In 1931 Berlin, young American Sally Bowles performs at the Kit Kat Klub. A new British arrival in the city, Brian Roberts, moves into the boarding house where Sally lives. This is the beginning of an unusual friendship and the basic premise of Cabaret, especially well-known as a movie from the 1970s, and soon to be a theatre production at the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town.
Charl-Johan Lingenfelder tells Naomi Meyer about his role as the Emcee (British: MC/master of ceremonies).
Hi Charl-Johan, please tell our readers about your background – and what is different in your participation in Cabaret from your usual role behind the scenes?
I studied musicology and drama and started out as an actor, but very quickly got sucked into the more musical aspects of theatre and moved further behind the scenes. Nowadays people know me primarily as a musical director / arranger / conductor on big international musicals, or as a composer for plays. Cabaret is my first on-stage performing part in 20 years!
The MC usually has to entertain people, and generally has to keep the event moving. But in Cabaret you play an active role – the MC takes part. Please tell our readers how you see your character?
In Cabaret the MC is known as Emcee, which already indicates a departure from the traditional role of the MC. He orchestrates the evening's proceedings and stands aside from the action, even though he is instrumental in dictating the outcome. He is omnipresent and to a large extent almost becomes the audience's conscience.
Which part of your role do you enjoy; which part do you find challenging?
I find the entire experience equally fun and challenging. Just finding the confidence to audition was challenging in itself. Being a performer will always be challenging, because you have to deal with so many of your own inner demons – those voices which constantly tease you about whether you are good enough and can pull off what is required of you. And of course you need to overcome your fears, and that process is massively rewarding. Which is one of the reasons I wanted to put myself through this process.
Have you watched the film version of Cabaret with Liza Minnelli? Will your character try to imitate the Emcee from this movie – or will you rather rely on Wikipedia’s description of Cabaret’s Emcee: “The Emcee of the Kit Kat Klub, a leering, ghoulish, flamboyant figure”?
I haven't seen the movie recently, but remember watching it and being so overwhelmed by its bravery and incredible theatricality. Something about the period resonates with me – I studied the work of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill intensively as a student and a lot of Cabaret draws on the theatrical and musical foundations they laid in Weimar Berlin. I'm hoping that my Emcee is a different take on a well-loved character. Joel Grey set the bar as the original Emcee, but Alan Cumming's current version in the Mendes production has almost now become the norm; but I think there are many sides to a coin and I hope to explore other aspects.
Have a break, have a Kit Kat ... Is Cabaret an escape from real life, just as the Kit Kat Club also helped people escape life, war, and prejudice towards anybody who isn’t “like everybody else”?
The Weimar period was extraordinary. It was truly a time of “everything goes”. It catered for every conceivable taste in sex. There were a lot of drugs; jazz was being discovered. We don't have the same sense of freedom they had. There were no rules; no boundaries – it was destined to implode. So yes – it did give people license to be themselves and express themselves. It is fascinating to think that Downton Abbey was happening across the channel in the early ‘20s, and this is only a couple of years later.
But in the background, war is looming. Does this production have a
message for South Africa today? Or should people just come to attend and enjoy the show, and not worry about any underlying messages?
People should definitely come to enjoy the show and allow themselves to be taken on a journey. The show is filled with glorious edge-of-your-seat musical numbers magnificently staged. But the yang to this thrilling ying is far-reaching throughout the ages and a powerful reminder of what darkness human nature is capable of.
Cabaret opens at the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town on 10 March 2015.