Eddie Redmayne’s performance at the 2024 Tony Awards in June has been a hot topic among theatre fans. British director Rebecca Frecknall’s imaginative revival of Cabaret (1966) opened in London in 2021 and on Broadway in April 2024. Broadway critics have not been as overwhelmingly positive as London’s – and Redmayne’s divisive portrayal of the iconic Emcee character is taking centre stage in the debate.
When thinking of Cabaret, Liza Minnelli’s glamorous, vocally masterful turn as Sally Bowles in the 1972 film might spring to mind. For some, Alan Cumming’s seductive, queer-coded Emcee in Sam Mendes’s 1993 revival might be fresher in the memory. Arguably, Cabaret’s most popular images are those that are sexy and gritty, evoking the exhilarating pleasure of a Weimar-era German cabaret club. The Emcee invites us to leave our troubles outside and focus on the beautiful performers – and we do.
The sinister implications of this invitation become obvious throughout the show, which portrays the dangers of escapist entertainment distracting audiences from reality. Cabaret’s headliner Sally Bowles is not interested in politics and turns a blind eye to the rise of Nazism. In the show’s original staging, this theme of political apathy, and entertainment’s role in it, was symbolised by a giant mirror that reflected the audience back to itself. Subsequent productions have found different ways of prompting reflection.
