TR_Wolf
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Finale Ending?How does the Finale in the revival end? Ie what is the final scene? Can anyone tell me in detail please? Thanks!
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lalalei2001
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Here it is, from me to you!
Cliff just left on a train to Paris, escaping the Nazis. Then the Emcee came onstage, still imploring us to forget everything bad.
"In here, life... is beautiful," he said, painfully whispering the 'beautiful.'
"The girls...are beautiful. Even the orchestra is beautiful."
And he gestured; the lights focused on where the band should have been. But there wasn't any. Yet the music continued, the wall in front of the set fell away.
The set disappeared; the cast stood, shadowy and dim.
And then there was light. Not ordinary light, but a stark white light, one so pure yet so alone that you couldn't tell if it was a heaven or another place that you were seeing.
The increasingly discordant music built to a terrifying roar; the only sounds were an ominous rumbling that seemed to crawl inside you and a violin shrieking.
The violin stopped. All you could see was shadows and white light. All you could hear was the rumbling.
Then there was silence.
"Auf weidersehen," the Emcee said.
"A bientot....."
Then, slowly, he took off his coat. He was wearing the clothes of a prisoner, a concentration camp prisoner.
The drumroll sounded. The cymbals clashed. And then there was darkness.
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TR_Wolf
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Thank you for that! I wish I had photos! Is that just how the revival do it, or the original? Do you know how the other one did it?
I dont understand what you mean by the wall in front of the set falls away?
And I know what you mean about the noise etc, as I heard the finale track on the revival, and it's scary!
I also wonder why the Emcee sounds so sad when introducing Sally for the song "Cabaret".
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lalalei2001
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That's what it says in the revival script. I guess there was a wall seperating the MC from the rest of the cast who were in the light and it was dismantled.
In the original, the cast 'echoed' some of their previous lines over discordanr music, reminding us that our troubles were far from forgotten. Schultz said 'Children...on their way to schools. Nothing more...You understand?"
Sally sang a verse of Cabaret and disappeared. (From cradle to tomb isn't that long a stay...)
Then the MC said "Auf Weidersehen. A Bientot. Goodnight."
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lalalei2001
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I guess he's sad because Cliff got beaten up and Sally had just aborted her baby, completely wrecking their relationship and for Sally, her life.
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ShadowInTheWings
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I saw it last night (community theatre, not Broadway or anything) and I was on the edge of my seat, clutching my friend's hand at the end, waiting for the concentration camp uniform thing, and it never happened. I'm a huge WW II buff, so the concentration camp thing means a whole lot to me, and my heart was just pounding waiting for the the reveal, and it didn't happen.
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lalalei2001
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How did the community one end?
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ShadowInTheWings
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All the characters came onstage wearing long-ish coats, two Nazis (Ludwig and Max, I believe) came on stage and kind of goose-stepped/corralled them into centre stage, where they stood, looking weary and desolate (I think they were going for the concentration camp idea here). The Emcee was downstage left, and just before the scrim came in (in front of the group of characters), Sally stepped out from the group (wearing a little black dress) and sang "Finale" in front of the scrim with everyone in a tableau behind her.
And then the curtain call.
Does that make any sense? Has anyone else seen it end like that?
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HeroTheBishop
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When I was the Emcee we did the prisoner clothes. The gasp from the audience was awesome.
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lalalei2001
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We did it where the Emcee stepped in front of a pair of curtains used at the opening. The cast was behind the curtain. Then the Emcee pulled the string and shut the curtains. The audience could see that the curtains had 2 enormous closed eyes on them.
The drumroll began. At the cymbal clash at the end, the Master of Ceremonies opened the curtains...
Everyone was face down on the stage, dead. Faint wisps of stage smoke (it seeped onstage when the curtains shut) could be seen.
Then there was darkness. And I had nightmares that night.
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Ulla Dance Again!
