Transcript of Home ‘Cabaret’ (1972 – Bob Fosse) History ‘Cabaret’ – the Song Evaluation Gallery Bob...
- Slide 1
- Home Cabaret (1972 Bob Fosse) History Cabaret the Song
Evaluation Gallery Bob Fosse SongsCharacter List Choreography Task
Bertolt Brecht References Jazz Definitions
- Slide 2
- Home History The word Cabaret is originally French. It was
meant to be the meaning of alcoholic beverages. Cabaret is a style
of performance which is characterized by the nightclub setting,
which had an amount of entertainers. Cabaret is not the same as
lounge singers, musical theatre or any background music. It is a
very personal experience in which it is between the audience and
between the performer. Where the performer and audience are so
close it shows intimacy between them. A performance must be honest,
versatile and spontaneous. The performers must also make sure that
they are not shy as this is not what the audience are looking for.
Many of the Cabaret dancers were singers, comics, dancers, fire
eaters, sword swallowers and burlesque dancers. Many of the
Cabarets which were in Germany were very censored, an this was
mainly due to the protest they presented. Whereas, the rise of
Weimar Republic in 1920s, a lot of things changed not only for
Germany but for the Cabarets as well. In 1920, nudity was allowed
in public which the Cabaret dancers were happy about however, this
all came to an end in 1933. When Adolf Hitler came into power he
decided to abolish the Weimar Republic and also decided to close
down all of the Cabaret clubs and these were raided as well.
However hard the Nazis tried Cabaret still continued. Harold
Prince, was the director of the Broadway Cabaret and this was
inspired by a performance in which he saw in 1951, whilst he was in
the army in Stuttgart.
- Slide 3
- Home At the end of World War II Germany was in a very poor
state, people were starving and many riots started to break out. It
had to be one of the toughest times in which Germany had. 6 th
January revolution happen however this was not successful and
within a week, Ebert Stopped the rebellion. 1919 the Weimar
Republic won the election and from this day things started to get
worse. The Treaty of Versailles were made to pay 6.6 Billion in
damage and were also made to reduce their army by 100,000 men.
There tanks submarines were all taken away and the country was made
smaller, by having 13% of there land taken away. In 1919 and 1923
over 200 people were connected to the Weimar government and were
assassinated. In 1920 the Nazi party was created and they met in
beer houses and here Hitler joined and soon became the leader. In
1923, was a year of crisis and a loaf of bread was cost 201,000,000
mark, this was due to the fact that in 1922, they could not pay the
second payment for the damage in which they caused. Hitler wanted
many people to vote for him and he soon was put in jail, here he
wrote Mein Kampf, which was his thoughts. 1924-1929, cabaret
started and this gave a lot of people something in which they would
look forward too. The Nazis would use propaganda to tell people
what they wanted to hear on the Radio broadcasts, posters and
meetings. 30 th January 1933, Hitler became Vice President
Chancellor and from 1933-193.
- Slide 4
- Home Bob Fosse - Choreographer Bob Fosse is a well known
choreographer in the dance industry. His full name is Robert Louis
Fosse and he was born on June 23 rd 1927 in Chicago US.
Unfortunately he died September 23 rd 1987 in Washington at the age
of 60, due to a heart attack. He was a actor, dancer, musical
theatre choreographer, director, screenwriter, film editor and a
film director. In his years of being a choreographer he managed to
gain himself an impressive eight Tony Awards and was also nominated
for an Academy Award four different times. His father was American
and his mother was Irish born and he is the second youngest of six.
He first married in 1949 to 1951 to Mary Ann Niles and divorced,
then remarried in 1952 to Joan McCracken until 1959 which also
ended in divorce then later married Gwen Verdon in 1960 and had a
daughter called Nicole, the separated in 1987 but legally stayed
married until he died I 1987. it is also known that Bob had
epilepsy as he gained a seizure onstage in 1961. He met a dancer
called Charles Grass and they decided that they would come together
to collaborate with the name The Riff Brothers, and in this teamed
they toured theatres in the Chicago area. The first main
performance in which he played was with his first wife Mary Ann
Niles who was also a dancer, in Call Me Mister. This bought Bob
Fosse to Dean Martin and jerry Lewis, who were interested in the
work in which Bob was doing. In 1953 Bob was signed to MGM, which
is a large contract where a lot of dancers want to be signed to.
some of the other performances in which he was in include Give a
Girl a break, The Affairs of Dobie Gillis and Kiss Me Kate and
these were all in 1953. He choreographed a small piece which bought
him to the Broadway Producers.
