Line #9 Trivia/Cabaret


1	!!For the musical:
2	* {{Bowdlerise}}: During the previews "If You Could See Her" finished with the line "She wouldn't look Jewish at all", however, Jewish audience members felt it was comparing Jewish people to gorillas [[labelnote:context]]The song comes in Act Two after Fräulein Schneider tells Herr Schultz that she is concerned about the Nazis raising power that their marriage will be used against them Schultz tries to convince her it won't matter only for a brick to smash through the window, the song is then performed showing the audience how the Nazis could promote prejudice [[/labelnote]], and so with threats of a boycott it was changed to "She isn't a meeskite at all". This appeared in the libretto and the original lyric as an alternate.
3	** Ironically Joel Grey sang the original lyric during the show's run without fear, the Original London Production sang it on the Cast Recording and since the movie was darker in motion it was also used, most revivals use the original lyric without fear.
4	*** The reason why the song's lyric was changed was partly because the show had not really used the word Jewish to that point the word Meeskite was used in a song to show to the Nazi Ernst Ludwig that Herr Schultz was Jewish and so when the later revivals cut the song and replace it with Fräulein Kost telling Ludwig that Schultz is Jewish there was no need to censor the lyric.
5	* CutSong: During the previews, there was three acts and when the show was cut to two acts many songs vanished. Three songs that were removed for good, Good Time Charlie", "It'll All Blow Over", and "Roommates" do appear on the CD of the Original Broadway Cast sung by Kander and Ebb.
6	** In the 1987 Revival which had a revised script, Cliff's Why Should I Wake Up was replaced with Don't Go, Meeskite was deleted altogether, The Money Song from the Movie was added to Sitting Pretty and I Don't Care Much which was cut in previews was resorted.
7	** In the 1998 Revival, The Telephone Song was deleted and Mein Herr was added, Cliff no longer had a song, instead Sally sang Maybe This Time and Sitting Pretty was removed leaving The Money Song in its place.
8	*** Despite the changes in the Revivals most productions can and do add and remove to their delight.
9	* StarMakingRole: Kinda with Joel Grey, as the Emcee as he did reprise his role in the movie and later was given top billing in the 87 revival. This can also be seen with Alan Cumming who played the Emcee in the 98 revival and the 2017 shows.
10	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Sandy Wilson, the creator of ''Theatre/TheBoyFriend'', had written a whole score for a musical version based on the original ''I am a Camera'' play, and if done it would have had Creator/JulieAndrews in the role of Sally Bowles. However, her manager refused and Wilson's Score was rejected by Hal Prince who was now in charge.
11	** During the previews the musical was 3 acts long with Act One focusing on introducing the US audience to the world of the Weimar-era. It was later decided that all they needed was in the song "Willkommen", and with that most of Act One and Act Two was trimmed down and fused together as the packed first Act and Act Three was made into Act Two.
12	** Creator/LizaMinnelli, tried out for it, but producer/director Harold Prince thought she was too good a performer to play a second-rater like Sally, and wanted a British actress to play the part.
13	!!For the film:
14	* ActorInspiredElement: Creator/LizaMinnelli designed her own hairstyles and costumes, with help from her father. However, her bright green nails were [[AllThereInTheManual from the original book]] on which the play and film were based.
15	* CreatorBacklash: Christopher Isherwood was ''not'' pleased that Brian was turned from gay to bi in the film.
16	** While they weren't the creators Jean Ross (the inspiration for Sally Bowles) and Stephen Spender both friends of Isherwood both disliked the movie for it's glamourizing the harsh realities of the era.
17	* CutSong: The large score of the stage musical was trimmed down. Bob Fosse wanted to focus on the Kit Kat Klub for Musical numbers and only left "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" as a statement.
18	** The songs "Don't Tell Mama", "Sitting Pretty" and "Married", all originally in the Broadway version, were cut from the movie, however they were used as background music. "Don't Tell Mama" was heard on Sally's Gramophone; "Sitting Pretty" is played in the restaurant where Brian, Sally and Max have lunch; and "Married" can be heard playing on a radio in the background during the scene where Brian and Sally are discussing marriage.
19	* EnforcedMethodActing: When Natalia opens the door to see that the Nazis killed her dog, Bob Fosse replaces the fake dead dog with bloody meat to get a better reaction from Marisa Berenson.
20	** Also to make Natalia blush on camera Bob would whisper dirty things to Marisa before shooting.
21	* ExecutiveMeddling: Bob Fosse upon hearing that ABC Pictures and Allied Artists were making Cabaret with Cy Feuer producing pleaded with his friend to get him as Director, however, the executives were reluctant to hire him due to the failure of the movie version of Sweet Charity but Feuer reminded them of the challenging problems movies musicals were having and the risks a more experienced director could do. They relented but Fosse was on a tight budget and the new script had to be checked for any possible expenses.
