Anyone lucky enough to have a drink with me is aware of how much I love to talk about Cabaret. I am thankful to have lovely friends who are willing to oblige my passionate tipsy ramblings on the almost 60-year-old musical. Thanks to Eddie Redmayne’s performance on the Tony Awards, my typically-niche drinking topic is now the internet’s new favorite thing to argue about. So, I’m giving my friends a break on this one, and sharing my thoughts here instead. In short: this is my moment.
I was waiting with baited breath for this and you didn't disappoint!! So so many people trying to defend Redmayne's performance by saying "the Emcee is supposed to be creepy!" No, he's supposed to be charming. As you said, what makes the show effective is the realization of what you've been enjoying. It's very difficult to do that if the audience feels disconnected from the Emcee right away. I haven't seen the show either, but I agree with you that it doesn't really seem like Eddie Redmayne understands what his job as the Emcee is which obviously distorts the message of the show. It's too bad, since Cabaret feels especially prescient in the US in 2024.
(I too have been known to drunkenly ramble about midcentury musicals. Don't get me started on the genius of "The Miller's Son" from A Little Night Music.)
ahh thank you! It really does feel like a missed opportunity with the political climate. Even the way that algorithms can radicalize people on tiktok feels very Cabaret to me. Escaping into entertainment only for it to slowly morph into dangerous politics.
Ironically, I didn't even get to touch on my favorite drunken Cabaret topic, which is my defense of Liza's casting. I hate to say it, but A Little Night Music is a shameful blind spot for me even though I did an entire school project on it lol
Loved reading this. I didn’t know much about cabaret going into this but now it’s piqued my interest
Thank you so much! I would definitely recommend checking out the 1994 version since it's free to watch on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOs82ubFyFQ&t=4288s
tysm for sharing!
I was waiting with baited breath for this and you didn't disappoint!! So so many people trying to defend Redmayne's performance by saying "the Emcee is supposed to be creepy!" No, he's supposed to be charming. As you said, what makes the show effective is the realization of what you've been enjoying. It's very difficult to do that if the audience feels disconnected from the Emcee right away. I haven't seen the show either, but I agree with you that it doesn't really seem like Eddie Redmayne understands what his job as the Emcee is which obviously distorts the message of the show. It's too bad, since Cabaret feels especially prescient in the US in 2024.
(I too have been known to drunkenly ramble about midcentury musicals. Don't get me started on the genius of "The Miller's Son" from A Little Night Music.)
ahh thank you! It really does feel like a missed opportunity with the political climate. Even the way that algorithms can radicalize people on tiktok feels very Cabaret to me. Escaping into entertainment only for it to slowly morph into dangerous politics.
Ironically, I didn't even get to touch on my favorite drunken Cabaret topic, which is my defense of Liza's casting. I hate to say it, but A Little Night Music is a shameful blind spot for me even though I did an entire school project on it lol
I will be watching this today thank you so much.