Willkommen, bienvenue Adam Lambert and Auli’i Cravalho.
There’s a new act at the Kit Kat Club. Lambert, a Grammy nominee and “American Idol” breakout, and Cravalho, the star of the movie adaptation of “Mean Girls: The Musical,” will make their Broadway debuts as the Emcee and Sally Bowles this fall. They replace Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin, who anchored “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club” when it premiered last spring.
The show was a huge hit in London’s West End. Since transferring to New York, it has done well at the box office (it earned an impressive $1.6 million last week), but reviews were mixed, so the producers need Lambert and Cravalho’s fans to turn out in force to justify the tens of millions spent to transform August Wilson Theatre into a Weimar nightclub.
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Lambert previously featured in the North American touring production of “Wicked.” He also appeared in “Bohemian Rhapsody” and the indie film “Fairyland.” In addition, Lambert currently fronts Queen. As a solo artist, Lambert recently released his latest EP, “Afters.”
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“Growing up on the musical theater stage, it was always a childhood dream to perform on Broadway,” Lambert said. “With this production of ‘Cabaret,’ it finally felt like the right time to accept an invitation to make my debut. The themes of this show have always resonated with me and given the current sociopolitical climate the world is in, feel eerily timely.”
Cravalho provided the voice of the title character of Disney’s “Moana,” singing the hit, “How Far I’ll Go.” She also starred in “The Power” on Amazon, Hulu’s “Crush,” the NBC drama “Rise,” and Netflix’s “All Together Now.” She will reprise her role in this fall’s sequel to “Moana.”
“I’m thrilled to join the long line of talented women who have taken on the iconic Sally Bowles; most recently, the woman I watched with notebook and pen in hand, the dynamite Gayle Rankin,” Cravalho said. “To join a show with so much history — and such a stellar cast and crew — means it’s quite literally an honor to get my butt kicked each week. Mahalo palena ʻole family, I wouldn’t be making this debut without you.”
Set against the backdrop of the Nazi party’s rise to power, “Cabaret” is considered one of the greatest musicals ever produced, inspiring revivals and an Oscar-winning movie. The latest production of John Kander and Fred Ebb’s show is directed by Rebecca Frecknall. It unfolds in the round and includes a 90-minute pre-show featuring live performances in several spaces where guests who arrive early can sip cocktails and walk around the theater watching dancers and musicians meant to evoke the erotic spirit of the era’s nightlife.