22	** During the re-writing of the script the executives wanted to delete any use of the word Jew was used fearing a backlash, however, Feuer pleaded that as a half-Jewish man such a removal would damage the film, as they'd have to face the reality of the era.
23	* FakeNationality: American actors Creator/JoelGrey and Marisa Berenson play the German Emecee and Natalia.
24	* HostilityOnTheSet: Bob Fosse and producer Cy Feuer had a falling out when Fosse insisted on hiring Robert L. Surtees as the cinematographer for Cabaret, despite Surtees being potentially responsible for the failure of Sweet Charity. Feuer called Hollywood executives, unaware that Fosse heard him and had a major fight with him that morning. Nevertheless, the executives decided to hire Geoffrey Unsworth, who proved to be highly skilled. Regrettably, Feuer's lack of confidence resulted in the loss of friendship between Fosse and Feuer. Fosse's Oscar win for Best Director, where he thanked Feuer, could have led to reconciliation. However, Cabaret's loss of Best Picture to Film/TheGodfather meant Feuer's response went unheard.
25	** Creator/BobFosse did not want Creator/JoelGrey to reprise his role in the movie adaptation and went as far as telling the producers it would be either him or Grey that goes. When the producers made it clear they would side with Grey, Fosse begrudgingly hired Grey. Even still according to Grey, Fosse was cold to him most of the time. One instance included Fosse angrily storming off set when Fosse improvised the scene where he paints a Hitler mustache with mud and says "Heil Hitler". Foose at one point tried to make Grey do a backflip despite Grey being nervous at trying to perform that. When Foose attempted to show Grey how easy it was as a demonstration, Foose landed face first on the ground. When Grey saw the first cut he noticed all his numbers were trimmed or cut however he was reassured that his stuff would be restored in the final cut which it was.
26	* IronyAsSheIsCast: Creator/LizaMinnelli, a trained dancer, plays Sally - an untrained but enthusiastic dancer. She had a lot of trouble trying to learn to dance like an amateur.
27	* NonSingingVoice: According to Creator/BobFosse's biography, Broadway performer Mark Lambert recorded "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" - but apparently refused to dye his hair blond for the film. As a result, a German extra stood in for him on camera.
28	* ShownTheirWork: Joel Grey learnt a realistic German Accent for the movie which he forgot to do in the Broadway Production.
29	* StarMakingRole: For Creator/LizaMinnelli.
30	* ThrowItIn: During the scene where Brian has to conduct Natalia's English lessons with Sally and Fritz present, Brian passes Sally a plate of cake, with the cake falling off the plate and hitting Sally's chest. According to Creator/MichaelYork, the cake was supposed to stay on the plate, but her reaction when it missed was amusing enough that they left it in. It does bring additional humor to a CringeComedy-filled scene.
31	* TroubledProduction: Fosse disliked Jay Allen's script which was faithful to the Broadway Musical, so he hired Hugh Wheeler to rewrite the script. Allen kept his writing credit and Wheeler was named "research consultant."
32	** Filming in Germany was troublesome. Fosse had the executives on his tail to make sure he didn't overspend trying to recreate an authentic 30s Berlin, but also he had to share the Bavaria Studios with the overrunning Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory. Also, very few Germans that were from the 30s were willing to talk about the era to either Fosse or the actors.
33	** The costume designer they originally hired did not know about 1930s Berlin and showed drawings for Sally Bowles costumes based on 30s Hollywood, so Fosse got his wife Gwen Verdon to buy real 30s clothes from second hand stores in Paris.
34	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
35	** Creator/BillyWilder and Creator/GeneKelly turned down the offer to direct.
36	** In the early stages of the project, real-life couple Creator/JulieChristie and Creator/WarrenBeatty were going to star.
37	** Amongst those considered for Sally Bowles were Creator/UrsulaAndress, Creator/JulieAndrews, Creator/FayeDunaway, Creator/JaneFonda, Creator/ShirleyMacLaine, Creator/BarbraStreisand and Creator/NatalieWood.
38	** Amongst those who tested for Brian Roberts were Creator/TimCurry, Creator/TimothyDalton, Creator/JeremyIrons and Creator/MalcolmMcDowell (who declined the part when he found out it was a non-singing role).
39	** The planned script has several scenes deleted because of budget issuses.
40	*** Brian originally went with Sally to see her father where he spends the day belittling Sally's ambition to become an actress, so she sees him later dressed in her real clothes and her father kicks her out.
41	*** The Nazis were going to throw rocks at the Landauer department store and Natalia was going to be attacked only for Fritz to save her and he was to propose again and she accepted.

Context Trivia / Cabaret