Washington [US], April 15 : Actor and singer Jennifer Lopez visited the spectacular new Broadway production of John Kander and Fred Ebb's legendary musical with her longtime manager, Benny Medina, reported People.
Jennifer Lopez visited the Kit Kat Club for the Broadway Revival of 'Cabaret'
Cabaret is a musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and a book by Joe Masteroff. It is based on the 1951 play I Am a Camera by John Van Druten
Her visit coincides with reports that the actress is working on her own Kander and Ebb musical, a cinematic adaptation of 'Kiss of the Spider Woman'. Lopez will appear in the film with Andor's Diego Luna and Promised Land's Tonatiuh.
According to People, Cabaret follows fictional American writer Clifford Bradshaw and his interactions with the eclectic characters at the seedy Kit Kat Club in Berlin, including the mysterious Emcee and English singer Sally Bowles, whom Clifford strikes up a romance. All the while, the Nazi party is rising to power in Germany, bringing an impending doom on all, especially Bradshaw's German boarding house owner Fraulein Schneider and her suitor, Jewish fruit vendor Herr Schultz.
The revival, now in previews at the August Wilson Theatre in New York City, stars Tony Award winner Eddie Redmayne as the Emcee and Gayle Rankin as Sally Bowles. Ato Blankson-Wood (Clifford), Steven Skybell (Herr) and Tony winner Bebe Neuwirth (Fraulein) round out the principal cast.
Penned by Joe Masteroff, Cabaret is adapted from John Van Druten's 1951 play I Am a Camera, which in turn was based on the 1939 novel Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood. The show first opened on Broadway in 1966 and the West End in 1968. It has enjoyed several revivals since -- most recently in 2021 for London and 2014 in New York City -- as well as a 1972 movie led by Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey (Broadways original Emcee).
This production is from London's West End, and it premiered in 2021. The show received seven Olivier Awards (the U.K. equivalent of the Tonys), including a trophy for outstanding musical revival and statues for Frecknall, Redmayne, and Jessie Buckley, who played Sally.
Redmayne, who also produces the Broadway revival, has long said that Cabaret "properly ignited" his love for theater, while playing the Emcee in a student production of the musical over 25 years ago. "It now feels completely thrilling and a little surreal to be a part of Rebecca's truly unique vision of Masteroff, Kander, and Ebb's brilliance as it arrives on Broadway, where the piece has such a history," he proclaimed in a statement in October.
Meanwhile, Kander and Ebb are two of the most acclaimed and prolific songwriting duos in Broadway history, with a string of hits including Chicago, Woman of the Year, Steel Pier, The Scottsboro Boys and The Visit. They famously penned the title song for Martin Scorsese's "New York, New York," which became the signature song for Frank Sinatra.
Cabaret spawned a string of songs that have become musical theatre mainstays, like "Willkommen," "Don't Tell Mamma," "Mein Herr," "Two Ladies," "Tomorrow Belongs to Me," "Money," "Maybe This Time" and, of course, "Cabaret," reported People.