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- Home Bob did not want to move from Hollywood to theatres,
however in 1954, he decided that he was going to go to theatre and
created his first ever musical The Pajama Game and then George
Abbotts Damn Yankees in 1955. This then made Bob realise that he
was interest in theatre as well as film. In 1955 he met a beautiful
women called Gwen Verdon and they married in 1960. Gwen won her
first ever Tony Award, in the theatre production of George Abbotts
Damn Yankees. Also in 1960 he was a director and choreographer in
the musical Redhead, which he based on Gwen Verdon, and in this he
gained the award for Best choreography. With Sweet Charity and
Chicago, Bob joined with Gwen to create something special. The
style of Bob was to have turned-in bent knees, rolling shoulders,
jazz hands and also sideway shuffling. He also wanted to use a
variety of props which included, bowler hats, gloves, canes and
chairs. It is said that Bob wore hast due to the fact that he was
bald and that he also used gloves as he did not like his hands.
Over many years he directed five different films, Sweet Charity,
Cabaret, The Godfather, Lenny and All That Jazz.
- Slide 6
- Home Synopsis Cabaret was first a Broadway musical in 1966. The
film was directed and Choreographed by Bob Fosse, who made turn on
the original from Christopher Isherwoods Goodbye to Berlin. Sally
Bowles is played by Liza Minnelli, who is a American entertainer,
how captures peoples attention through dance and song. The Kit Kat
Klub where the songs are formed and where Sally works is a Cabaret
club, where many people went to get away from the war and have a
time and chance to relax. Most of the songs which are performed in
the film are all performed at the Kit Kat Klub and each song tells
a story of something which happened in the war and that period of
time. The songs show the plot and the progression to Hitler.
Cabaret is about a Sally Bowles, falling in love with a bi-sexual
man called Brian. Brian came to Berlin in 1931 as he wanted to
complete all of his German Studies. Brian made his money by
teaching English. From here Cabaret shows how Sally falls in love
with Brian and does many things in order for her to be with him.
The songs which are shown, show a story of the War, and example of
this would be Tomorrow Belongs to Me, which is showing how Hitler
believed that all people should have blonde hair and blue eyes and
this was a large part of that period of time.
- Slide 7
- Home Evaluation The show of Cabaret, I feel is a performance
which is captivating and interesting. It captures your attention
from the beginning to the end. The song of Tomorrow Belongs to Me,
makes me understand what happened in the time of the war and this
makes me realise and understand how people were treated and how
people saw each other. I feel that all of the songs which are in
the performance, relate to something which was important in that
period of time. This made me understand what went on and how it
affected many different people. Each of the songs performed make me
understand how people felt and this therefore made me feel more
attached to the film and that period of time. Not only did the
songs make me realise and understand what happened in that period
of time, it also made me understand how much the Germans took over
and how they made people feel so little and therefore means that
people were to scared to come out of the shells. It also showed how
the shows which happened underground were done for that reason to
make sure they were safe and this made me understand how I could
stage my own performance. Lastly, I feel that the whole performance
not only represented that period of time it also represented the
style of jazz and the movements in which Bob Fosse was trying to
get towards the audience. He wanted to make sure that Jazz was
taken to a different level to make people see what jazz and his
jazz are really like.
- Slide 8
- Home Cabaret the Song The song Cabaret, was sung by Liza
Minnelli AKA Sally Bowles. The idea of the dance is to make the
audience listen to the words in which are being sung, and therefore
be able to understand what Sally Bowles is trying to tell them. The
words in which she repeats are: what good is sitting alone in your
room? Come hear the music play. Life is a Cabaret, old chum, Come
to the Cabaret. This is her saying for people not to sit at home
feeling down and they should come to the Cabaret and watch it and
therefore it will put them in a good mood and cheer them up. The
physical setting of the performance shows Sally Bowles standing on
stage on her own, showing that she is having a relationship with
the music. She is wearing a purple dress, with dangly bits on it
which is a style of dress which was worn in the 1920s. You can see
that part of her stomach is showing which is showing a sexy side of
the song, showing that it is still Cabaret. The lighting changes
through the show. It starts off very dark with a spot light on her
and then it starts to brighten up with a few more lights all on
Sally Bowles. When she sings Come to the Cabaret the lights get
brighter and more lights come on, and this is showing a part of the
show and what the performance is about. The set is very simple with
nothing on the stage, it is purely Sally Bowles on her own and this
is representing that everyone at that moment should be looking at
her. The aural setting of the performance is showing a statement of
the period of time in which the performance is being shown and it
is showing how people should not stay at home and moan and dwell on
what is happening they need to go and get out and go to the
Cabaret.
