By DeWanda Smith Soeder, with Drayton Alexander

Cabaret culture reached its zenith during the Golden Age of Germany’s Weimar Republic. Spanning from 1919 to 1932, this short-lived period has become known for its high living, vibrant urban life, diversity, commitment to democracy, and popularization of new styles of music and dance. Our cabaret brings to life the final days of this sliver of time in Berlin—1931—as the impending rise of Nazi Germany threatened this Golden Age.

The Weimar era saw the birth of sophisticated revolutions in art and entertainment, including Bauhaus, New Objectivism, the silent films of Fritz Lang, and the theatre of Bertolt Brecht. Cabaret stood above all of these as Berlin’s greatest cultural achievement. Immortalized in art and film, Weimar cabaret was recognizable for its color, freedom, decadence, and sharp political commentary. As German society split into polarized camps following inflation, economic depression, and political unrest, the cabarets provided a glitzy paint job covering a sober message of the danger to come.

Josephine Baker.

Berlin was a bustling international metropolis in the 1920s, with tourists flocking from around the world to experience the city’s burgeoning arts and culture scene. Like in Paris, where Josephine Baker was the biggest star of the day, Black culture swept Berlin, with American jazz being the rage in the clubs and cabarets. Across the continent, American artists like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington were embraced by the avant-garde, Pan-Africanist cabaret culture, and the performing arts served as a main source of income for Berlin’s population of Black Germans.

For our production, we have embraced the possibility that Sally Bowles’s decision to leave England for Berlin was fueled by the dream of becoming the next Josephine, an opportunity denied to her in Britain. This opens up another facet in our story, as Sally and Cliff Bradshaw’s interracial romance is paralleled by the love between Fräulein Schneider, a Christian, and Herr Schultz, a Jew. How safe will either of these relationships be in the years to come?

So welcome to our cabaret, a glamorous, glitzy place where life is beautiful… so long as the chaotic world outside doesn’t slip in through the cracks.

Reprinted with permission from Asolo Repertory Theatre.