Jill Haworth Dies at 65

[papeetepatrick]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/theater/05haworth.html?ref=obituaries

I wish I'd known they felt this way before, and we've talked about 'Cabaret' a lot on here. The way Harold Prince describes what he wanted in Sally--and that he thinks he got--was exactly my experience when I saw this in 1967. The friend who accompanied was just as mystified as I was at the reviews, which seemed grossly unfair then, and now that Prince and Grey have spoken, it just seems as though it was something you either 'got' or didn't. I like esp. Prince's talking about her pluck after being singled out for what comes across as literal scorn like that:

Here's Kerr:

“ ‘Cabaret’ is a stunning musical with one wild wrong note,” Kerr began, later naming Ms. Haworth as the clunker and calling her “a damaging presence, worth no more to the show than her weight in mascara.”

And then:

Harold Prince, who directed the musical, recalled in an interview Tuesday that Ms. Haworth was remarkably steadfast and mature after the drubbing. She played the part for nearly two years and “never laid the weight of that on anyone,” he said. “We just loved her.”

“They underestimated her,” Mr. Prince said of the critics. “Sally Bowles was not supposed to be a professional singer. She wasn’t supposed to be so slick that you forgot she was an English girl somewhat off the rails in the Weimar era. When Jill came in and auditioned, she nailed it right away, walked that line. That’s what we wanted, and that’s what she delivered.”

“She was ‘let’s have a good time,’ ” Joel Grey, who starred as the master of ceremonies in the original “Cabaret,” said on Tuesday. “She had a wild abandon about herself and her life. I understood why Hal chose her. She was so Sally Bowles.”

They're both clearly quite saddened at her rather premature death. I knew two people who knew her, one Broadway actor who was very fond of her as a friend, and another who worked for her in an off-off B'way production in 1989--that was this actress's last performance on stage.

This was a good write-up, and does show that the public (which includes critics, and that is what is most informative perhaps about this particular article) sometimes does not pick up the very things that made something 'work' for its creators; there's a very bold line of demarcation between two worlds of a work described here--the insider and the outsider. Some similar things happened with all the difficulties of the musical of 'The Red Shoes' in the early 90s, and I do recall that, however, even after innumerable conflicts, that those involved in the making of the piece itself, actually thought they had ended up with something workable by opening night; although they may have just been exhausted and not seeing so clearly, because 'The Red Shoes' closed after 5 performances, I believe.

Thanks for that great performance, Miss Haworth. Some of us loved it.

[sidwich]

This was a good write-up, and does show that the public (which includes critics, which is what is most informative perhaps about this particular article) sometimes does not pick up the very things that made something 'work' for its creators. Some similar things happened with all the difficulties of the musical of 'The Red Shoes' in the early 90s, and I do recall that, however, even after innumerable conflicts, that those involved in the making of the piece itself, actually thought they had ended up with something workable. But 'The Red Shoes' closed after 5 performances, I believe.

I think this underscores the collaborative nature of theatre, because from what I recall Kander and Ebb did not want Miss Haworth to play Sally on Broadway at all. They had written much of Sally's music with their friend and collaborator Liza Minnelli in mind for the role, but as young writers were overruled by Hal Prince in the casting. I don't think they even allowed "Maybe This Time" to be used in the original Broadway production and did not allow it to be used for Cabaret until Liza Minnelli played the role in the film. (I think it's been in each revival since then).

It does seem to be the eternal question with Sally: whether to cast the role of a mediocre singer with an excellent singer (like Miss Minnelli) or with someone who is an excellent actress but mediocre singer (like Natasha Richardson). I think when the Donmar Warehouse revival of Cabaret was running, Sam Mendes explained his vision of the Sally question probably along the same lines as Hal Prince did in the original production: why would someone as talented as Liza Minnelli ever be singing in a seedy dive like the cabaret?

But in any case, condolences to Miss Haworth's family and friends. She created one of the iconic roles in musical theatre and will always be remembered for it.

[richard53dog]

It does seem to be the eternal question with Sally: whether to cast the role of a mediocre singer with an excellent singer (like Miss Minnelli) or with someone who is an excellent actress but mediocre singer (like Natasha Richardson). I think when the Donmar Warehouse revival of Cabaret was running, Sam Mendes explained his vision of the Sally question probably along the same lines as Hal Prince did in the original production: why would someone as talented as Liza Minnelli ever be singing in a seedy dive like the cabaret?