- Slide 9
- Home There is only one person on the stage and this is
different from the rest of the songs in Cabaret and this is showing
a different style to what is being sung. It grabs the audiences
attention and makes them understand what is going on and happening.
In the song there is not much dancing, however there is some
movement showing Sally having a relationship with the music and to
the style. The dynamics are sharp, strong and show a form of
strength within the music. Sally performs in a sustained movement
where none of her moves are to different from the first and this
means that the audience is able to connect with the dancer and
therefore understand what is going on. The energy in which she has
is strong, where she makes sure that everything she does has a lot
of energy and this means that the audience are able to connect with
what is happening. The actions used are stillness, and this is used
throughout the performance. She use gestures to show feelings.
Throughout the dance she uses her hands to show the gestures and
this is significant not only in the song Cabaret but also in the
rest of the show. The space which is used is high level. Sally does
not lower the level in which she moves as she wants to make sure
that she is keeping the audiences attention and that all eyes are
on her. Some of the actions in which she performs are small and
show that how she may be innocent, however then there is a contrast
and the actions in which she does are very big and this is getting
the attention toward herself, and this could be representing that
she may have a different and outrageous side to herself. The
relationship which Sally has is with the music and with the
movements in which she performs. She also has a relationship with
the audience as she is singing directly to them. This shows that
Sally has a relationship with the audience and with the music.
- Slide 10
- Home Choreography Task As part of learning cabaret, as a class,
we made our own form of Cabaret. We wanted to take the style of Bob
Fosse, however use the music in the film Burlesque. We decided that
we would use gestures as a motif which we wanted to develop and
change throughout the dance. The lighting used was dimmed and this
then gave a feel of the underground side of the Cabaret Scene in
the 1920s. We also decided that we would use chairs and have hats,
as this means that we were taking the idea of using props from the
film Cabaret, however, we were using them in our own way. As A
group we decided that we wanted to take ideas from Chicago as well
as Cabaret as Bob Fosse choreographer both and therefore meant that
the style of dance was the same, however we were looking outside
the box. We wanted to make the dance, seductive, feel good and show
the meaning of jazz through the movements in which we were
performing. Below is the link to watch the choreography. Whilst
watching this it is clear to see that there are many moves from
Chicago and the use of flex feet to show the style of Bob Fosse. We
also took from Cabaret the way in which Bob Fosse uses stillness to
show the audience a feel of the music and keep them entertained.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSMlPwwvxMo&list=UUxF2UT4Ax_7PfLvtA6rsfnw
Overall I enjoyed making up my own form of Cabaret, as it made me
understand what I needed to be like in order for the style of Jazz
and Cabaret to work and to look effective.
