‘Cabaret’ (1972 – Bob Fosse)
History
Jazz
Bob Fosse
Bertolt
Brecht
Songs
Character List
Choreography
Task
‘Cabaret’
– the Song
Evaluation
Gallery
References
Definitions
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History
The word “Cabaret” is originally French. It was meant to be the meaning of alcoholic beverages.
“Cabaret” is a style of performance which is characterized by the nightclub setting, which had an
amount of entertainers. “Cabaret” is not the same as lounge singers, musical theatre or any
background music.
It is a very personal experience in which it is between the audience and between the performer.
Where the performer and audience are so close it shows intimacy between them.
A performance must be honest, versatile and spontaneous. The performers must also make sure
that they are not shy as this is not what the audience are looking for.
Many of the “Cabaret” dancers were singers, comics, dancers, fire eaters, sword swallowers and
burlesque dancers.
Many of the “Cabarets” which were in Germany were very censored, an this was mainly due to
the protest they presented. Whereas, the rise of Weimar Republic in 1920’s, a lot of things
changed not only for Germany but for the “Cabarets” as well. In 1920, nudity was allowed in
public which the “Cabaret” dancers were happy about however, this all came to an end in 1933.
When Adolf Hitler came into power he decided to abolish the Weimar
Republic and also decided to close down all of the
“Cabaret” clubs and
these were raided as well.
However hard the Nazi’s tried “Cabaret” still continued.
Harold Prince, was the director of the Broadway “Cabaret” and this was inspired by a
performance in which he saw in 1951, whilst he was in the army in Stuttgart.
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At the end of World War II Germany was in a very poor state, people were starving and many riots
started to break out. It had to be one of the toughest times in which Germany had.
6th January revolution happen however this was not successful and within a week, Ebert Stopped the
rebellion.
1919 the Weimar Republic won the election and from this day things started to get worse.
The Treaty of Versailles were made to pay £6.6 Billion in damage and were also made to reduce their
army by 100,000 men. There tanks submarines were all taken away and the country was made smaller,
by having 13% of there land taken away.
In 1919 and 1923 over 200 people were connected to the Weimar government and were assassinated.
In 1920 the Nazi party was created and they met in beer houses and here Hitler joined and soon
became the leader.
In 1923, was a year of crisis and a loaf of bread was cost 201,000,000 mark, this was due to the fact that
in 1922, they could not pay the second payment for the damage in which they caused.
Hitler wanted many people to vote for him and he soon was put in jail, here he wrote ‘Mein Kampf’,
which was his thoughts.
1924-1929, cabaret started and this gave a lot of people something in which they would look forward
too.
The Nazi’s would use propaganda to tell people what they wanted to hear on the Radio broadcasts,
posters and meetings.
30th January 1933, Hitler became Vice President Chancellor and from 1933-193.
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Bob Fosse - Choreographer
Bob Fosse is a well known choreographer in the dance industry.
His full name is Robert Louis Fosse and he was born on June 23rd 1927 in Chicago US. Unfortunately he died
September 23rd 1987 in Washington at the age of 60, due to a heart attack.
He was a actor, dancer, musical theatre choreographer, director, screenwriter, film editor and a film director. In
his years of being a choreographer he managed to gain himself an impressive eight ‘Tony Awards’ and was also
nominated for an ‘Academy Award’ four different times.
His father was American and his mother was Irish born and he is the second youngest of six.
He first married in 1949 to 1951 to Mary Ann Niles and divorced, then remarried in 1952 to Joan McCracken
until 1959 which also ended in divorce then later married Gwen Verdon in 1960 and had a daughter called
Nicole, the separated in 1987 but legally stayed married until he died I 1987. it is also known that Bob had
epilepsy as he gained a seizure onstage in 1961.
He met a dancer called Charles Grass and they decided that they would come together to collaborate with the
name ‘The Riff Brothers’, and in this teamed they toured theatres in the Chicago area.
The first main performance in which he played was with his first wife Mary Ann Niles who was also a dancer, in
‘Call Me Mister’. This bought Bob Fosse to Dean Martin and jerry Lewis, who were interested in the work in
which Bob was doing.
