Joel Grey's hat from Cabaret: Museum Object and Cultural History
Joel Grey's hat from Cabaret: date made: 1972. Object Name: hat. Physical Description: fabric (overall material).
The object in the museum catalogue
Joel Grey wore this hat as part of a costume portraying the Emcee (Master of Ceremonies) in the 1972 film of the musical Cabaret. The straw boater-style hat has a flat top and brim and is decorated with a multicolored striped grosgrain ribbon and flat yellow ribbon bow around the rim. The hat has a narrow leather sweatband inside.
The musical Cabaret premiered on Broadway in 1966. With music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Joe Masteroff, the show was an adaptation of John Van Druten's 1951 play I Am a Camera, which itself was based on Christopher Isherwood's 1939 memoir Goodbye to Berlin. Cabaret is the story of love triangle centered around Berlin's Kit Kat Klub amidst the decadence, corruption, and political intrigue of the Weimar Republic era. The musical was celebrated for its originality, but was also controversial for its moral ambiguity, frank sensuality, and mature themes, including homosexuality, abortion, anti-semitism, and the rise of the Nazi party. In 1972, director Bob Fosse adapted Cabaret as a critically- lauded and popular film.
For his performances as the impish, leering Emcee in both the stage and film productions, Grey won the Tony Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Broadway Musical in 1967 and Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1972.
Materials, dates and provenance
- date made: 1972
- Object Name: hat
- Physical Description: fabric (overall material)
- Measurements: overall: 3 3/4 in x 12 in x 10 in; 9.525 cm x 30.48 cm x 25.4 cm
- Subject: Movie
- Subject: Entertainment, Film
- Subject: Costume
- ID Number: 2013.0052.01
- accession number: 2013.0052
- catalog number: 2013.0052.01
- Credit Line: Gift of Joel Grey
- Data Source: National Museum of American History
Sources and reuse
Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.
Sources
More in Movies
Keep reading
