Broadway's Cabaret Sets Final Performance; Billy Porter and Marisha Wallace Will Be Final Stars

Broadway's immersive revival of John Kander and Fred Ebb's Cabaret will play its final performance at the Kit Kat Club n茅e August Wilson Theatre October 19. The production officially opened April 21, 2024, transferring from London's West End, a run that continues.

The Broadway revival will get new stars for its final performances: Marisha Wallace and Billy Porter will bring their Sally Bowles and Emcee, respectively, stateside after starring in the revival's West End bow. The pair is set to take over the Rebecca Frecknall-helmed revival beginning July 22. They will succeed current stars Eva Noblezada and Orville Peck, who play their final performances July 20.

鈥淚 can think of no better way to celebrate this production鈥檚 incredible run on Broadway than by welcoming Billy and Marisha into the company for our final 13 weeks,鈥� says Frecknall in a statement. 鈥淭hey brought down the house every night on the West End, and I cannot wait for Broadway audiences to experience the electricity they generate together.鈥�

鈥淗aving the chance to present this masterwork to audiences at this moment in history has been the honor of a lifetime," adds Adam Speers on behalf of the producing team. "We are so proud of what Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club has achieved on Broadway鈥揳rtistically, culturally, and with audiences. We鈥檝e been unbelievably lucky to have had such an incredible string of cast members lend their talents to this run, and Billy and Marisha are the ideal stars to lead us into this final stretch.鈥�

The performance is Porter's first time back on Broadway in nearly a decade, with the Kinky Boots Tony winner's most recent performance in 2016's Shuffle Along. Wallace, a veteran of the original Broadway companies of Aladdin and Something Rotten!, is making a triumphant Broadway return after becoming a star on London's West End, a journey that began with a last-minute replacement as Effie White in the U.K. Dreamgirls revival and has since seen her make star turns as Miss Adelaide in Bridge Theatre's immersive Guys and Dolls, Ado Annie in the West End bow of Daniel Fish's Tony-winning Oklahoma! revival, and more. Both played a stint in the West End Cabaret that ended earlier this year.

The revival also stars Calvin Leon Smith as Clifford Bradshaw, Steven Skybell as Herr Schultz, Ellen Harvey as Fraulein Schneider, Henry Gottfried as Ernst Ludwig, and Michelle Aravena as Fritzie/Kost.

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As in the production's West End run, the theatre has been transformed into an in-the-round Kit Kat Club. Ticket holders receive a "club entry time" before their show date so that everyone's able to take in the pre-show, which can even include a full dinner at some ticket levels. The prologue company, a group of 12 dancers and musicians, welcome theatregoers with a pre-show performance beginning approximately 75 minutes prior to curtain time.

Based on Christopher Isherwood's Goodbye to Berlin and John Van Druten's dramatization of it, I Am a Camera, John Kander and Fred Ebb's Cabaret is set in Weimar-era Berlin as American writer Clifford Bradshaw arrives to work on his novel and soak up the debaucherous nightlife. He meets English cabaret performer Sally Bowles and a complex relationship develops, all as the Nazis ascend to power and the spectre of World War II and all its horrors loom on the horizon.

The creative team also includes choreographer Julia Cheng; club, set, and costume designer Tom Scutt; lighting designer Isabella Byrd; sound designer Nick Lidster (for Autograph); and music supervisor and director Jennifer Whyte. Hair and wig design are by Sam Cox, and Guy Common is handling makeup design. Prologue composition and music direction are by Angus MacRae, with Jordan Fein serving as prologue director. Casting is by Bernard Telsey and Kristian Charbonier, and Thomas Recktenwald serves as production stage manager.