Like an old chum, "Cabaret" is always welcoming

"Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome," sings the Emcee in "Cabaret," as he lures us into the tawdry demimonde of Weimar-era Berlin.

And as the 5th Avenue Theatre welcomes us into its upcoming production of "Cabaret," let's ponder the unique lineage of a Broadway musical unlike any other.

It all started when an observant young British writer named Christopher Isherwood was hanging out in pre-World War II Berlin — exploring its seamy and beguiling nightlife, meeting a cosmopolitan array of eccentrics and decadents, seeing evidence of a mounting tide of fascism.

Out of his travels came the book "The Berlin Stories" — really two short novels ("The Last of Mr. Norris" and "Goodbye to Berlin") in one volume.

From those stories sprang various theatrical works, the Broadway musical "Cabaret" most prominent among them.

Sure, Broadway toned down and glossed over Isherwood's material somewhat, in particular its references to homosexuality.

But whatever concessions Joe Masteroff's book for the show made, this 1966 hit still had plenty of atmospheric sizzle. A terrific John Kander-Fred Ebb score played by an onstage, all-gal band. A simulation of an irresistibly sleazy Berlin nightspot, the Kit Kat Club.

And a cast distinguished by an expat German performer who came up through that Berlin cabaret scene and embodied it: the whiskey-voiced Lotte Lenya.

"Cabaret" was made into an Oscar-winning 1972 movie and marked the film-directing debut of Broadway titan Bob Fosse.

The film has dated but is worth a look-see. And an in-the-flesh production of "Cabaret" can still thrill, as British director Sam Mendes proved a decade ago with his stark, edgy Broadway revival of "Cabaret," which toured to Seattle.

There's plenty of local talent involved in the new 5th Avenue mounting, a co-production with American Musical Theatre of San Jose and Minnesota's Ordway Center for the Performing Arts.

Directed by Bill Berry (who staged an excellent "West Side Story" last season), this "Cabaret" features 5th Avenue regulars Louis Hobson, Suzy Hunt and Allen Fitzpatrick. Broadway actress Tari Kelly flashes her fishnets as the naive/worldly chanteuse Sally Bowles.

Best of all, Seattle's Nick Garrison gets a crack at a role he seems destined for: the leering, androgynous Emcee, originally played by Joel Grey. That's the guy in creepy whiteface who sings that welcoming title tune, and the ever-relevant ditty that begins, "Money makes the world go round ... "

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com