Since its debut this April, patrons have filed into Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre, tickets in hand, to watch the latest revival of Cabaret—little do they know, they’re the ones being watched. Eyeballs, a recurring motif designed for this version of the musical’s 1930s Berlin hotspot setting, can be found everywhere in the remodeled space.
“Who’s watching who?” the show’s scenic, theater, and costume designer Tom Scutt asks. Sitting down to discuss the production with AD, he looks as cool and modern as the contemporary Cabaret he’s fashioned to bring the 1966 original into the present. One might never guess the British man standing outside the legendary theater, dressed casually in an oversize hoodie, is behind the building’s massive revamp. It looks nothing like the space Lea Michele called home as Fanny Brice a mere eight months earlier, when Funny Girl wrapped its successful Broadway run.
“I did an animation of the entire building. We didn’t do a model box for this because it was pointless: It’s a huge project,” Scutt tells AD. A big undertaking, indeed; the traditional proscenium-style stage has been replaced by a theater in the round. Additional seating, including a mezzanine level, was built where a backstage area once lived. Three uniquely stylized bars, accented by Jeremy Anderson’s futuristic light fixtures, are scattered throughout the seductive setting, welcoming audiences to unwind and imbibe before the performance begins. A separate cast of musicians and dancers provide entertainment during the production’s 75-minute prologue.
“If we’ve done our job correctly, by the time you’ve gone through the whole space—before you [sit down]—you don’t know which way is which,” says Scutt.
