“Here, life is beautiful. The girls are beautiful. Even the orchestra is beautiful,” was sung by Alan Cumming as Emcee from the hit musical Cabaret. The musical is set in 1929-1930 in Berlin, Germany. Though the setting is a luminous and joyous club, the musical explores the decadence of Berlin during the Weimar Republic. The musical was written by John Kander and Fred Ebb. It was first produced in 1966 and soon was adapted to film in 1972. Though the musical is very rambunctious and somewhat in the twilight of the Jazz Age, it has a deeper meaning than bright lights and show girls.
Besides partying, clubbing, and exotic dancing, the setting takes place during the Nazis rise to power. The musical focuses on the hedonistic nightlife at the “Kit Kat Klub”. The main lead in the musical is Clifford Bradshaw, an American writer who visits Berlin. On his first night in Berlin, Bradshaw wanders into the Kit Kat Club where he learns that everything inside the club is beautiful. Though the uprising of the Weimar Republic was occurring, the club gives the idea that nothing can affect those who are from the inside.
“It’s a chilling commentary on the dangers of escapism and the rise of facism. It reflects the changes in Germany from the point of view of people living in their own little world, but the true horror is never far from the surface,” an anonymous reviewer stated on Rotten Tomatoes.
Though most stereotypical musicals execute over the top emotions, happy endings, and predictable plots, this musical does not. You never know what will happen next. Something that provides evidence for this is the fact that the musical has three different endings and everytime you go see it you do not know which finale you are in for.
The one thing in common with all three of these endings is the theme of ambiguity and darkness. They each leave the audience with a sense of unease and unresolved tension, reflecting the underlying political and social turmoil of the era. This consistent tone highlights the grim reality of the rise of Nazism in Germany during the 1930’s.
“Watching this musical for the first time I never realized the symbolism of the underlying plot. I feel like that’s what the musical wanted. I feel like the musical was supposed to install this false sense of hope and happiness during the beginning of the rise of nazis. The line ‘Leave your troubles outside,’ I feel like it’s supposed to represent the fact that there were problems outside of the false hope, but no one wanted to do anything about it. I feel like this musical is important. It shows that no matter how long you ignore the problems of the outside, at some point it will become an inside problem as well,” says sophomore Hudsyn Humble.
Just like Humble stated, even the characters who were in the musical were also blinded by the cabaret and its false sense of happiness. “There was a cabaret…and I was dancing with Sally Bowles, and we were both fast asleep,” is a line from Clifford Bradshaw. He made it known that he knew it was a facade and was aware he needed to escape the cabaret. However he couldn’t and didn’t because Sally wanted to stay. He chose to be blind to troubles instead of facing them and ultimately in the end it was his downfall.
Though the musical has silly songs and silly dancing, it provided more than that. It was an illusion to distract people from dealing with real world problems. A lot can be taken away from this musical and put into the real world. The use of escapism, the rise of facism, and how no one does anything about it all can be pulled from the musical and applied. It’s up to the audience whether they believe it and do something about it or not.
