcee had a pink triangle, a Jewish star, and a red star, implying he was gay, Jewish, and a communist. Whereas by cutting the red star in this version it looks like he was just Jewish and gay (because, as anyone with two eyes can see, the star and the triangle are still there).
And you come in with unnecessary hostility as if this person is claiming camps only had Jewish people, and pedantry about what the triangle symbolized (not that the Nazis cared that there was a difference between a person who was gay and one who was bisexual).
You are a product of your own persecution complex.
WHAT A LOAD OF CAMP OLD SHIT
Nazi?
@@JewishJeff839 No, he's Scottish. xx
thank God the film wasn't like this complete mess
David Graham Scott the film is Hollywood frosting , this is so much better.
Maybe but even morons can be right.
I agree. Overblown. The original stage production captured the era's despair more accurately. This production just keeps pushing it into your face.
@@nycruise Actor wannabe? Failed director?
I love that challenging and aggressive "Where are your troubles now?!"
Same! although i see it more as the more aggressive edge is in the next line "we have no troubles here!" Honestly Alan Cumming is my favorite Emcee because of his portrayal i can say is honestly the best what i can imagine the Emcee is;provocative & eerily welcoming without giving any true information or strong emotion for others as he is there to entertain,adding a mysterious and eerie/"creepy" charm to him this making him more engaging. he truly steals every show he's in tbh and i love the effect he's made for further productions and revivals for cabaret adding such a more complex/darker and engaging character rather then Joel Gray's more vaudeville-esque emcee [although gray's emcee is great aswell! just a less dimensional character] which is a more fun character.Especially with the ending!
-
Once again i love the slight aggressive and forceful edge in some lines & Cumming's fake misleading happiness in it giving a fake "mask" vibe pushing the problem away and avoiding it as everything crumbling down around him he still likes to push happiness into the act and forcing the audiences "troubles" away although still obviously present and the ultimate downfall of the character. at the end you feel sympathetic and empty and more attached to the character he has made although not giving any personal situations to share with the audience in the show which I think is so great because so many characters rely upon that in order for them to be liked,for the audience to know what they're going through first hand.
While the Emcee slightly hints at it as the show progresses with bruises,more sincere-like dialogue when introducing sally for the last time [still with the fake optimism but is clearly seen to be high and at a low since Berlin is progressively getting worse],and the empty-more distant expressions in "finale" barley holding on to the forceful optimism while it still being there for the "show".I love how this is more effective and sickening to watch in the end. Honestly my favorite musical by far and the shows Alan has done has been my favorite thing and it makes the Emcee a more dynamic character making him one of my favorite! It truly adds a great twist to the "narrator" part of things as he parallels much within Sally's story and Berlin without being the true main character and not directly telling it aloud.
It's incredible how his makeup doesn't change at all, but it's purpose changes completely with his clothing and expression. He goes from the Emcee to the Holocaust in less than a second.
The aggressiveness is scary. Emcee knows what's going happen. His acting is brilliant here
Just saw it on Broadway last week. What an incredibly powerful and haunting piece of theatre. I was left completely stunned by that final image of the piercing white illuminating everyone in their own private prison. Alan Cumming + Michelle Williams were fantastic.
I completely concur!!! While Joel is known for "inventing" the role, I think Cumming will be remembered for reinventing it with a deeper, darker, more true picture of the M.C. written about in the memoirs and later the novel. Cumming's interpretation and performance, give the character a depth that is so powerful, it leaves the viewer completely still and silent after the last cymbal strike.
This musical is so deep and the ending gives me chills.
A mind-blowing ending to a stellar musical. Always shocks me every time I see it. Thanks for sharing :)
Your vids of the show are amazing (especially for those who want to admire Alan in one of his best roles ever ^^, like me, yes) You were lucky to attend the show! Thanks so much for sharing!