Where this argument starts to get very tricky is that logic that is realistic in nature is being introduced into a performing arts genre which by nature is NOT realistic in form. I can see why this is done, more and more, all performing arts genres are being "treated" by injecting a dose of some kind of realism into them and audiences are expecting this, even requiring it. So it's very commonly done.

I have to say it works with me too, even though I'm aware I'm being manipulated, so that's how it goes. And I don't see the practice becoming less prevalent.

The Met recently opening a new production of La Traviata with a heavily theatrical component to it. It's generated a lot of discussion on the opera lists and many people were really drawn in by the highly detailed dramatic theatricality of it. I haven't seen it yet, but I understand just how effective that kind of approach can be. Yet, I can't help noticing that injecting a lot of realistic details (Violetta is young and thin and , more to my point, sounds like she is ready to die at any moment) are behind making a very NON-realistic kind of form effective and moving for the audiences.

But one of the things I've noticed is that, in general, performance practices in the performing arts, evolve and change all the time and that these changes are often driven by the expectations of audiences. And it's very difficult to try to retreat to a more theoretical kind of stance, water doesn't move backward and there's no better way to frustration than trying to make THAT happen.

I was very young, but I saw Haworth in Cabaret and I was very impressed. It really didn't register on me that she wasn't particularly skilled as a vocalist. And maybe she wasn't even all that skilled as an actress. But I "got" it she was inevitably sucked into the miasma of the feverish cabaret life which was layered over the feverish society in Berlin of that era. So overall she succeeded at what the shows creators wanted her to do.

[sandik]

But I "got" it she was inevitably sucked into the miasma of the feverish cabaret life which was layered over the feverish society in Berlin of that era. So overall she succeeded at what the shows creators wanted her to do.

And that is the heart of the character. I think Minelli managed to create a believable situation in the film (she'd rather be a queen in this dive than take a chance in a more challenging world) but I wondered as well, how someone that smart could make some really stupid choices.

[papeetepatrick]

I think Minelli managed to create a believable situation in the film (she'd rather be a queen in this dive than take a chance in a more challenging world)

Minnelli did manage to that, but that's not all the piece needs. She's got a naturally big personality, and had already done the Persian Room before this film--so that was her kind of 'cabaret'. You got the story all right, and Minnelli definitely has her fans, but this Berlin cabaret needed to be along the lines of 'Blue Angel', with a somewhat silly girl, not a diva (by then, Minnelli already was). I'm fine with her doing the movie, but I didn't like it nearly as well as the show, because Minnelli's is still just like a good musical comedy, but the whole production too big for the singular intimacy of that sort of cabaret. The B'way production was like a real cabaret inside a musical comedy, tinkly and cheap and vulgar, but vital--like the old Otto Dix painting. One of the reviewers even called Haworth a 'tin-tongued angel'--he meant it perjoratively, of course, and yet that was not far off exactly what was needed. Musical comedy varies in requiring fine voices or not, whereas opera must always have them; sometimes a B'way show needs a more 'characterful' voice than beautiful, with exceptions like 'Oklahoma' and 'Carousel', which in their film versions, for example, do benefit from the clear trained voice of Shirley Jones, but you have Nanette Fabray in a lot of shows, and Judy Holliday, and those are more 'character voices', as Rex Harrison, certainly, too, just to name a few.

but I wondered as well, how someone that smart could make some really stupid choices.

I never have thought Liza Minnelli seemed that smart, although she's talented and used to be a good singer (the voice is pretty gone when I've heard it in recent years). She definitely didn't seem smart in 'Cabaret', although her songs were effective in their way. I will say that in both show and movie, the 'dive' seems less seedy than the one in 'Blue Angel'.

I liked that photo of Haworth in the Times, she's got a touch of the young Joanna Lumley about her, and from the same sort of background, it seems. I had remembered her from 'Exodus' and 'In Harm's Way'. Strange career. I just saw she did a couple of things at American Place Theater in the late 70s. A wise theater woman I once worked with told me 'these ingenue people have a hard time in life', and I've noticed how true this is over and over since she put the idea in my head. Haworth is a perfect example of that.

[dirac]

Where this argument starts to get very tricky is that logic that is realistic in nature is being introduced into a performing arts genre which by nature is NOT realistic in form.

