Thoughts on Cabaret

I've been spending a lot of time recently listening to the 1999 Broadway soundtrack for Cabaret. Perhaps because its blend of dark cynicism and hopeless romanticism just seem to suit my mood right now.

“Maybe This Time” seems the perfect theme for any single person like myself who has a history of -- shall we say -- dysfunctional relationships. And, of course, “Money” has an universal appeal, even to those of us who aren't Republicans.

And yet I don't quite have the same affection for the movie version that I do for the Broadway play.

After all, I saw a local version of the play this past summer and fell in love with it instantly. Then I rented the 1972 movie version and found myself curiously underwhelmed.

It was not just that a lot of my favorite songs -- “Perfectly Marvelous,” for example -- were cut from the movie. Nor do I have anything against Liza Minnelli, who is quite a talented woman who deserved far more musical roles than she has had.

But the movie seemed to miss the whole point of the play. And worse yet, it reshaped itself to fit the needs of Ms. Minnelli than vice versa. Thus, a rather daring piece about a poor showgirl named Sally Bowles became a rather pompous piece about a spoiled Daddy's girl named Sally Bowles. Instead of being a thinly veiled allegory about the rise of Nazi Germany -- with Liza representing the more apathetic elements of the West and his boyfriend representing the more idealistic elements -- it became the story of a poor little rich girl slumming in a Berlin nightclub whose story only occasionally concerned itself about the Nazis.

Some bits were inspired. Joel Grey made an excellent MC, Liza, of course, was great at singing and dancing, and the very lovely Marisa Berenson made an interesting contrast to the ape used in the “If You Could See Her” number to mock non-Aryans.

But it just wasn't enough.

I know the film is supposed to be a classic, but for me, it was just okay. And Cabaret deserves to be a bit more than “just okay.”