Adaptation Displacement: The movie and musical are much more well-known than the play "I Am a Camera" and the original stories by Christopher Isherwood.
The Emcee is especially prone to this, given his ambiguous nature as he relates to the actual story. For example, he can be played as a symbol of the malevolence enveloping Germany, and therefore be rather sinister as Joel Grey's version was. Or he can be a symbol of the apathy and blindness that allowed the Nazis to come to power ("So, life is disapponting? Forget it? In here, we have no troubles!"), and therefore end up a victim of the Nazis in the end (as the Sam Mendes revival and similar productions present him).
Is "If You Could See Her" meant to be lampooning Jews or anti-Semitism? The fact that some productions of the revival reveal the Emcee to be Jewish lends some possible credence to the latter.
The young Nazi who begins the song "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" could be seen as a Tear Jerker moment for him as well. The audience never learns the boy's motivation for joining the Nazis but given how aggressively Hitler used propaganda on Germany's youth, the future looks tragic for him as well. He believes he will be part of the party that will restore Germany to its past glory, but in actuality he will end up becoming one of history's greatest villains —a fate he might have easily avoided had he not been born at that particular time and in that particular place.
And You Thought It Would Fail: There was hardly anyone that wanted to invest in the show, those that did were criticized especially since that year there was 3 musicals that were deemed more suitable as a hit, namely The Apple Tree, I Do! I Do! and Breakfast At Tiffany's. Well after a tricky time in the out of town Previews the critical reception brought audiences and it opened on Broadway lasting from 1966 to 1969 and winning Best Musical as well as most of the Tony Awards that year note And the other new musicals? Well The Apple Tree ran for less than 500 but has been back to Broadway, I Do! I Do! did 560 performances and is regularly used in regionals due to a small cast being cheap to produce and Breakfast At Tiffany's failed to work and closed during previews .
Cant Unhear It: Joel Grey's originating turn as the Emcee was so untouchable that Alan Cumming's portrayal had to radically change the role in order to stand up to it. This in turn proved to be another iconic take on the part, with both actors applying for this trope whenever someone tackles their interpretation.
Fridge Horror: In some versions of the play, the Emcee being revealed to be Jewish adds an extra layer to the Wham Line in "If You Could See Her", especially if one interprets it as him performing it in the actual Kit Kat Klub.
It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: The 1987 Broadway Revival suffered this fate, it had Joel Grey reprising The Emcee, yes there was a revised book and song list which was darker, but most of the sets, costumes and choreography were carbon copies of the original production.
Averted with the 2014 revival which was the 1999 version with Alan Cumming reprising the Emcee but the production did very well selling out and was extended to nearly the end of the year.
Misaimed Fandom: "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" is popular among neo-Nazis, who are either oblivious to or don't care about its origins, and several racist or neo-Nazi bands have covered it. From the other side, some people don't quite realize exactly what it is about and think its just a general "let's do our best" song, which leads to people singing it at concerts and what have you. It doesn't help that it has a pretty cool rhythm.
Moral Event Horizon: In the 2012 London revival, Ernst Ludwig crosses this at the very end when he kills Sally, the Emcee and the other members of the Kit Kat Klub in a gas chamber.
The announcement that London's 2022 revival would star Eddie Redmayne as the Emcee raised quite a few eyebrows. A lot of people said he seemed far more naturally suited to playing Cliff since despite being a good actor, he doesn't come across as someone who's a natural showman (which, in every interpretation of the character, is still the one defining aspect of the Emcee's personality). That said, when his performance was actually seen, it was acclaimed and touted as being a fresh take on the character that wasn't stuck in the shadow of Joel Grey and Alan Cumming, which resulted in an Olivier for Best Actor in a Musical.
The original production got this for casting Jill Haworth (Exodus), a twenty-one year-old actress with little stage experience, as Sally. Critics called attention to her lack of singing chops or charisma compared to Liza Minnelli, who had starred in Kander and Ebb's previous musical Flora, the Red Menace and had been under consideration for Sally. Producer/director Harold Prince stuck by Haworth, saying that Sally was not supposed to be too polished a singer and that Haworth delivered exactly what he was looking for, and she successfully played the part on Broadway for two years.
Retroactive Recognition: Gayle Rankin portrays Sally Bowles in the 2024 Broadway revival, having previously played Fraulein Kost/Fritzie/accordion in the 2014 Broadway revival.