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The way we're doing it at Ogunquit Playhouse is that the Emcee is in front of the door wall. He's next to Cliff, and he and Cliff sing "Wilkomenn". He takes over singing the song and proceeds to talk to the audience ("Where are your troubles now..." etc). As the orchestra is playing (it's a recording of the orchestra), the door walls are pushed back to reveal the rest of the cast in a gas chamber. The drum roll begins and when the cymbal crashes, the Emcee takes off his leather jacket and hat to reveal a Jewish POW camp outfit and smoke fills in the cabaret.
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playwrightmo
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I saw a production of this show almost five year ago, so I don't remember much about it, but I do remember the ending (fairly) vividly. I believe that they did the whole "prisoner" thing with the Emcee, but here's the kicker . . . They had actual footage of concentration camp prisoners being tortured, being murdered, having their bodies being dragged, just horribly stuff . . . and they played it on a screen onstage. Not only did they have it on a screen, they had it on the walls of the theatre, so no matter where you looked you were forced to look at it. And then at the very end, the Emcee sat in front of the screen, and they flashed a Dante quote, "The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality."
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TR_Wolf
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| playwrightmo wrote: | | I saw a production of this show almost five year ago, so I don't remember much about it, but I do remember the ending (fairly) vividly. I believe that they did the whole "prisoner" thing with the Emcee, but here's the kicker . . . They had actual footage of concentration camp prisoners being tortured, being murdered, having their bodies being dragged, just horribly stuff . . . and they played it on a screen onstage. Not only did they have it on a screen, they had it on the walls of the theatre, so no matter where you looked you were forced to look at it. And then at the very end, the Emcee sat in front of the screen, and they flashed a Dante quote, "The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality." |
See that's a bit over the top for me. I mean yes its meant to be that the war has then taken over etc, but stuff like that makes it out as though the whole show was just some big history lesson with this as its agenda.
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phantomphan85
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That ending sounds so disturbing.
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Eponine Thenardier
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The ending of Cabaret truly sickens me. How a show that was so lighthearted and, well, happy, turned bitter and harmful, really upsets me. Virtually nobody got a happy ending, and to top it all off, they're plagued with anti-Semitism. I guess that was life 
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Ulla Dance Again!
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^ Well, for intents and purposes, it is set in 1930's Berlin, admist the rise of Nazism so of course it's not a walk in the park.
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Eponine Thenardier
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| Ulla Dance Again! wrote: | | ^ Well, for intents and purposes, it is set in 1930's Berlin, admist the rise of Nazism so of course it's not a walk in the park. |
Of course, of course.
Like I said before, that was life.
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what_the_heck013
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Would anyone happen to know how the Original Broadway production ended?
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Ulla Dance Again!
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| Eponine Thenardier wrote: | | Ulla Dance Again! wrote: | | ^ Well, for intents and purposes, it is set in 1930's Berlin, admist the rise of Nazism so of course it's not a walk in the park. |
Of course, of course.
Like I said before, that was life. |
Ahh all right. I hope I didn't sound too bitchy (I get sort of anal about the show - it's my favorite musical). I think that is sort of the beauty of Cabaret because it's so disturbing. It makes you think. And it's one of the few musicals that you can always find something to discuss.
I do believe in the original production the Emcee lines up the Kit Kat boys and girls and shoots them, like a firing squad... though I could be wrong.
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Frenchy Mimi
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| lalalei2001 wrote: | Here it is, from me to you!
Cliff just left on a train to Paris, escaping the Nazis. Then the Emcee came onstage, still imploring us to forget everything bad.
"In here, life... is beautiful," he said, painfully whispering the 'beautiful.'
"The girls...are beautiful. Even the orchestra is beautiful."
And he gestured; the lights focused on where the band should have been. But there wasn't any. Yet the music continued, the wall in front of the set fell away.
The set disappeared; the cast stood, shadowy and dim.
And then there was light. Not ordinary light, but a stark white light, one so pure yet so alone that you couldn't tell if it was a heaven or another place that you were seeing.
The increasingly discordant music built to a terrifying roar; the only sounds were an ominous rumbling that seemed to crawl inside you and a violin shrieking.
The violin stopped. All you could see was shadows and white light. All you could hear was the rumbling.
Then there was silence.
"Auf weidersehen," the Emcee said.
"A bientot....."
