Plus: exclusive rehearsal photos of the new Broadway show.
ForBebe Neuwirth, the music ofJohn KanderandFred Ebbis as cozy and familiar as a favorite pair of slippers.
revival in 1996, playing merry murderess Velma Kelly, and won a Tony for it.
Bebe Neuwirth and Steven Skybell in ‘Cabaret’ rehearsals.Jenny Anderson for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
She’s back again, but this time she’s relocating from Jazz-Age Chicago to Weimar Republic-era Berlin.
“I feel extremely comfortable in John and Fred’s music,” she says.
“I’m very comfortable in their world.
Eddie Redmayne rehearses for ‘Cabaret’.Jenny Anderson for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
There’s a raw, wry wisdom that just resonates for me.
That’s how I feel about John and Fred’s music.
That’s not something that I have words for.”
The cast rehearses for ‘Cabaret’.Jenny Anderson for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
“It’s never crossed my path until now.
“And I don’t think that I’m really right for any of the parts.
Other than dancing in the show as one of the Kit Kat girls when I was younger.
Gayle Rankin in rehearsal for ‘Cabaret’.Jenny Anderson for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
I’m not right for Sally.”
Though Neuwirth is known for her skills as a dancer, she won’t be employing them here.
“That’s the animal that I am.
The cast of ‘Cabaret’ rehearses.Jenny Anderson for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
So even if I’m not dancing, it doesn’t mean I’m not dancing.”
I don’t know if she’s ever seen an actual pineapple in real life.
The character of Fraulein Schneider is crucial toCabaret’sexamination of complicity and the rise of the Nazi regime.
Ato Blankson-Wood rehearses for ‘Cabaret’.Jenny Anderson for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
“Schneider is a really fascinating and heartbreaking role,” Neuwirth reflects.
She poses the question, ‘What would you do?’
It’s that question of “What would you do?”
Gayle Rankin and Eddie Redmayne rehearse for ‘Cabaret’.Jenny Anderson for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
that Neuwirth believes has madeCabareta favorite for revivals on Broadway and the West End.
The good news is there have been so many revivals,” she says.
“The bad news is that there are timeless themes inCabaret.
Bebe Neuwirth and Steven Skybell rehearse for ‘Cabaret’.Jenny Anderson for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
There are always forces of evil in the world that we need to be vigilant about.
“There’s a lot there with this brilliant score and this great book and these fascinating stories.
The cast of ‘Cabaret’ rehearses.Jenny Anderson for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