Yes, and the songs are too good, as well. You might as well hire somebody who can sing them properly. In addition, the original Sally Bowles had no talent whatsoever, which was quite an important point, and any musical version has to ignore that completely. I think if it’s clear that Sally will never make it, that’s enough for the musical’s purposes.

I think Minelli managed to create a believable situation in the film (she'd rather be a queen in this dive than take a chance in a more challenging world)…

I agree, sandik. She will never be my idea of Sally but I thought she was wonderful in the movie and I’m not a fan.

[papeetepatrick]

I think she sounds fresh, it doesn't matter to me with this song, which is serviceable and catchy, but pretty hackneyed (I used to play it in a lot of clubs myself, when I did that sort of thing for money, it always seemed inevitable, although I never thought it was beautiful). It's probably that I'm not a big admirer of Kander & Ebb, not that I dislike them so much as find them rather predictable and unsurprising. She's got some notes that aren't on pitch, yes, so that would matter to me more in Styne, Rodgers, Lowe, and some Sondheim. I thought the best song was 'Tomorrow Belongs to Me', and that's not even meant to be especially originally, but directly derived from Nazi fervour, military songs, etc. Jill sounds like a chippie, which is what Sally Bowles was, or was aspiring to be.

I just listened to Minnelli's version again for the first time in probably 30 years, expecting to be considerably more impressed than I was, but the main thing I noticed was how much less her voice sounded like Garland's than I remembered it--sometimes the vibrato will catch an echo, but the voice isn't as rich as I'd thought. Her phrasing is pretty choppy in this song, there's not much line to it the way Streisand would have made it (even if overdone.)

[sidwich]

But I "got" it she was inevitably sucked into the miasma of the feverish cabaret life which was layered over the feverish society in Berlin of that era. So overall she succeeded at what the shows creators wanted her to do.

Well, it depends on who you consider the shows "creators," and Cabaret is a funny case in that there's really not a clear-cut answer. Traditionally in musical theatre, the "creators" were considered the composer and lyricist, in this case, Kander and Ebb, who were definitely against casting Miss Haworth as Sally. Hence, "Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific," "Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady," "Frank Loessor's Guys and Dolls. Although important, the director in each of those cases (Josh Logan, Moss Hart, George Kauffman) generally was not and is not considered the "creator" of the show.

Cabaret is interesting in that it's one of the early stage "concept musicals," musicals which are built around a "concept" rather than a storyline. So, instead of moving the story along, much of the music in Cabaret generally comments on events and themes in the piece. Eight years further down the concept musical road, Bob Fosse actually took the 1973 film version to its logical conclusion by excising almost all of the non-cabaret music from the piece (I think the only song not in the cabaret in the film is "Tomorrow Belongs to Me").

And historically, the movement towards concept musicals was accompanied by the centering of the creative vision on the director instead of the writer. So for example, the late 1960s and 1970s became the heyday of directors like Bob Fosse, Hal Prince and Jerome Robbins, and much of the creative vision of shows like "Pippin" and "Evita" is usually credited to them. Some might say that that's because the inherent source material is actually pretty weak and the directorial vision in those cases is the only thing that has made them viable shows, but there's no question that Pippin is almost always considered Bob Fosse's show rather than Stephen Schwartz's.

So to say that Miss Haworth did what the "creators" wanted her to do, I think, is still a stretch. She may have accomplished what the director Hal Prince had in mind, but I don't think she accomplished what all the creators envisioned.

I never have thought Liza Minnelli seemed that smart, although she's talented and used to be a good singer (the voice is pretty gone when I've heard it in recent years). She definitely didn't seem smart in 'Cabaret', although her songs were effective in their way.

I think of Miss Minnelli as a very "needy" performer, and for Sally Bowles, it totally works.

[papeetepatrick]

I think of Miss Minnelli as a very "needy" performer

Yes, and I thought it worked as such in the late 60s when she'd sing that song I think called 'There Is a Time', it's the one with 'this time, this time, let's don't hesitate', I couldn't find it googling, might be a Brel song. All the desperate histrionics worked in that, I think it was on an old 'Hollywood Palace' that I was very moved by her in a way I never have been since. Her Sally Bowles I liked a great deal when the movie came out, but am less convinced by now.

Very informative on 'concept musicals', thanks sidwich.

