A taste of Broadway came to Knoxville last weekend as the Civic Auditorium hosted five performances of Cabaret, an intoxicating musical known for its dark theme and acclaimed songs.
Shelley Johansson, of Shelton Communications Group and AC Entertainment, said that the Knoxville performance was popular.
“This is a classic, and the show attracted a lot of folks,” she said. “It’s a highly entertaining musical.”
The play chronicles the real-life experiences of Christopher Isherwood, author of The Berlin Stories, a work reflecting his observations in Berlin during 1929 through 1932.
In 1952, playwright John van Druten penned Isherwood’s experiences into a play. Enter Joe Masteroff, who envisioned the performance as a musical, and the rest is history. Cabaret’s original production premiered in 1966 on Broadway and was directed by Harold Prince with songs by John Kander and Fred Ebb.
Since that time, the musical has won eight Tony awards, including one for Best Musical.
In 1972, the play went to Hollywood as Bob Fosse turned the famed musical into a movie, which went on to win eight Academy Awards, and starred Liza Minelli and Joel Grey. The original production was revised in 1993 by British director Sam Mendes and, five years later, won four Tonys, including an award for Best Revival.
Specifically, Cabaret describes a love story between an English woman and an American writer in Germany at the time that the Nazi Party rose to power.
“It’s not a musical where everything is light, fluffy and wonderful,” Johansson said. “Cabaret is grittier than most other shows, and most importantly it’s about a time period that everyone needs to be aware of. The play shows how desperate the people in Germany were.”
In addition to its edgy plot set at the seedy Kit Kat Klub, the musical is remembered for its hit songs such as “Cabaret,” “Willkommen” and “Tomorrow Belongs to Me.” The revised play also includes songs from the 1972 movie.
Cabaret continued AC Enter-tainment’s “Best of Broadway” series, which will wrap up in May with Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story. The series is sponsored by The Knoxville-News Sentinel, WBIR-TV 10 and B-97.5.
To find out more about upcoming performances, visit www.concertwire.com, or call Tickets Unlimited at (865) 656-4444 to make reservations.

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