Then, slowly, he took off his coat. He was wearing the clothes of a prisoner, a concentration camp prisoner.
The drumroll sounded. The cymbals clashed. And then there was darkness. |
In paris, we've got exactly the same ending. I saw the musical for a second time 2 days a go, I was a the kit kat places and it just was amasing, i really love that musical because i love this ambiance so cabaret, and there's a terrible story telling us nazism end bad things that we knew in France too. That part of history is so important for me, i think that's wonderful a musical talk about, that just mean that we have to never forget.
In france Musicals are so boring, french people try to make them, but it just look like some shows done by children at the end of school's year ... pathetic ... That's why i love so much Cabaret, i'm so proud to have it in france. But unfotunately, no advertisings, and not much succes, so sad ...
Each time i see that ending, i can't forget! I go out from the theatre, and 'im juste anable to talk, i think about nazism, and think about the past.
Our actors are really wonderful, I just hope one day, Cabaret will be a succes in France.
(sorry for my english ...)
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Salome
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| Eponine Thenardier wrote: | | The ending of Cabaret truly sickens me. How a show that was so lighthearted and, well, happy, turned bitter and harmful, really upsets me. Virtually nobody got a happy ending, and to top it all off, they're plagued with anti-Semitism. I guess that was life |
my question to you is...where does the show start off happy and lighthearteds?? did someone write a "Cabaret" other than Kander and Ebb? LOL
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The Duchess of Mint
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I wonder what the original Broadway ending was like...Dear Musicals.Net Posters,
I'm wondering what the original Broadway ending was like.
I do know what the movie ending is like. The movie ends with...SPOILERS...
the camera panning across the Kit Kat Club's new audience, which is comprised totally of the brainwashed people of the new regime of Germany.
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Jennifer Lynn
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Lalalei and Playwrightmo's endings sound somewhat similar to the one my alma mater did ten years ago. More or less, the show followed the original...Cliff was 100% straight, for example. They kept "Meeskite", put in "Money, Money" (but not "Mein Herr") as well as "Sitting Pretty", "Maybe This Time," and gave the Emcee "Don't Go" to sing when Sally was trying to decide whether to leave Germany...as if he were a voice from her subconscious.
During the show, they'd occasionally shown slides on the wings...images of German propaganda posters and such like.
At the finale, right after Sally finished "Cabaret", the cast went into a robotic reprise of "Tomorrow Belongs To Me." Around then, I noticed that yellow Stars of David and pink triangles had appeared on certain cast members.
Then, the backdrop was yanked away to reveal an immense swastika. Recordings of flames and screams were heard. Smoke poured onto the stage and the "marked" characters walked robotically into the smoke. On the wings (much like in Playwrightmo's production), slides of concentration-camp scenes and victims (Anne Frank among them) were projected, finally dissolving into the words "NEVER FORGET" and "NEVER AGAIN".
The stage faded into darkness, leaving the Emcee, his makeup looking like a death's head, grinning at us in a spotlight. "Mein Dammen und Herren...where are your troubles now? Forgotten? I told you so! Here we have no troubles! Auf Wiedersehen...a bientot...and I wish you all a very good night!" He snapped a "Heil Hitler" salute which changed to an elaborate bow. Drumroll...and silence.
Although the Holocaust images may have been a bit over-the-top, I think I prefer this presentation of the Emcee, as a sinister figure, to the "concentration camp victim" of the revival, effective as it is. I always considered the Emcee a symbol of the evil that was enveloping Germany, not a victim of it. To me, the Emcee makes more sense as a sinister figure to the last.
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Bianca.
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| Jennifer Lynn wrote: |
Although the Holocaust images may have been a bit over-the-top, I think I prefer this presentation of the Emcee, as a sinister figure, to the "concentration camp victim" of the revival, effective as it is. I always considered the Emcee a symbol of the evil that was enveloping Germany, not a victim of it. To me, the Emcee makes more sense as a sinister figure to the last. |
That's a perspective I've never seen before. I've always envisioned Emcee as a victim as well. Now I'm intrigued to see a production of it done this way..
I'd forgotten how much I loved this show..