Vanilla Protagonist: Of the three leads, this is averted by The Emcee and Sally, who are two of musical theatre's most beloved roles. Cliff however has been noted by many as significantly less interesting than the rest of the castcontextHe did have a song in the Prince led productions but both songs were denounced as fillers while some productions do use a song since the Mendes Revival the song can be dropped, which makes sense given his role is essentially to be the Audience Surrogate. A strong actor can make him engaging, but a poor one will make quite the bore.
1972 film
Alternative Character Interpretation: "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" includes a quick shot of the Emcee smiling and nodding at the camera, implying that he's reacting to it. But why? Is he giving a knowing aside to the audience, to suggest that he, like them, knows what's coming soon? Or does he approve of the Nazis?
Best Known for the Fanservice: The musical number everyone remembers from the movie is of course "Mein Herr" - as it features Sally doing a sexy dance around a chair while singing a sultry song.
The general changes made in translation from stage to screen, especially the more superficial ones. Some argue that the changes give the story a greater sense of focus and allows it to be watched and enjoyed by those who wouldn't normally like musicals, while others prefer the generally more frank stage version and wish they'd kept more of the darker elements.
Surprisingly, Liza Minnelli as Sally. Pretty much everyone agrees that the performance was wonderful, but there's a sizeable camp who think she was actually far too good for the role, as a lot of the tragedy of Sally's character is that she's not as good a performer as she imagines herself to be (and thus cannot rise above the seedy Berlin nightclub scene), an element which is ultimately lost with Minelli's genuinely fantastic singing and dancing. Especially since the film is running on the 'Diegetic' part of the Musical World Hypothesis, so one can't even Hand Wave it with Sally simply imagining herself to be this good. She did attempt to make Sally's dancing look more amateurish at least.
Do Not Do This Cool Thing: See "Misaimed Fandom", but even if you're not a neo-Nazi, "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" is sung and filmed in such a way as to be quite stirring, especially when everyone in the park joins in.
Fridge Horror: The editing makes it clear Sally's baby is the Emcee's.
Genre Turning Point: Cabaret's game changing Musical World Hypothesis had been seen before - Darling Lili had all the songs as diegetic performances by the singer protagonist - but Cabaret was notable for finding a way to justify musical elements in a dark and gritty story.
Inferred Holocaust: Literally. The final shot of the movie shows that Sally is performing in front of a crowd of Nazi officers. Fritz and Natalia are now a married couple, Fritz being open about being Jewish — so it's unsure of how things will go for them. Sally too is associated with a club that has been poking fun at the Nazis in their skits a couple of times — so it's unknown if she'll be punished for that at some point. It's also possible that her partying ways will catch up with her like what happened to her friend Elsie in the "Cabaret" song.
Misaimed Fandom: Liza Minnelli's take on the title song, if YouTube comments are of any indication, is often misinterpreted as a song about enjoying life and living it to the fullest, when it in fact portrays Sally struggling with the regret of leaving Cliff and wallowing in shallow hedonism. The fact that it's sung so upbeat in comparison to other versions (e.g. the 1998 revival) does not help.
Once Original, Now Common: The Wham Line where Brian says he's slept with Maximilian too was shocking to a 1970s audience. Homosexuality had only ever been hinted at or relegated to subtext under the Hays Code - so that revelation was scandalous at the time. Modern viewers however can easily pick up on the foreshadowing and guess where the story is headed.
Out of the Ghetto: As one critic put it — "Fosse made a musical for people who hated musicals."
She Really Can Act: At the time, Liza Minnelli was best known for being the daughter of two Hollywood icons, and not really proven as an actress. Although she had an Oscar nomination previously, Cabaret's runaway success showed how talented she was in her own right.
Signature Scene: "Tomorrow belongs to me", which chillingly shows the appeal and rise of Nazism. Ironically, it is the only song scene set outside the cabaret.
Testosterone Brigade: Despite the LGBT fanbase mentioned above, this film does feature Liza Minelli performing in very skimpy and sexy outfits on stage - not to mention wearing very little in public too.
Values Dissonance: The film version has a sequence where Sally suggests that Fritz 'pounce' on Natalia to let her know how he feels about her. When Natalia tells her about this, she claims that at first she was shocked but then realised she liked what was happening. It teeters close to a "Not If They Enjoyed It" Rationalization, but is played somewhat for Cringe Comedy.
", which chillingly shows the appeal and rise of Nazism. Ironically, it is the only song scene set outside the cabaret.