In the spring of 2024, the August Wilson Theatre will host a Broadway revival of Cabaret, directed by Rebecca Frecknall and starring Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin. Redmayne, who won WhatsOnStage and Olivier Awards for the role, will reprise his role as the Emcee, first brought to life in the West End production. Rankin, known for her upcoming role in House of the Dragon and other credits like Glow, will portray Sally Bowles. She also appeared as Fraulein Kost in the 2014 Broadway version of the show.
Cabaret, previously adapted into a unique in-the-round setting at the West End’s Playhouse Theatre named the Kit Kat Club, bagged an unprecedented seven Olivier Awards in 2022. The Broadway adaptation is set to recreate the Kit Kat Club atmosphere in New York’s Wilson Theatre. It is slated to officially open on 1 April 2024, with special gala nights scheduled for 20 and 21 April.
Redmayne said: “It was whilst playing the Emcee in a student production of Cabaret over 25 years ago that my love for theatre was properly ignited. 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. I am beyond excited to be doing it arm-in-arm with the remarkable Gayle Rankin and a truly stunning cast and team. I am hoping we will create an experience for you quite unlike any other.”
Directed by Frecknall, the show is a creation by John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Joe Masteroff, and it takes inspiration from John Van Druten’s play I Am a Camera and Christopher Isherwood’s Berlin Stories. The production crew comprises Tom Scutt as club, scenic, and costume designer, Isabelle Byrd as lighting designer, Nick Lidster handling sound, Julia Cheng as choreographer, Jennifer Whyte as musical supervisor, assistant director/prologue director Jordan Fein, and Angus MacRae as prologue composer/musical director.