Was interested to read that Haworth's affair with Sal Mineo lasted a long time, was still going on after she was done with 'Cabaret'. She said his problems were more due to 'bad money management than his homosexuality' and I remember his murder very well. 'Exodus' isn't a great movie, but it has something. For me, it's mostly for Eva Marie Saint, who I've always found so luminous.

Thanks all for your comments

[Helene]

I think of Miss Minnelli as a very "needy" performer, and for Sally Bowles, it totally works.

Perfect description!

[sandik]

Jill sounds like a chippie, which is what Sally Bowles was, or was aspiring to be.

Oh, I haven't heard anyone referred to as a 'chippie' in ages -- many thanks!

Listening to this clip, and looking at the images reminded me -- isn't there another conversation on this site about unusual castings for Sally Bowles -- I seem to remember something around the time that Lynn Redgrave died -- there was some footage of someone that had gone on to a very different kind of career, but had done a turn in musicals early on...

[richard53dog]

But I "got" it she was inevitably sucked into the miasma of the feverish cabaret life which was layered over the feverish society in Berlin of that era. So overall she succeeded at what the shows creators wanted her to do.

Well, it depends on who you consider the shows "creators," and Cabaret is a funny case in that there's really not a clear-cut answer. Traditionally in musical theatre, the "creators" were considered the composer and lyricist, in this case, Kander and Ebb, who were definitely against casting Miss Haworth as Sally. Hence, "Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific," "Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady," "Frank Loessor's Guys and Dolls. Although important, the director in each of those cases (Josh Logan, Moss Hart, George Kauffman) generally was not and is not considered the "creator" of the show.

Cabaret is interesting in that it's one of the early stage "concept musicals," musicals which are built around a "concept" rather than a storyline. So, instead of moving the story along, much of the music in Cabaret generally comments on events and themes in the piece. Eight years further down the concept musical road, Bob Fosse actually took the 1973 film version to its logical conclusion by excising almost all of the non-cabaret music from the piece (I think the only song not in the cabaret in the film is "Tomorrow Belongs to Me").

......................................................

So to say that Miss Haworth did what the "creators" wanted her to do, I think, is still a stretch. She may have accomplished what the director Hal Prince had in mind, but I don't think she accomplished what all the creators envisioned.

I never have thought Liza Minnelli seemed that smart, although she's talented and used to be a good singer (the voice is pretty gone when I've heard it in recent years). She definitely didn't seem smart in 'Cabaret', although her songs were effective in their way.

I think of Miss Minnelli as a very "needy" performer, and for Sally Bowles, it totally works.

Agree completely on the shift in influence from the writers to the directors/producers on Broadway in the later 60s. And don't forget Michael Bennett.

My choice of "creators" really meant those with the driving vision, which in Cabaret was pretty clearly Hal Prince. I think

Haworth delivered what he was looking for as Sally.

And looking over the list of shows that Kander and Ebb collaborated on, it looked to me that their works really, really benefited from the kind of "concept" thing. By this I mean their works seemed to fit into a kind of mosaic of creative components rather than being the clear, primary creative driving force.

And as I already noted I'm not really comfortable with bringing too much "logic" and realism into the argument i.e. that because Sally Bowles is a mediocre singer that it's ok that the actress playing her be a mediocre singer. Things start going down the drain very quickly using that kind of rationalization.

But......

I hadn't listen to Jill Haworth or Liza Minelli sing the title song from Cabaret in a very long time. In Haworth's case, probably not since I last played the LP and I suspect that was REALLY a very long time ago.

I never really liked the Cabaret film all that much. I remember the original show as having a very gritty quality to it, on top of all the other components of the atmosphere, there was a threadbare seediness to it that was romanticized somewhat in the film. And I thought the first time I saw it (and the only time I watched it all the way through) that it sort of petered out.

After listening to the Haworth clip, I dug out Liza

There's no denying she has much more in the way of options as a singer that Haworth does. But Liza makes an meal out it with all kinds of effects. There is climax after climax and really I think she got slightly bogged down in all her own effects.

And her voice was far more softgrained than I remembered.

Haworth is weak as a singer BUT she has energy to compensate for the lack of things like singing in tune. And she drives the rhythms, not flawlessly, but relentlessly and this aids her characterization. As does her slightly clipped diction with a clear accent. (Liza's Sally does not sound like she came from London) And Haworth builds the song to two climaxes, the "going like Elsie" line and then the finale. I think there is a chance here that I was just very impressed at a very impressional age but I still think it's a very effective version of the song. To me Haworth just paints a more vivid picture, not so pretty but more striking, than Liza does.

