Cabaret

The Legend Returns

Following acclaimed guest performances at the State Opera in Hanover, the Cologne Philharmonic, and most recently at the Graz Opera House, the celebrated production returns to Hamburg, to the HANSA Theater.

And the play’s relevance hasn’t changed one bit—quite the contrary: How often do we find ourselves thinking that the times we’re living through now are becoming more and more like the 1920s? The seemingly unstoppable collapse of a world order, accelerated by Donald Trump’s reelection, the resurgence of nationalism, and doubts about the ruling political class. It all feels strangely familiar. No other musical theater production captures this sense of upheaval—which also captivates a wide audience through series like BABYLON BERLIN—as well as the American musical legend CABARET.

Through two intertwining stories, it explores love and its failure in politically turbulent times. American writer Cliff Bradshaw is swept up into the still-glittering—yet increasingly gloomy—Berlin of the late 1920s.

Sally Bowles, a young English singer who performs at the notorious KIT-KAT CLUB and has been accustomed to reevaluating her love life on a weekly basis, becomes his new flame. But the young love between these two strangers in Berlin can barely catch its breath—and not just because of constant financial struggles. Difficult-to-reconcile life philosophies and their completely different assessments of the situation in Germany ultimately lead to their separation.

Political circumstances have an even more severe impact on the late-blooming, tender love between the boardinghouse landlady Miss Schneider and the Jewish greengrocer Mr. Schultz. Even at their engagement party, young people appear who want a completely different world order. And at the latest after a very violent attack on Schultz’s store, it becomes clear that this love, too, has no future in Germany at that time.

A demonic emcee guides the audience through these stories, increasingly blurring the lines between show and reality with his KIT-KAT Girls. That is why the title song is called “LIFE IS A CABARET.”

With this production, a new program line was launched in the spring of 2020—alongside the winter variety show—with an enthusiastically received premiere at the HANSA Theater, a program that, a hundred years later, explicitly focuses on the 1920s. More musical theater productions centered on this era will follow. To that end, the stage on Steindamm will once again become the “little sister” of the St. Pauli Theater. The legendary HANSA will be transformed into the glittering KIT-KAT CLUB. Your host there will once again be the wonderful and acclaimed singer and chansonnier Tim Fischer, leading a top-notch ensemble.

With a magnificent orchestra, great songs, exciting choreography, and two touching love stories, the audience will be whisked away to the golden 1920s, where they can immerse themselves in that spirit of the times, and can also dine and drink in style with delicacies from our renowned culinary partner, “STRAUCHS FALCO” inHamburg’s HafenCity. A unique theatrical experience for all generations.