Queer Stars Adam Lambert and Auli‘i Cravalho to Step Into Cabaret on Broadway
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Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome!
Two beloved queer singers have been announced as the latest to join the Cabaret revival on Broadway, entitled Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club.
American Idol alum Adam Lambert and Moana star Auli‘i Cravalho will make their Broadway debuts in the roles of the Emcee and Sally Bowles, respectively, on September 16, according to Playbill. They will replace Tony-nominated performers Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin, who opened the show but will be leaving as of September 14. Lambert and Cravalho will lead the cast, which includes Tony winner Bebe Neuwirth and out queer Tony nominee Ato-Blankson Wood, who previously starred in Jeremy O. Harris’ Slave Play.
Aside from being the runner-up on season 8 of American Idol, Lambert has released five studio albums and, earlier this year, gifted his fans with an explicit club-inspired EP called Afters. He also tours with the remaining members of Queen, appearing as Queen + Adam Lambert to provide vocals for the bands’ catalog of hits. In 2023, Lambert starred in Fairyland, a movie based on Alysia Abbot’s memoir about caring for a parent with AIDS.
“With this production of Cabaret, it finally felt like the right time to accept an invitation to make my debut,” Lambert said in a statement to Playbill. “The themes of this show have always resonated with me and given the current sociopolitical climate the world is in, feel eerily timely.”
Cravalho is best known as the voice of Moana in the hit Disney animated film Moana, though she also appeared earlier this year in the film version of the musical Mean Girls as Cady Heron’s new friend Janis ‘Imi‘ike.
The singer talks to *Them* about his explicit club-inspired EP *Afters*.
“I’m thrilled to join the long line of talented women who have taken on the iconic ‘Sally Bowles’ most recently, the woman I watched with notebook and pen in hand, the dynamite Gayle Rankin,” Cravalho told Playbill. “To join a show with so much history — and such a stellar cast and crew — means it’s quite literally an honor to get my butt kicked each week. Mahalo palena ‘ole family, I wouldn’t be making this debut without you.”
Though Redmayne originated the role in the revival, casting for the Emcee has featured some out queer representation as well, including Marty Lauter, known more popularly to RuPaul’s Drag Race fans as season 15 contestant Marcia Marcia Marcia.
Cabaret is based on the book Goodbye to Berlin by gay novelist Christopher Isherwood. It follows writer Clifford Bradshaw as he arrives in Weimar-Era Berlin and becomes entrenched in its nightlife scene, meeting performer Sally Bowles as the Nazis rise to power.
If you want to see Lambert and Cravalho’s Broadway debuts, you can buy tickets here.
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