The Making of Cabaret

In his book Harold Prince and the American Musical Theater, Foster Hirsch recalls a woman who left the opening-night performance of Cabaret in Wilmington, Delaware, exclaiming: "It is more than a musical!" The exclamation suggests that the Broadway show had gone beyond European ethnicity and history on its way to success. And there is truth behind the suggestion. Even on the mere surface, Cabaret is not just a musical. The Berlin of the Third Reich, diluted for Broadway audiences, provides a symbolic edge that tips the show into a realm of fascinating metaphor.