- Slide 11
- Home
- Slide 12
- Songs Willkommen -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzhihGDXfUghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzhihGDXfUg
Mein Herr -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chdpiSX2inohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chdpiSX2ino
Maybe This Time
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3rkLRJ0m0khttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3rkLRJ0m0k
Money, Money -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8P80A8vy9Ihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8P80A8vy9I
Two Ladies -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_zY0ZbE1Mwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_zY0ZbE1Mw
Sitting Pretty -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtAC5CGCzvghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtAC5CGCzvg
Tomorrow Belongs to Me -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29Mg6Gfh9Co
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29Mg6Gfh9Co Tillier Girls -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRTmvjXs1i0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRTmvjXs1i0
Heiraten -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZosqn3o1ZAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZosqn3o1ZA
If You Could See Her - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEhHeILa3HE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEhHeILa3HE Cabaret -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moOamKxW844https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moOamKxW844
Finale -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzBTqLy7gkYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzBTqLy7gkY
- Slide 13
- Home Character list The Emcee the Emcee of the Kit Kat Klub, a
leering, ghoulish, flamboyant Figure Sally Bowles the headlining
British singer at the Kit Kat Klub Clifford Cliff Bradshaw an
American writer travelling through Berlin Fraulein Schneider an
older woman who runs the boarding house that Cliff and Sally live
in Herr Schultz an elderly Jewish fruit shop owner who falls in
love with Fraulein Schneider Ernst Ludwig a German man who
befriends Cliff when he arrives in Berlin, later revealed to be a
Nazi Fraulein Kost a prostitute who rents in Fraulein Schneiders
boarding house Rosie, LuLu, Frenchie, Texas, Fritzie and Helga
girls who perform alongside Sally Bowles at the Kit Kat Klub Bobby,
Victor, Hans and Herman - the Cabaret boys of the Kit Kat Klub
(Bobby and Victor are twins) Nazi Youth a young boy involved in the
Nazi Party Sailors 1. and 2. Fraulein Kosts sailors Nazi Guard
Ernsts bodyguard at the Kit Kat Klub Max Owner of the Kit Kat
Klub
- Slide 14
- Home References Fandango, (2014). Cabaret (1972) Synopsis -
Plot Summary - Fandango. [online] Available at:
http://www.fandango.com/cabaret_104412/plotsummary [Accessed 13
Jul. 2014]. IMDb, (2014). Cabaret (1972) - Plot Summary. [online]
Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068327/plotsummary
[Accessed 13 Jul. 2014]. Wikipedia, (2014). Bertolt Brecht.
[online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertolt_Brecht
[Accessed 13 Jul. 2014]. Wikipedia, (2014). Jazz. [online]
Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz [Accessed 13 Jul.
2014] Google Images Strodes Moodle AQA GCSE Dance Nelson
Thornes
- Slide 15
- Home Jazz Jazz is a style of dance which used American music
which first came from the late 19 th century. It has elements of
Blue notes, improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation and the swung
note. This style of music moved around the world and many people
started to dance to it as it was a feel good piece of music. The
style of Jazz then took on different styles in which people started
to make an example of this would be Afro-Cuban Jazz. Jazz also took
on the style of improvisation, where people were able to listen to
the music and then decide the movements in which they were going to
dance. The Characteristics of Jazz are: Sharp movements Balance
Complimentary to the music Expressions Attitude Change of Dynamics
Confidence Syncopation
- Slide 16
- Home Bertolt Brecht Bertolt Brecht was born on the 10 th
February 14 th August 1956. Brecht was a poet, playwriter and
director in theatres. The writing in which Brecht does, is not
deliberately poetic and needs to be read carefully for a person to
be able to understand what is being said. The language in which he
uses makes people understand and feel him physically and
emotionally. Brecht is a part of Cabaret due to the fact that he
was part of the productions which occurred during the Weimar
Republic. He uses multi-rolling in productions as well as breaking
the fourth wall and the use of narration. All three of these things
are ways n which Brecht would get his idea across to the audience
and this is some of the ways in which Bob Fosse took when directing
and choreography the performance Cabaret. He wanted to make things
strange and this is something in which Bob Fosse took from Brecht
and made into Cabaret. Spass was used by Brecht which is to make
fun of and this stops the audience becoming to into the
performance. Brecht wanted to take the audience away from the
performance. Bob Fosse took that on board and placed it into
Cabaret, where he made sure that the audience were involved in the
performance however, were not too attached.
- Slide 17
- Home Definitions Physical Setting this is what is on the stage,
for example, props, costumes, set design, lighting and projection.
Aural Setting this is the music which comes with the performance,
an example of this would be silence, natural sounds, music and song
and found sounds. Dynamics this is how a movement is performed.
Action this is what a person does. Space this is the where a person
does the movement. Relationship this is who the person is with.
Idea this is the thought of the performance. Structure this is how
the performance is put together.
- Slide 18
- Home The structure of this song is telling a story to the
audience. Sally tells the story though the words in which she is
saying and this captures the audiences attention and makes them
understand the situation of what is happening in the song. Even
though the song is a story, I would say that it is ternary, as it
starts as it ends, and there is a bit in the middle which shows the
contrast. The whole show of Cabaret is Narrative, and this is
showing how the storyline unfolds throughout the show. You can see
all of the things commented on in the song below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moOamKxW8 44