[Mel Johnson]

Anybody ever wish they'd seen Judi Dench in the 1968 London production?

[richard53dog]

Anybody ever wish they'd seen Judi Dench in the 1968 London production?

I'll bet it was something to see, although she wasn't too confident she could sing.

Dench was set to be the first Grizabella in Cats but was injured and had to cede the role to Elaine Paige.

More recently Dench appeared in A Little Night Music in London and was pretty convincing in it from some of the bits I saw.

[sandik]

Anybody ever wish they'd seen Judi Dench in the 1968 London production?

Oh, I think that's who we were talking about -- and didn't someone find some (very old) film online somewhere?

[dirac]

(Liza's Sally does not sound like she came from London)

I think they made her American for Liza. Since Isherwood's original conception was already distorted, it didn't really make much difference.

I admire the movie. It gets better with the years and I like it better now than when I first saw it. Fosse was a genuine cinema prodigy and he makes what he's doing look easy when it's not by any means.

I think of Miss Minnelli as a very "needy" performer, and for Sally Bowles, it totally works.

Agreed.

[papeetepatrick]

And looking over the list of shows that Kander and Ebb collaborated on, it looked to me that their works really, really benefited from the kind of "concept" thing. By this I mean their works seemed to fit into a kind of mosaic of creative components rather than being the clear, primary creative driving force.

And as I already noted I'm not really comfortable with bringing too much "logic" and realism into the argument i.e. that because Sally Bowles is a mediocre singer that it's ok that the actress playing her be a mediocre singer. Things start going down the drain very quickly using that kind of rationalization.

But......

I hadn't listen to Jill Haworth or Liza Minelli sing the title song from Cabaret in a very long time. In Haworth's case, probably not since I last played the LP and I suspect that was REALLY a very long time ago.

I never really liked the Cabaret film all that much. I remember the original show as having a very gritty quality to it, on top of all the other components of the atmosphere, there was a threadbare seediness to it that was romanticized somewhat in the film. And I thought the first time I saw it (and the only time I watched it all the way through) that it sort of petered out.

After listening to the Haworth clip, I dug out Liza [...]

There's no denying she has much more in the way of options as a singer that Haworth does. But Liza makes an meal out it with all kinds of effects. There is climax after climax and really I think she got slightly bogged down in all her own effects.

And her voice was far more softgrained than I remembered.

Haworth is weak as a singer BUT she has energy to compensate for the lack of things like singing in tune. And she drives the rhythms, not flawlessly, but relentlessly and this aids her characterization. As does her slightly clipped diction with a clear accent. (Liza's Sally does not sound like she came from London) And Haworth builds the song to two climaxes, the "going like Elsie" line and then the finale. I think there is a chance here that I was just very impressed at a very impressional age but I still think it's a very effective version of the song. To me Haworth just paints a more vivid picture, not so pretty but more striking, than Liza does.

Richard, I see that our perception on this is almost identical, that's a pleasure when one is a frequently disagreeable person like me. About the only difference is that I did like the film when I first saw it in 1972, but by now, the only thing that really stands out for me as a clear advance is Michael York. Bert Convy (before his game-show host period) was certainly perhaps even more convincing as a callow youth; but Michael York is definitely something of an irresistible smoothie, and is always close to peerless in everything he does IMO.

I would like to ask you, since we were both 'very young' (we don't have to specify, although I think mine's well-enough known), if you were also aware of those crucifying reviews, and then startled to find out that Haworth was 'very impressive'?

Because part of my reason for posting this is that I really don't think I have ever seen such dichotomy between insider and critic, and then (in my case, my accompanying friend's case, and your case, to begin with)between some audience and critic--because it was a veritable crucifixion, made all the more veritably surreal by your very articulate descriptions of the way both Haworth and Minnelli do the title song. I especially like

And she drives the rhythms, not flawlessly, but relentlessly and this aids her characterization

I remember that very evening in 1967, startled at her energy ('relentless drive' is exactly right, I think), and since I was so 'review-conscious' at the time, I recall even wondering why she went ahead and pulled all the stops out after this treatment by the critics--that's a real pro who will do that (and, as Prince pointed out, do it for 2 years after all that). Also

To me Haworth just paints a more vivid picture, not so pretty but more striking,

, agree again, and yet, while Liza is attractive in her exotic way, she's herself not nearly so 'pretty'--not that that matters so much, but that Haworth could find the grittiness looking like that at 21 was pretty impressive as well, and the 'clipped clear diction' is a good point too.

