And He Tells The Studio Its You Or Him And They Say Its You

and he tells the studio it’s you or him and they say it’s you

Imagine, you're an actor who was hired to play a role in a movie, but the director obviously hates you and wants your role for himself. He is constantly cold toward you and tries to one-up you in everything. One day, he comes up to you, asks "Have you ever done a backflip?" You haven't. "It's easy," he says. He leaps into the air, does a backflip, and lands square on his face.

This was the actual experience of Joel Grey in Cabaret (1972).

!!About Me!!

Figured I should probably do one of these.

Name: That information is classified, but you can call me Orpheus/Orphie

Pronouns: They/them but I really don’t care

Audhd, dysgraphic, and my uterus despises me

Lesbian, probably

Daisy Buchanan ask blog: @beautiful-little-f0ol

I’m a massive book nerd, history lover, and a *huge* theatre kid.

My fandoms change with the wind but you’re likely to find me skulking around the Cabaret tags, and Newsies too. Gypsy if I’m feeling adventurous.

I do theatre, so I have some very specific headcannons for some niche shows that may one day appear here.

I’ll update probably but that’s all I can think of for now!

I get what you mean! It’s just a pet peeve of mine when people call Joel’s em a nazi because it’s just…not true (and it feels like it’s often used to make Alan Cumming’s emceee who is brilliant in his own way seem like the “better” choice to prefer).

I think the distinction *does* matter because while it enables the rise of Naziism it adds nuance to his character. It MATTERS that Schneider buckles down and tries to weather the storm in the musical because it makes her relatable. It matters that this character who arguably has the most power in the show, acting as a removed, enigmatic, commentator is actually just as terrified as everyone else. He’s just better at hiding it.

It’s also probably worth remembering that by the end of the musical (1931ish) The Nazis wouldn’t rise for another 2 years, and when they do a lot of people - probably Schneider and to an extent The Emcee included think that this’ll just be another 6 month chancellorship that they have to deal with. It’ll suck but it won’t last, it’s not really until they ban all other political parties, and later the night of the long knives that a lot of people realise that they’re here to stay. Again, helping to humanise characters because it makes the most sense just to knuckle down for six months to a year, until they realise they’re stuck now.

okay i know the cabaret 1993 musical ending is wayy more impactful than the 1972 film ending AT FACE VALUE but the mirror is such a good nod to the 1966 musical set design

boris aronson ate w this. forcing the audience to see themselves in a horror story about human corruption... GENIUS.

and then the film, the emcee distorted by the mirror after falling for fascism, obviously the nazis reflected in it. and when u put it into context w that stage design u can connect it back to the audience. this was flawless

Wishing everyone who says liza minelli was too good a singer to play sally a very shut up and watch the damn movie

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