In 1953 Bob was signed to MGM, which is a large contract where a lot of dancers want to be signed to. some
of the other performances in which he was in include ‘Give a Girl a break’, ‘The Affairs of Dobie Gillis’ and ‘Kiss
Me Kate’ and these were all in 1953. He choreographed a small piece which bought him to the Broadway
Producers.
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Bob did not want to move from Hollywood to theatres, however in 1954, he
decided that he was going to go to theatre and created his first ever musical
‘The Pajama Game’ and then ‘George Abbott’s Damn Yankees’ in 1955. This
then made Bob realise that he was interest in theatre as well as film.
In 1955 he met a beautiful women called Gwen Verdon and they married in
1960. Gwen won her first ever ‘Tony Award’, in the theatre production of
‘George Abbott’s Damn Yankee’s’. Also in 1960 he was a director and
choreographer in the musical ‘Redhead’, which he based on Gwen Verdon,
and in this he gained the award for ‘Best choreography’.
With ‘Sweet Charity’ and ‘Chicago’, Bob joined with Gwen to create
something special.
The style of Bob was to have turned-in bent knees, rolling shoulders, jazz
hands and also sideway shuffling. He also wanted to use a variety of props
which included, bowler hats, gloves, canes and chairs. It is said that Bob wore
hast due to the fact that he was bald and that he also used gloves as ‘he did
not like his hands’.
Over many years he directed five different films, ‘Sweet Charity’, ‘Cabaret’,
‘The Godfather’, ‘Lenny’ and ‘All That Jazz’.
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Synopsis
Cabaret was first a Broadway musical in 1966. The film was directed and
Choreographed by Bob Fosse, who made turn on the original from ‘Christopher
Isherwood’s Goodbye to Berlin’.
Sally Bowles is played by Liza Minnelli, who is a American entertainer, how captures
peoples attention through dance and song. The Kit Kat Klub where the songs are
formed and where Sally works is a Cabaret club, where many people went to get away
from the war and have a time and chance to relax.
Most of the songs which are performed in the film are all performed at the Kit Kat
Klub and each song tells a story of something which happened in the war and that
period of time. The songs show the plot and the progression to Hitler.
Cabaret is about a Sally Bowles, falling in love with a bi-sexual man called Brian. Brian
came to Berlin in 1931 as he wanted to complete all of his German Studies. Brian
made his money by teaching English. From here Cabaret shows how Sally falls in love
with Brian and does many things in order for her to be with him. The songs which are
shown, show a story of the War, and example of this would be “Tomorrow Belongs to
Me”, which is showing how Hitler believed that all people should have blonde hair and
blue eyes and this was a large part of that period of time.
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Evaluation
The show of ‘Cabaret’, I feel is a performance which is captivating and interesting. It captures
your attention from the beginning to the end.
The song of ‘Tomorrow Belongs to Me’, makes me understand what happened in the time of the
war and this makes me realise and understand how people were treated and how people saw
each other.
I feel that all of the songs which are in the performance, relate to something which was
important in that period of time. This made me understand what went on and how it affected
many different people. Each of the songs performed make me understand how people felt and
this therefore made me feel more attached to the film and that period of time.
Not only did the songs make me realise and understand what happened in that period of time, it
also made me understand how much the Germans took over and how they made people feel so
little and therefore means that people were to scared to come out of the shells. It also showed
how the shows which happened underground were done for that reason to make sure they were
safe and this made me understand how I could stage my own performance.
Lastly, I feel that the whole performance not only represented that period of time it also
represented the style of jazz and the movements in which ‘Bob Fosse’ was trying to get towards
the audience. He wanted to make sure that Jazz was taken to a different level to make people see
what jazz and his jazz are really like.
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‘Cabaret’ – the Song
The song ‘Cabaret’, was sung by Liza Minnelli AKA Sally Bowles. The idea of the dance is to make
the audience listen to the words in which are being sung, and therefore be able to understand
what ‘Sally Bowles’ is trying to tell them. The words in which she repeats are: “what good is
sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play. Life is a Cabaret, old chum, Come to the
Cabaret”. This is her saying for people not to sit at home feeling down and they should come to
the ‘Cabaret’ and watch it and therefore it will put them in a good mood and cheer them up.
The physical setting of the performance shows ‘Sally Bowles’ standing on stage on her own,
showing that she is having a relationship with the music. She is wearing a purple dress, with
dangly bits on it which is a style of dress which was worn in the 1920’s. You can see that part of
her stomach is showing which is showing a sexy side of the song, showing that it is still ‘Cabaret’.