Yes, also, about the 'climax after climax' in Liza's version. When I wrote Monday, I later realized that I didn't remember that much failure to achieve line in that period, and that IS what 'climax after climax' is, each phrase made too much of and not related to the next and previous. This phenomenon was something I noticed when I listened to Susan Boyle's 'I Dreamed a Dream' audition, which I found dreadful--that sounds a little too harsh, but as she started in 2008 and 2009 to record, she was apparently coached some so that the more recent recorded performances come across as more of a single piece, instead of a series of half-connected fragments. But it's more accepted in Broadway to have this 'climax after climax' now, and is even written into much of the music--you'll hear the striving for constant visceral, near-physcial stimulation literally, overt manipulation, in Schonburg, Lloyd Webber, Mencken, and especially in scores like 'Wicked', which even Kristen Chenoweth couldn't cure; it comes across with the same weird bombarding quality that the 8 previews you see in a Cineplex nowadays do, each one of them proclaiming 'you've never seen anything like this before', without, of course, reference to the immediately preceding preview (and they all have 'soaring-sound music' of great self-importance in its sound, to accompany all that extreme aggressive hard sell.) Liza's rendition of 'Cabaret' doesn't have that loudness so much, but it does not have any subtle structure to it, and that it's on film doesn't mean anything--whether Sinatra, Horne, Streisand, Doris Day, and a host of others, songs have been sung in films that are shaped from beginning to end.

[sandik]

I admire the movie. It gets better with the years and I like it better now than when I first saw it. Fosse was a genuine cinema prodigy and he makes what he's doing look easy when it's not by any means.

You've put your finger on something specific here -- when I think of this film, it's generally because I'm thinking about Fosse. It's his film.

[richard53dog]

I never really liked the Cabaret film all that much. I remember the original show as having a very gritty quality to it, on top of all the other components of the atmosphere, there was a threadbare seediness to it that was romanticized somewhat in the film. And I thought the first time I saw it (and the only time I watched it all the way through) that it sort of petered

Richard, I see that our perception on this is almost identical, that's a pleasure when one is a frequently disagreeable person like me. About the only difference is that I did like the film when I first saw it in 1972, but by now, the only thing that really stands out for me as a clear advance is Michael York. Bert Convy (before his game-show host period) was certainly perhaps even more convincing as a callow youth; but Michael York is definitely something of an irresistible smoothie, and is always close to peerless in everything he does IMO.

I would like to ask you, since we were both 'very young' (we don't have to specify, although I think mine's well-enough known), if you were also aware of those crucifying reviews, and then startled to find out that Haworth was 'very impressive'?

Because part of my reason for posting this is that I really don't think I have ever seen such dichotomy between insider and critic, and then (in my case, my accompanying friend's case, and your case, to begin with)between some audience and critic--because it was a veritable crucifixion, made all the more veritably surreal by your very articulate descriptions of the way both Haworth and Minnelli do the title song. I especially like

And she drives the rhythms, not flawlessly, but relentlessly and this aids her characterization

I remember that very evening in 1967, startled at her energy ('relentless drive' is exactly right, I think), and since I was so 'review-conscious' at the time, I recall even wondering why she went ahead and pulled all the stops out after this treatment by the critics--that's a real pro who will do that (and, as Prince pointed out, do it for 2 years after all that).

Well, regarding reconciling how the critics trashed Haworth vs my own reactions wasn't really an issue for me for a rather simple reason. Because of the timing of when Cabaret opened in mid 1966 , I wasn't following theater news and reviews, I only went to my first Broadway show late in 1966 . It was a very exciting thing for me and I immediately started going to lots of shows including Cabaret in early 1967. I had heard that the reviews were "mixed" but didn't really know of any specifics. So I was very, very impressed by Haworth as Sally, a bit less so by Joel Grey and disappointingly missed Lotte Lenya as she cancelled the afternoon I went. But the NY critics take on the show was a non issue for me.

And probably I didn't really care that much what the critics said anyway. Keep in mind that that was the beginning of a time when young people openly declared that anyone over 30 was hopelessly out of touch and of no notice at all. Walter Kerr appeared to be at least in his late 90s, or so it seemed to me, so of course I wasn't too interested in what he had to say.

