Episode Details

In this new episode of “THEATER: All the Moving Parts,” host Patrick Pacheco explores two standouts in a packed Broadway season:  The acclaimed new musical,  “Water for Elephants” and the latest revival of “Cabaret,” a British import. In the first part, writer Rick Elice, director Jessica Stone, and songwriter Dan Weschler of PigPen Theatre Co., discuss how they adapted for the stage Sara Gruen’s best-selling novel about a turbulent romance set amidst a Depression-era circus. Then a panel of theater experts trace the history of Sally Bowles, the flamboyant and divinely decadent anti-heroine of the musical classic “Cabaret,” from her birth in a 1937 short story to an enduring stage legacy built on acclaimed revivals and an ever-revolving roster of stars, including Joel Grey, Natasha Richardson, Alan Cumming, Michelle Williams, Emma Stone and now Eddie Redmayne. Ruthie Fierberg, Executive Editor of “Broadway News”, Juan Ramirez, Chief Critic of “Theatrely” and Eric Ulloa, actor/writer join us for this discussion.
 
Says Pacheco, “The creative team of 'Water for Elephants’ impressively managed to seamlessly fuse circus arts with a compelling romantic narrative, one that includes a moving train, an animal stampede, soaring aerialists, and a full-sized scene-stealing elephant called Rosie. No less of a daunting task is to reinvent ‘Cabaret,’ a musical made into a classic through ground-breaking productions from 1966 to present day. What has made Sally Bowles such an enduring character? As one panelist says, “She embodies the idea of someone who just wants to be loved, but can't quite get to the point of loving herself.” 

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