The lighting changes through the show. It starts off very dark with a spot light on her and then it
starts to brighten up with a few more lights all on ‘Sally Bowles’. When she sings ‘Come to the
Cabaret’ the lights get brighter and more lights come on, and this is showing a part of the show
and what the performance is about. The set is very simple with nothing on the stage, it is purely
‘Sally Bowles’ on her own and this is representing that everyone at that moment should be
looking at her.
The aural setting of the performance is showing a statement of the period of time in which the
performance is being shown and it is showing how people should not stay at home and moan and
dwell on what is happening they need to go and get out and go to the ‘Cabaret’.
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There is only one person on the stage and this is different from the rest of the songs in ‘Cabaret’ and this is
showing a different style to what is being sung. It grabs the audiences attention and makes them understand
what is going on and happening.
In the song there is not much dancing, however there is some movement showing ‘Sally’ having a relationship
with the music and to the style. The dynamics are sharp, strong and show a form of strength within the music.
‘Sally’ performs in a sustained movement where none of her moves are to different from the first and this
means that the audience is able to connect with the dancer and therefore understand what is going on. The
energy in which she has is strong, where she makes sure that everything she does has a lot of energy and this
means that the audience are able to connect with what is happening.
The actions used are stillness, and this is used throughout the performance. She use gestures to show feelings.
Throughout the dance she uses her hands to show the gestures and this is significant not only in the song
‘Cabaret’ but also in the rest of the show.
The space which is used is high level. ‘Sally’ does not lower the level in which she moves as she wants to make
sure that she is keeping the audiences attention and that all eyes are on her. Some of the actions in which she
performs are small and show that how she may be innocent, however then there is a contrast and the actions
in which she does are very big and this is getting the attention toward herself, and this could be representing
that she may have a different and outrageous side to herself.
The relationship which ‘Sally’ has is with the music and with the movements in which she performs. She also
has a relationship with the audience as she is singing directly to them. This shows that ‘Sally’ has a relationship
with the audience and with the music.
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Choreography Task
As part of learning cabaret, as a class, we made our own form of ‘Cabaret’. We wanted to take the style
of Bob Fosse, however use the music in the film ‘Burlesque’. We decided that we would use gestures as
a motif which we wanted to develop and change throughout the dance.
The lighting used was dimmed and this then gave a feel of the underground side of the ‘Cabaret’ Scene
in the 1920’s. We also decided that we would use chairs and have hats, as this means that we were
taking the idea of using props from the film ‘Cabaret’, however, we were using them in our own way.
As A group we decided that we wanted to take ideas from ‘Chicago’ as well as ‘Cabaret’ as Bob Fosse
choreographer both and therefore meant that the style of dance was the same, however we were
looking outside the box.
We wanted to make the dance, seductive, feel good and show the meaning of jazz through the
movements in which we were performing.
Below is the link to watch the choreography. Whilst watching this it is clear to see that there are many
moves from ‘Chicago’ and the use of flex feet to show the style of Bob Fosse. We also took from
‘Cabaret’ the way in which Bob Fosse uses stillness to show the audience a feel of the music and keep
them entertained.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSMlPwwvxMo&list=UUxF2UT4Ax_7PfLvtA6rsfnw
Overall I enjoyed making up my own form of ‘Cabaret’, as it made me understand what I needed to be
like in order for the style of Jazz and ‘Cabaret’ to work and to look effective.
