Program from the 1987 national tour of Cabaret: Museum Object and Cultural History
Program from the 1987 national tour of Cabaret: date made: 1987. depicted (sitter): Grey, Joel. Object Name: program.
The object in the museum catalogue
A program for the musical Cabaret distributed during the show’s 1987 national tour. The front cover of the Playbill features a color photograph of Joel Grey in costume as the Emcee, with the show’s title illustrated in script stylized like lights in a marquee.
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: 1987
- depicted (sitter): Grey, Joel
- Object Name: program
- Physical Description: paper (overall material)
- Physical Description: ink (overall material)
- Measurements: overall: 11 1/2 in x 8 1/2 in; 29.21 cm x 21.59 cm
- Subject: Musical Theater
- ID Number: 1989.0374.08
- accession number: 1989.0374
- catalog number: 1989.0374.08
- Credit Line: 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.
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