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The musical Cabaret is probably the most famous show to have been penned by John Kander and the late Fred Ebb z”l. Set in the dying days of Weimar Germany, the show opened on Broadway in 1966, before crossing the Atlantic two years later where Dame (as she was to become) Judi Dench became the UK’s first ever Sally Bowles. Hollywood beckoned and in 1972 Bob Fosse’s movie version of the show hit the world’s screens, going on to win eight Oscars and cementing Liza Minelli’s reputation as a star.

Over the last 50 or so years, numerous revivals of the musical have been staged – none more successful, or as long running, as that which opened at London’s Playhouse Theatre in December 2021 and which continues to play to packed houses, the Playhouse having been re-named for the duration of this production as The Kit Kat Club, a tribute to the fictional Berlin nightclub at the story’s heart.

I reviewed Cabaret at The Kit Kat Club on its opening night. The show was simply stunning, going on to garner a slew of awards, and aside from it being a fabulously produced musical, as antisemitism was starting to creep on to the capital’s streets, the show bore a timely poignancy.

Last week I was invited back to The Kit Kat Club for its latest Gala Performance. The show’s producers have mastered the knack of replacing the two leading performers every several months, so as not only to expose a vast range of celebrity actors to the challenges of playing Sally Bowles and the club’s Emcee, but also to keep demand high for the show’s tickets. Smart move, huh?

This was my first time back at the show since it opened and I am happy to report that its production values remain as stunning and sensational as they were at its launch. But of course the world, or rather the Jewish world, has experienced a seismic shift since 2021. The murderous, barbaric attacks on Israel on 7th October 2023 released a pent-up wave of shocking antisemitic hatred around the globe that masqueraded under the claim of seeking to “Free Palestine”, yet in reality has been found to be little more than a manifestation of the oldest hatred, that of the Jews.

And so Cabaret at The Kit Kat Club, with its stylish choreography, beautifully talented performers, and some of the finest songs in the canon of musical theatre plays out eight times a week, telling of the rise of the Nazis, hinting at the fate of German Jewry, and all to an audience that are happily quaffing champagne and cocktails and enjoying a fabulous night out at the theatre.

Those who are familiar with the musical will know that the first half concludes with the chilling Tomorrow Belongs To Me. The song is written as a Nazi anthem and such is the genius of Kander & Ebb that I had to double-check that they had penned it themselves and that it was not an authentic fascist crowd-pleaser that they had unearthed for the show.  The power of Tomorrow Belongs To Me lies in its uniting of the ordinary German citizens who sing it. People who slowly gather together to join with its verses, and whose union symbolises the spread of Nazi beliefs throughout the land.

Back in 2021, the song was as impactful as it always had been. But in 2026 I found that moment in the show to be, and all at the same time: brilliant; terrifying and ultimately heartbreaking. Last week, as the audience was filing out to fill the theatre’s interval bars, I sobbed.

The hatred of Jews that is so skilfully woven into Cabaret’s fabric is no longer a thing of the past. The blood-libels generated by Hamas and a number of NGOs in the wake of 7th October, and which were so willingly broadcast by much of the world’s mainstream media, have taken the slaughter of 7th October and seen it replicated in murderous terror attacks against Jewish people around the globe, to say nothing of anti-Jewish slogans being daubed on key communal buildings.

Cabaret at The Kit Kat Club remains a tremendous five-star show. Its song, dance, script and performances are amongst the best in town.

But for Jews, the echoes of Cabaret, a show that is set in 1930s Berlin, are deafening today.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)