History TearJerker / Cabaret

* During [[VillainSong "Tomorrow Belongs to Me"]], one elderly extra pointedly does not sing along, looking disturbed and anxious the whole time, while everyone else around him joins in. [[FridgeHorror He's probably going to the camps soon, too.]]

* Sally's confession that she has had the abortion, she is broken, almost a shell of herself, when she hits at the act Clifford doesn't clock it, but when she tells him, he responses with a slap, she remarks it would of ended this way with or without a baby, then Cliff gives Sally a train ticket for Paris. She pretends to be the old Sally with a witty remark, clearly she won't try to find him but she pleads with him to give her something in the book he will write about them. As he shuts the door she sits alone as the lights fade.

%%* 'I Don't Care Much.'

* The introduction of the title song works, too. The Emcee sounds so broken when he tries to give a boisterous introduction to Sally. He also looks seedier; in some versions he has visible track marks on his own.

* 'What Would You Do?', particularly as Fraulein Schneider is likely - and unfortunately - right about everything she says.

* The title song. Natasha Richardson's tragic death does ''not'' help.
** Switch the freight train with the Auchwitz "Arbeit macht frei" gate, and that was pretty much the production I saw. Devastating.
** The revival often features the Emcee flinging himself forward at the final as the lights flicker out - implying he [[DrivenToSuicide leapt onto the electric fence]].

* During some versions of the title song, Sally puts a noticeable pause between "The day she died" and "the neighbors came to snicker." There's two possible interpretations for that pause both of which are depressing: If the song is just a metaphor for what Sally's going through, then it could be the moment she realizes what fate her hard-core partying lifestyle will lead her to. If the song is something that actually happened to Sally, then she's reliving her friend Elsie's death and how she overheard people making fun of her on the day she died.

** The version I saw had a less horrible but still chilling end where Sally tried to sing a desperate reprise of Cabaret as the lights slowly shut off one by one, and then all the characters who remained in Germany appeared on the stage either sporting Nazi armbands, stars, or triangles, with half the Cabaret dancers being Jewish, the other half gay, and the Emcee with a purple triangle for gypsy.

** The production this Troper saw left only slight hints as to the time period (for example the Nazis' armbands were turned so you couldn't see the swastikas, etc) so unless you knew the musical going in, you thought this was just a fun musical about the shenanigans of a bohemian cabaret with dirty jokes. That's until the reprise of Willkommen when the Nazis form a line in the middle of the stage with their backs to the audience and the characters who remained in Germany went against the backdrop in a straight line while also wearing armbands. As the MC sang the final lines, he removed his trenchcoat...to reveal him wearing a suit from the 30's and an armband with the Star of David and joined the other characters against the backdrop. As the cymbals crashed, the characters against the backdrop fell down like they had been shot. Dead silence in the theater afterwards.
* "Maybe This Time". [[BrokenBird Poor Sally...]]
* This Troper's school production featured two of the Cabaret boys singing the original "Tomorrow Belongs to Me," with Nazis slowly marching in towards them. The fact that they were played by an actual gay couple didn't help even a little bit.
* This troper's school production featured a large jungle gym like cage that the Kit Kat girls and boys would lounge on in between scenes. At the dark reprise of Wilkomen the Kit Kat girls and Herr Schultz are all herded into the cage. The Emcee ripped off his coat to reveal a concentration camp uniform and star of David as gas suddenly poured from the pipes of the cage. Cue tears and gasps and stunned silence.

* 'I Don't Care Much.'

** This troper agrees with all of the above and would like to add her personal experience from seeing the play in London in 2008. The ending of the play can be changed in each production (for example, in the 1998 Sam Mendes version, the MC takes off his cabaret costume to reveal a concentration camp uniform, with a yellow star denoting he is a Jew and a pink triangle denoting he is gay). In the production she saw, the MC sings the last reprise of "Willkommen" as the men and women of the Kit Kat Klub slowly file out behind him, naked. When the MC says his last line, he takes off his robe, beneath which he is completely naked, and joins his coworkers at the back of the stage. They huddle together as the sounds of a gas chamber play. This troper was absolutely bawling.
** This troper saw a version where the MC was joined by the rest of the cast who were sporting torn costumes and well rendered bruises. At the end the entire cast, minus a couple of the Nazis, were herded into a portion of the backdrop which opened and the sounds of a freight train were played. The look of sheer terror on their faces, plus Sally's attempt to sing the title song in the most heartrending effort to convince herself she's going to be alright, makes her cry just thinking about it.