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Ulla Dance Again!
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| Salome wrote: | | Eponine Thenardier wrote: | | The ending of Cabaret truly sickens me. How a show that was so lighthearted and, well, happy, turned bitter and harmful, really upsets me. Virtually nobody got a happy ending, and to top it all off, they're plagued with anti-Semitism. I guess that was life |
my question to you is...where does the show start off happy and lighthearteds?? did someone write a "Cabaret" other than Kander and Ebb? LOL |
You never know, there might be a R&H alternative version kicking around. 
The thing with Cabaret is that it's about disillusionment. Not so much 'light heartedness' more so people coming to terms with what's really happening to and around them, and that is the scary part. It's like the song, "If You Could See Her" - it's a seemingly fine number until it gets to the very end and you're bombarded with "if you could see her through my eyes, she wouldn't look Jewish at all" - which ultimately changes the mood of the show. It's not supposed to be pretty, or pleasant to watch and that's surprisingly the most beautiful thing about it, particularly the revival... the fact that it takes pleasure in making you uncomfortable.
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charlieb2bav
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i saw this performed at a college and the finale was amazing, the stage moved backwards towards a very bright white wall and there was a sound like the crackling of fire and the entire cast was naked on stage and as they went backwards to the back of the stage, white paper started falling from the top of the theatre, to appear like ashes. it was VERY powerful, stuck with me for awhile after seeing it.
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crazychica
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Did any other productions show Sally dying in the finale? I've only seen it done in one production other than my own, but it seems so clear from when she declares again "when I go, I'm going like Elsie."
I really loved our finale. It'd be almost impossible for me to explain through words, it took me so long to fully get it onto the stage and look right, but it was my favorite part of the show. We had Sally die, Schneider slam the door on Schultz on his line, "After all, what am I? German." We also had Kost, dressed very conservatively, Ludwig and the two children we used for Tomorrow Belongs To Me as Nazi officers that were getting the Kit Kat Girls and Schultz into a small group.
Once they left, it was only the Emcee, The Kit Kat Girls and Schultz onstage, and the Emcee slowly went a curtained exit in the back on the "Auf wiedersen, a bientot" and on the next beat, his hand appeared, and snapped, and a fog rolled in with the drum roll, and on the final beat, the red curtains that had been there for the entire show, dropped to reveal two Nazi flags.
I'm not sure how well I explained that, but it worked SO WELL. I'm willing to answer questions about it, since it's my masterpiece. I got so many compliments on it, which made me so happy, especially from one of the parents who was worried about how we would be dealing with the anti-semitism of the show. If I ever get the DVD of the show, I'll be posting lots and lots of videos.
| Eponine Thenardier wrote: | | The ending of Cabaret truly sickens me. How a show that was so lighthearted and, well, happy, turned bitter and harmful, really upsets me. Virtually nobody got a happy ending, and to top it all off, they're plagued with anti-Semitism. I guess that was life |
Cabaret is NOT a happy musical. it's about how people deal with the enourmous problems in their life. It's about how people make it seem like things are simple and light hearted, when really they're going crazy about it, or how they completely ignore things until they can't anymore. They were plauged with Anti-Semitism the entire show, they just didn't deal with it. Ludwig is always a nazi in the show, it's just not always addressed, because that's what people did. It's showing how neutrality or ignorance can only fuel a problem.
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SuperKabob
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The production I saw ended with all of the kit-kat club performers standing dressed like they were about to leave for deportation, with all of them having either a yellow star or a pink triangle on their coats. They leave, and the emcee comes on, removes his overcoat, and we see both the star and the triangle on his coat. He leaves to join them. The stage blackens, except for a small model train running across with noises of the deportations (yelling, engines, screams, shots) It ends, and the lights come back up. The curtain call was delayed for a while. Very powerful.
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Vice
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I've seen a regional where it goes into the finale, and Sally sings finale. She's back lit behind a screen and it looks like she's standing around piled dead bodies. A nazi then comes out and shoots her. She falls down. You hear her whimper, and she's shot again.
