Bway's Cabaret Will Make the Jump to Studio 54 | Playbill

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News Bway's Cabaret Will Make the Jump to Studio 54 Starting Nov. 12, old chums can still come to the Cabaret -- but it won't be in the same place.

Starting Nov. 12, old chums can still come to the Cabaret -- but it won't be in the same place.

Spokesperson Erin Dunn (of Boneau/Bryan Brown) has confirmed (Sept. 24) that negotiations have finally been worked out to move Broadway's Tony-winning revival of Cabaret from the Kit Kat Klub (formerly the Henry Miller Theatre) to a new venue - Studio 54.

The first performance at Studio 54 will be Nov. 12, after the Kit Kat Klub run ends, Nov. 8. Roundabout Artistic Director, Todd Haimes is quoted as saying, "During our time at the 43rd Street club, it became apparent that it was not possible to co-exist successfully and that Cabaret needed its own home."

Also, of note, the national tour of Cabaret will begin in Los Angeles at The Wilshire Theatre, Feb. 1999. In addition to the L.A. dates, Cabaret is scheduled to play Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., Toronto, Minneapolis, and San Francisco in the tour's first twelve months. Specific dates are TBA.

Cabaret suffered nearly a month of cancellations during its Kit Kat Klub run, owing to a collapse at an adjacent construction site. Performances resumed Aug. 20. According to production spokesperson Dunn, the show missed 35 performances, including the final shows of original stars Natasha Richardson and Mary Louise Wilson, at a cost of $1.5 million in lost revenue. In other Cabaret news, Tony Award winning actor, Alan Cumming is on hiatus from the show to play a role in Julie Taymor's film adaptation of Titus Andronicus. Replacing Cumming as the Emcee is Robert Sella, recent star of another Roundabout show, Side Man. Cumming will return to the show Nov. 22. Initially signed to stay with the show through Jan. 1999, Cumming has now extended through March 1999.

The show reopened with new cast members Jennifer Jason Leigh and Blair Brown, appearing alongside Sella, Ron Rifkin and John Benjamin Hickey. Tickets are on sale through June 1999 at (212) 239-6200.

A rumor that Paul "Pee Wee Herman" Reubens was being tapped to replace Cumming in April 1999 was denied by the Boneau/Bryan Brown office. New stars Leigh and Brown are expected to be with the show through the end of the year. While Tony winner Rifkin has no immediate plans to leave Cabaret, contractually he can do so with two weeks notice.

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The hit musical had been out of commission since a July 21 construction accident at the half-erected Conde Nast building paralyzed much of Times Square -- including the block of 43rd Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues where the Kit Kat (Cabaret's home) sits. West 43rd Street was reopened to traffic Aug. 18 and the Cabaret actors returned to their theatre the morning of Aug. 19 for rehearsals.

Since the accident, rampant speculation had the company restaging the musical at an existing Broadway house or at the former Studio 54. Artistic Director Todd Haimes (who recently became the artistic director of Livent as well) confirmed he was considering Studio 54 but cautioned that such a move was so expensive as to make it nearly untenable.

Spokesman Adrian Bryan-Brown also pointed out that Cabaret would move only to a venue that met the artistic demands of the production. Cabaret director Sam Mendes' environmental staging of the musical duplicates the atmosphere of a pre-World War II nightclub. The Roundabout and director Mendes searched for months for an appropriate home for the show before settling on the former Henry Miller Theatre, which was converted into the Kit Kat Klub.

In other Roundabout news, a revival of Little Me, starring Faith Prince and Martin Short, begins previews Sept. 30 and opens Oct. 29.

 
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