[papeetepatrick]

Because of the timing of when Cabaret opened in mid 1966 , I wasn't following theater news and reviews, I only went to my first Broadway show late in 1966 . It was a very exciting thing for me and I immediately started going to lots of shows including Cabaret in early 1967. I had heard that the reviews were "mixed" but didn't really know of any specifics. So I was very, very impressed by Haworth as Sally, a bit less so by Joel Grey and disappointingly missed Lotte Lenya as she cancelled the afternoon I went.

Thank you, Richard. We're 'half-identical twins' on some of it, and 'identical twins' on

very, very impressed by Haworth as Sally, a bit less so by Joel Grey and disappointingly missed Lotte Lenya as she cancelled the afternoon I

Yes. She cancelled on me too...but I don't like to tell people about it...I usually smooth over it with 'yes, Lotte Lenya was in it, of course', and then don't specify I worked with Joel Grey in a benefit in 1972, and he was a sweetie.

But the NY critics take on the show was a non issue for me.

Half-identical here, and good for that, because you saw it without prejudice of any serious kind, and I saw it with prejudice, but this was immediately cancelled out by the vitality I saw onstage.

This has always been an important, if seemingly arcane to some, theater memory for me, and this thread has been very meaningful to me in realizing just how much. There was just something so unexpected and unpredictable about Jill (I remember seeing the first ads for it, and thinking "is that really starring the same girl who did 'Karin' in 'Exodus'? No, not possible", I said), and that probably accounts for a good deal of the reaction, positive and negative. I'm sure she was hurt by the singling-out reviews, but forgot all about them when she got out onstage.

Thanks again to all who contributed (and continue, of course, as you care to.)

[Mel Johnson]

My memory of the original show came with the caveat "sucky". I couldn't understand how a show could be so inferior to its source material, including John van Druten's I am a Camera. Then I found out that Christopher Isherwood held the show up by declaring that he didn't want to be identified as gay in the show, no matter what the world knew from previous works, including his own. The scenedoctoring to reinvent the show's dynamics in the light of that development was intense. They even asked Jerome Robbins to take it over, but he had other things to do. Helpfully, he suggested that they remove most, if not all, the musical numbers that did not happen in the Kit Kat Club. Just what happened in the movie.

[dirac]

Thanks, Mel. To say that the show was inferior to van Druten's effort is really saying something, since I think the show was based on van Druten's adaptation, which had its own problems.

Isherwood was surely within his rights. Issyvoo is not in fact clearly identified as homosexual, bisexual, or indeed anysexual in the original story, although the mere omission is enough in itself to suggest it. (He is, after all, a camera.) However, theatrical and film adaptations tend to want to spell everything out.

[bart]

So far, I don't think anyone has talked about Natasha Richardson in the Roundabout Theatre Company's 1996 revival, directed by Sam Mendes.

Richardson fits Patrick's category of "character singer."

I've just listened to her rendition of the title song after also listening to the clips of Haworth and Minelli. Richardson's singing voice is obviously an amateur instrument. But she is, unlike Haworth and Minelli, a great actress. Her Sally frequently sings off pitch. She tends to bray her long vowels, flattening them and making them nasal. She hasn't a clue about phrasing. But, somehow, Richardson makes this intense, interesting, and real.

[dirac]

sidwich did discuss Richardson and the production earlier.

I admired Richardson and miss seeing her but wouldn’t go so far as to call her “great," may she rest in peace.

[Quiggin]

According to the "Issyvoo" diaries, he and Don Bachardy didn't like the stage version of "Cabaret" at all - but the royalties were a very helpful source of income. With Auden and Kallman he at some point had tried to write a Berlin musical, and eventually Isherwood and Barchardy wrote a screen treatment of "Cabaret" - again for the income, but Tony Harvey, who was supposed to direct, didn't care for their approach, saying it had been done dozens of times before. In the latest set of diaries, what's astonishing about Isherwood are his anti-semitic rants - it's like a home base or key for him, the only thing he really believes in; it's also one of the reasons he doen't like "Cabaret." This is especially weird in that moral force of the subsequent versions of the original (and nicely small-scaled) "Mr Norris Changes Trains" & "Goodbye to Berlin" is based on being on the right side of history. Isherwood comes off as a fairly shabby and untrustworthy diaryist - and by extension novelist I now think.