Than the Emcee come's out and says the good byes, and smoke begins to roll onstage. The screen in the back comes up, just as the Emcee collapses, and you see all the characters just laying there dead.
The thing is there was a drum roll and when the Emcee collapsed when the symbol went.
I had nightmares...
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alex591
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| Vice wrote: | I've seen a regional where it goes into the finale, and Sally sings finale. She's back lit behind a screen and it looks like she's standing around piled dead bodies. A nazi then comes out and shoots her. She falls down. You hear her whimper, and she's shot again.
Than the Emcee come's out and says the good byes, and smoke begins to roll onstage. The screen in the back comes up, just as the Emcee collapses, and you see all the characters just laying there dead.
The thing is there was a drum roll and when the Emcee collapsed when the symbol went.
I had nightmares... |
I'd have them too if I saw that!
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Gwen
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 ...
um...so no bows take place? I can't imagine any applause with an ending like that, and only a very solemn one if there were...
My highschool is doing Cabaret next year, and I think it'd be really interesting to get a part like the Emcee.... but what's with him being in prison clothes? Does he turn out to be Jewish or something?
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phantomphan85
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| Quote: | I've seen a regional where it goes into the finale, and Sally sings finale. She's back lit behind a screen and it looks like she's standing around piled dead bodies. A nazi then comes out and shoots her. She falls down. You hear her whimper, and she's shot again.
Than the Emcee come's out and says the good byes, and smoke begins to roll onstage. The screen in the back comes up, just as the Emcee collapses, and you see all the characters just laying there dead.
The thing is there was a drum roll and when the Emcee collapsed when the symbol went.
I had nightmares...
I'd have them too if I saw that! |
Me too!
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Don't Tell Mama
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| Gwen wrote: | ...
um...so no bows take place? I can't imagine any applause with an ending like that, and only a very solemn one if there were...
My highschool is doing Cabaret next year, and I think it'd be really interesting to get a part like the Emcee.... but what's with him being in prison clothes? Does he turn out to be Jewish or something? |
Here's my own personal break-down on the character of The Emcee;
Throughout the play [if you're going by the revival], he changes his persona in order to reflect what's going outside of the club. In the beginning, when he sings "Willkommen" it's upbeat and fun. He stays in that 'upbeat and fun' mode for most of the first act, until he gets to "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" where he shifts into what most of Germany was shifting into at the time - fascism.
By the second act, when "If You Could See Her..." comes along, it is clearly evident he's playing the Anti-Semitic card. I always felt he's doing it for the following reasons;
A) To give the audience an idea of what's to come
B) Reflect the general feeling of Germans to Jews at the given time
C) To hide the fact that he may be Jewish, and by singing this song, may just be covering his own ass
The next time he appears in a dress, beaten up and dishelved, singing "I Don't Care Much". The purpose is that he's not only mirroring Sally and Cliff's relationship, but the desperation of Berliners who couldn't come to terms with what was going on around them.
At the end of the show is perhaps the most chilling transformation, when he changes from the German customs official to the Jew in concentration camp attire. I've always felt that this is, once again, reflecting Germany at the given time. He shifts into the concentration camp clothes because he is a prisoner, much like most of the population. It is left up to interpretation of how or why he's suddenly portrayed as Jew. Like I said earlier, he could be one the entire duration of the show and by putting on an act is his only way of covering up the pain he feels.
"He's a man, he's a woman, he's Hitler. He speaks all languages. He struts, he leers, he mocks and he observes everything." - CABARET: The Illustrated Book and Lyrics
I've seen productions where a bow is included at the end, usually five minutes or so [give or take] after the final transformation of the Emcee, because the audience is still in shock.
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kittengoespop
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I must be the only one who prefers a more traditional "Finale" for Cabaret. I don't know, I'm just not a fan of the revival and the whole heavy-handed concentration camp "message" at the end. The whole echoing of old lines and that sort of thing is just neat. And I like the Emcee to remain sinister. I see him as an almost Satanic character, orchestrating these awful events and laughing at them. He's not just the Master of Ceremonies at the Kit Kat Klub, but he's the Master of Ceremonies for all the goings-on in the play.
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