Two veteran performers are set to join the upcoming revival of Kander & Ebb’s “Cabaret.” Tony Award winner Bebe Neuwirth and Obie Award winner Steven Skybell will take on the roles of Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz, respectively, in the new staging set to arrive on Broadway in 2024. The previously announced production, directed by Rebecca Frecknall, will begin previews on April 1 and open on April 21 at the August Wilson Theatre.
Neuwirth won Tonys for her turns as Nickie in the 1986 revival of “Sweet Charity” and Velma Kelly in the 1996 (and still currently running) revival of Kander & Ebb’s “Chicago.” Neuwirth’s other Broadway credits include “A Chorus Line,” “Dancin’,” “Little Me,” “Damn Yankees,” “Fosse” and “The Addams Family.” She won a pair of Emmy Awards for her turn as Lilith Sternin on television’s “Cheers.”
Skybell won an Obie Award and earned a Drama Desk Award nomination for his turn as Tevye in Off-Broadway’s 2018 Yiddish-language revival of “Fiddler on the Roof.” Prior to that production, Skybell was seen as Lazar Wolf in the 2015 Broadway staging of “Fiddler.” His other Broadway appearances have been in “Ah! Wilderness!,” “Café Crown,” “Love! Valour! Compassion!,” “The Full Monty,” “Wicked” and “Pal Joey.”
Neuwirth and Skybell will appear alongside previously reported “Cabaret” cast members Eddie Redmayne as the Emcee, Gayle Rankin as Sally Bowles and Ato Blankson-Wood as Cliff. Further casting, by the Telsey Office, will be announced.
As previously announced, this mounting of “Cabaret” will feature a remodel of the August Wilson Theatre into the Kit Kat Club, the 1929 Berlin nightclub within the musical, with an in-the-round playing space, as was the case with Frecknall’s 2022 Olivier Award-winning mounting in London.
“I’m completely thrilled to be a part of this beautiful production, and to help tell this fascinating tale through the sublime score of John Kander and Fred Ebb,” said Neuwirth in a statement.
“In these times of increased antisemitism, I am proud and privileged to play the Jewish role of Herr Schultz in ‘Cabaret,’” added Skybell. “It’s important to tell stories like ‘Cabaret,’ which is, of course, massively entertaining, but also sheds a light on this moment in history, when fascism and intolerance nearly overcame the Jewish people and the world at large.”
“Cabaret” is being produced by Ambassador Theatre Group Productions, Underbelly, Gavin Kalin Productions, Hunter Arnold, Smith & Brant Theatricals and Wessex Grove.
