Thursday Headlines Belong to You

 

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Today's Notable Opening Night, observed the day after John Kander's 99th birthday, is March 19, 1998, when Cabaret was revived at "the Kit Kat Klub," what is now the Stephen Sondheim.

Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall went too far with their Cabaret, Ben Brantley claimed in The New York Times. It was too desperate, "seedier, raunchier and more sinister" than any version to date, and ultimately less effective. "It wants nothing more to shock ... (and comes across as) more naive than sophisticated," Brantley said. For Cabaret to work, according to Brantley, the audience has to be seduced. By relying too much on "its ammunition of shock effects," the production eliminated any chance of a surprise.

Oh, Ben, if only you knew that "hard-sell ugliness" would practically come to define Cabaret. With that in mind, it's funny that my go-to for the 1998-2004 production is a deodorant commercial.

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Brantley didn't hate everything in Cabaret. He loved Natasha Richardson, who deservedly won the Tony for playing Sally Bowles. Natasha gave "What promises to be the performance of the season. ... Born-to-lose characters can be tedious, but Ms. Richardson turns this one into an electrifying triumph."

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Fine but "defanged," according to Brantley, was Alan Cumming as the Emcee. Alan received a better notice from Vincent Canby, the Times' weekend theater guy. Vincent thought Alan was "a stunning presence," but he also saved his best words for Natasha. "The most admirable of the admirables ... incomparable ... giving a radiant performance that lights up the year."

If the 1998 Cabaret was a movie, Natasha would have won the Oscar, that's for sure. The show did okay at the 52nd Tony Awards, with 10 nominations and four wins. Awards went to Natasha and Alan, plus Ron Rifkin as Herr Schultz, and for the production itself. Most of '98's other biggies went to The Lion King.

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The 1998-2004 Cabaret originated with Sam Mendes' 1993 production at London's Donmar Warehouse. It was there that Cumming acted opposite Jane Horrocks. In New York, Cabaret gained Rob Marshall as a co-director and choreographer, plus the Roundabout Theatre Company as producers. During its Broadway run, Cabaret transfered from what was then Henry Miller's Theatre to Studio 54. By that point, Natasha was gone, replaced by Jennifer Jason Leigh. Alan left not long after Jennifer, and from 1999-2004, Sally and the Emcee were played by various famous faces. Casting stars wasn't an innovation popularized by Broadway in the '90s, but the Grease, Chicago, and Cabaret revivals seemed to take things to extreme lengths. Let's hear it for Brooke Shields, who ended up doing all three productions.

"There’s enough thematic gravitas to please the arty crowd, even as those who are lamenting the lack of titillation in Times Square now have a new entertainment choice," Variety said upon Cabaret's opening. "It’ll be an intoxicating cocktail for everyone, and (stars or no stars) the Roundabout will be able to fill the tables at the Kit Kat Klub until the apocalypse."

Other notable March 19 openings include:

Much Ado About Nothing, which opened at the now-demolished John Street Theatre in 1787. This appears to have been the American premiere of Shakespeare's comedy, which is returning to Broadway this fall.

The Adding Machine, which opened at the now-demolished Garrick Theatre and soon after transferred to the now-demolished Comedy Theatre in 1923. This wasn't a long-running play -- only two months -- but it's remembered for Elmer Rice's story of Mr. Zero (Dudley Digges, who ended his Broadway career as Harry Hope in the 1946 OBC of The Iceman Cometh). A longtime accountant, Mr. Zero is replaced by the titular machine, kills his boss over it, gets executed, and gets reincarnated for another lackluster go at life. It's being revived off-Broadway with a cast including Sarita Choudhury, Michael Cyril Creighton, Daphne Rubin-Vega, and Jennifer Tilly.

All American, which opened at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1962. This musical also wasn't a long-runner, but it deserves a mention for being composer Charles Strouse & lyricist Lee Adams' follow-up to Bye Bye Birdie, with Mel Brooks' last book for Broadway for nearly 40 years, Ray Bolger's penultimate Broadway performance (he lost the Tony to Robert Morse for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying), and the first Broadway musical direction in more than seven years by Joshua Logan (who lost the Tony to Abe Burrows for How to Succeed). Gee, I can't imagine what brought Josh back to musicals ...

Courtesy Ovrtur.

Doctor Jazz, which opened at the Winter Garden in 1975. Another short-runner -- only five performances -- but in the history book for scoring Lola Falana a Tony nomination. She lost to the star of the Winter Garden's previous production, Angela Lansbury in Gypsy.

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West Side Story, which was revived at the Palace Theatre in 2009. Arthur Laurents' last Broadway work was directing this revival of the 1957 Leonard Bernstein-Stephen Sondheim-Jerome Robbins show that he wrote the original book for. The WSS revival came a year after Arthur revisited the show that he, Robbins, Bernstein, and Sondheim did at the end of the '50s, Gypsy. The WSS revival, with new translations by Lin-Manuel Miranda, scored one Tony out of four. KO, then known as Karen Olivo, won for playing Anita.

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Buena Vista Social Club, which opened at the Gerald Schoenfeld in 2025. Happy first birthday wishes go to this show, which scored Tony Awards including Best Choreography (Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck) and Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Natalie Venetia Belcon).

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Next week, the spotlight's on Fences.