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Songs
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“Willkommen” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzhihGDXfUg
“Mein Herr” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chdpiSX2ino
“Maybe This Time” -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3rkLRJ0m0k
“Money, Money” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8P80A8vy9I
“Two Ladies” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_zY0ZbE1Mw
“Sitting Pretty” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtAC5CGCzvg
“Tomorrow Belongs to Me” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29Mg6Gfh9Co
“Tillier Girls” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRTmvjXs1i0
“Heiraten” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZosqn3o1ZA
“If You Could See Her” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEhHeILa3HE
“Cabaret” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moOamKxW844
“Finale” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzBTqLy7gkY
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Character list
The Emcee – the Emcee of the Kit Kat Klub, a leering, ghoulish, flamboyant Figure
Sally Bowles – the headlining British singer at the Kit Kat Klub
Clifford “Cliff” Bradshaw – an American writer travelling through Berlin
Fraulein Schneider – an older woman who runs the boarding house that Cliff and Sally live in
Herr Schultz – an elderly Jewish fruit shop owner who falls in love with Fraulein Schneider
Ernst Ludwig – a German man who befriends Cliff when he arrives in Berlin, later revealed to be a
Nazi
Fraulein Kost – a prostitute who rents in Fraulein Schneider’s boarding house
Rosie, LuLu, Frenchie, Texas, Fritzie and Helga – girls who perform alongside Sally Bowles at
the Kit Kat Klub
Bobby, Victor, Hans and Herman - the Cabaret boys of the Kit Kat Klub (Bobby and Victor are
twins)
Nazi Youth – a young boy involved in the Nazi Party
Sailors 1. and 2. – Fraulein Kost’s sailors
Nazi Guard – Ernst’s bodyguard at the Kit Kat Klub
Max – Owner of the Kit Kat Klub
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References
• Fandango, (2014). Cabaret (1972) Synopsis - Plot Summary Fandango.
[online]
Available
at:
http://www.fandango.com/cabaret_104412/plotsummary
[Accessed 13 Jul. 2014].
• IMDb, (2014). Cabaret (1972) - Plot Summary. [online] Available at:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068327/plotsummary [Accessed 13
Jul. 2014].
• Wikipedia, (2014). Bertolt Brecht. [online] Available at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertolt_Brecht [Accessed 13 Jul.
2014].
• Wikipedia,
(2014).
Jazz.
[online]
Available
at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz [Accessed 13 Jul. 2014]
• Google Images
• Strode’s Moodle
• AQA GCSE Dance – Nelson Thornes
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Jazz
Jazz is a style of dance which used American music which first came from the late 19th
century. It has elements of ‘Blue notes, improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation and
the swung note’.
This style of music moved around the world and many people started to dance to it as
it was a feel good piece of music. The style of Jazz then took on different styles in
which people started to make an example of this would be ‘Afro-Cuban Jazz’. Jazz also
took on the style of improvisation, where people were able to listen to the music and
then decide the movements in which they were going to dance.
The Characteristics of Jazz are:
• Sharp movements
• Balance
• Complimentary to the music
• Expressions
• Attitude
• Change of Dynamics
• Confidence
• Syncopation
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Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was born on the 10th February – 14th August 1956. Brecht was a poet, playwriter and
director in theatres.
The writing in which Brecht does, is not deliberately poetic and needs to be read carefully for a person
to be able to understand what is being said. The language in which he uses makes people understand
and feel him physically and emotionally.
Brecht is a part of ‘Cabaret’ due to the fact that he was part of the productions which occurred during
the Weimar Republic.
He uses multi-rolling in productions as well as breaking the fourth wall and the use of narration. All
three of these things are ways n which Brecht would get his idea across to the audience and this is some
of the ways in which Bob Fosse took when directing and choreography the performance ‘Cabaret’. He
wanted to make things strange and this is something in which Bob Fosse took from Brecht and made
into ‘Cabaret’.
Spass was used by Brecht which is ‘to make fun of’ and this stops the audience becoming to into the
performance. Brecht wanted to take the audience away from the performance. Bob Fosse took that on
board and placed it into ‘Cabaret’, where he made sure that the audience were involved in the
performance however, were not too attached.
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Definitions
Physical Setting – this is what is on the stage, for example,
props, costumes, set design, lighting and projection.
Aural Setting – this is the music which comes with the
performance, an example of this would be silence, natural
sounds, music and song and found sounds.
Dynamics – this is how a movement is performed.
Action – this is what a person does.
Space – this is the where a person does the movement.
Relationship – this is who the person is with.
Idea – this is the thought of the performance.
Structure – this is how the performance is put together.
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The structure of this song is telling a story to the audience. ‘Sally’
tells the story though the words in which she is saying and this
captures the audiences attention and makes them understand
the situation of what is happening in the song. Even though the
song is a story, I would say that it is ternary, as it starts as it ends,
and there is a bit in the middle which shows the contrast.
The whole show of ‘Cabaret’ is Narrative, and this is showing
how the storyline unfolds throughout the show.
You can see all of the things commented on in the song below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moOamKxW8
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