Elevator Pitch:
"Set in 1929–1930 Berlin during the waning days of the Weimar Republic as the Nazis are ascending to power, the musical focuses on the hedonistic nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub, and revolves around American writer Clifford Bradshaw's relations with English cabaret performer Sally Bowles. A sub-plot involves the doomed romance between German boarding house owner Fräulein Schneider and her elderly suitor Herr Schultz, a Jewish fruit vendor. Overseeing the action is the Master of Ceremonies at the Kit Kat Klub, and the club itself serves as a metaphor for ominous political developments in late Weimar Germany." (Wikipedia)
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Script:
I have a huge soft spot in my heart for this one, since I've music directed it before. I know the show very intimately. But honestly, I think this is a masterpiece. I love the music and the book has that sense of something that's been developed and edited down to something really succinct and effective. Having the source material be a novel helped, I'm sure. I think it pushes the limits in the right ways and is one of those musicals that, while being inherently and generally dated, stays fresh and relevant as time goes on.