Cabaret (musical) Cabaret (musical) Cabaret is a 1966 musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Joe Masteroff, based on John Van Druten's 1951 play "I Am a Camera", which was adapted from the short novel "Goodbye to Berlin" (1939) by Christopher Isherwood. Set in 1931 Berlin as the Nazis are rising to power, it focuses on the nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub, and revolves around young American writer Cliff Bradshaw and his relationship with English cabaret performer Sally Bowles. A sub-plot involves the doomed romance between German boarding house owner Fräulein Schneider and her
Cabaret (Cabaret song) do with them or their affairs. After a heated row, Sally goes on stage singing “Cabaret” (“life is a cabaret, old chum”), thus confirming her decision to live in carefree ignorance of the impending problems in Germany. The version of the song used in the musical includes a verse beginning: "I used to have a girlfriend known as Elsie With whom I shared Four sordid rooms in Chelsea..." The verse goes on to describe her friend's prostitution, alcoholism and early death. Usually this is omitted in other commercial recordings of the song. A review by Robert Feldberg on NorthJersey.com explains