Set in — Berlin during the twilight of the Jazz Age as the Nazis rise to power, the musical focuses on the hedonistic nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub and revolves around American writer Clifford Bradshaw's relations with English cabaret performer Sally Bowles. Overseeing the action is the Master of Ceremonies at the Kit Kat Klub, and the club itself serves as a metaphor for ominous political developments in late Weimar Germany.
The original Broadway production opened on November 20, , at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York City and became a box office hit that ran for 1, performances. The production won eight Tony Awards and inspired numerous subsequent productions around the world as well as the film of the same name. The events depicted in the musical are derived from Anglo-American writer Christopher Isherwood's autobiographical tales of his colorful escapades in the Weimar Republic.
In Berlin, Isherwood shared modest lodgings with year-old British flapper Jean Ross , [ c ] an aspiring film actress who earned her living as a chanteuse in lesbian bars and second-rate cabarets.
This event inspired Isherwood to write his novella Sally Bowles and is dramatized as its narrative climax. While Ross recovered from the botched abortion, the political situation rapidly deteriorated in Weimar Germany as the incipient Nazi Party grew stronger day by day. Prince hired playwright Joe Masteroff to work on the adaptation. As the composers distributed the songs between scenes, they realized the story could be told in the structure of a more traditional book musical , and they replaced several songs with tunes more relevant to the plot.
For the musical adaptation, playwright Joe Masteroff significantly altered Isherwood's original characters. In fall , the musical entered rehearsals. Prince staged the show in an unusual way for the time. The show mixed dialogue scenes with expository songs and standalone cabaret numbers that provided social commentary. This innovative concept initially surprised audiences.