** This troper saw a version where the MC was joined by the rest of the cast who were sporting torn costumes and well rendered bruises. At the end the entire cast, minus a couple of the Nazis, were herded into a portion of the backdrop which opened and the sounds of a fright train were played. The look of sheer terror on their faces, plus Sally's attempt to sing the title song in the most heartrending effort to convince herself she's going to be alright, makes her cry just thinking about it.

** The production this Troper saw left only slight hints as to the time period (for example the Nazis' armbands were turned so you couldn't see the swastikas, etc) so unless you knew the musical going in, you thought this was just a fun musical with dirty jokes. That's until the reprise of Willkommen when the Nazis form a line in the middle of the stage with their backs to the audience and the characters who remained in Germany went against the backdrop in a straight line while also wearing armbands. As the MC sang the final lines, he removed his trenchcoat...to reveal him wearing a suit from the 30's and an armband with the Star of David and joined the other characters against the backdrop. As the cymbals crashed, the characters against the backdrop fell down like they had been shot. Dead silence in the theater afterwards.

** The production this Troper saw left only slight hints as to the time period (for example the Nazis' armbands were turned so you couldn't see the swastikas, etc) so unless you knew the musical going in, you thought this was just a fun musical with dirty jokes. That's until the reprise of Willkommen when the Nazis form a line in the middle of the stage and the characters who remained in Germany went against the backdrop in a straight line while also wearing armbands. As the MC sang the final lines, he removed his trenchcoat...to reveal him wearing a suit from the 30's and an armband with the Star of David and joined the other characters against the backdrop. As the cymbals crashed, the characters against the backdrop fell down like they had been shot. Dead silence in the theater afterwards.

* During Emma Stone's version of the title song, she puts a noticeable pause between "The day she died" and "the neighbors came to snicker." There's two possible interpretations for that pause both of which are depressing: If the song is just a metaphor for what Sally's going through, then it could be the moment she realizes what fate her hard-core partying lifestyle will lead her to. If the song is something that actually happened to Sally, then she's reliving her friend Elsie's death and how she overheard people making fun of her on the day she died.

* The introduction of the title song works, too. The Emcee sounds so broken when he tries to give a boisterous introduction to Sally. He also looks seedier; in some versions he has visible track marks on his own.

* This troper's school production featured a large jungle gym like cage that the Kit Kat girls and boys would lounge on in between scenes. At the dark reprise of Wilkomen the Kit Kat girls and Herr Schultz are all herded into the cage. The Emcee ripped off his coat to reveal a concentration camp uniform and star of David as gas suddenly poured from the pipes of the cage. Cue tears and gasps and stunned silence.

* 'What Would You Do?'

** Let's face it, the entire Fraulein Schiender and Herr Schutlz relationship is the saddest part of the show

* This Troper's school production featured two of the Cabaret boys singing the original "Tomorrow Belongs to Me," with Nazis slowly marching in towards them. The fact that they were played by an actual gay couple didn't help even a little bit.

** Let's face it, the enitre Fraulein Schiender and Herr Schutlz relationship is the saddest part of the show

** This troper saw a version where the MC was joined by the rest of the cast who were sporting torn costumes and well rendered bruises. At the end the entire cast, minus a couple of the Nazis, were herded into a portion of the backdrop which opened and the sounds of a fright train were played. The look of sheer terror on their faces, plus Sally's attempt to sing the title song in the most heartrending effort to convince herself she's going to be alright, makes her cry just thinking about it.

** This troper agrees with all of the above and would like to add her personal experience from seeing the play in London in 2008. The ending of the play can be changed in each production (for example, in the 1998 Sam Mendes version, the MC takes off his cabaret costume to reveal a concentration camp uniform, with a yellow star denoting he is a Jew and a pink triangle denoting he is gay). In the production she saw, the MC sings the last reprise of "Willkommen" as the men and women of the Kit Kat Klub slowly file out behind him, naked. When the MC says his last line, he takes off his robe, beneath which he is completely naked, and joins his coworkers at the back of the stage. They huddle together as the sounds of a gas chamber play. This troper was absolutely bawling.