We Have No Troubles Here! How Viral Clips of a Ukrainian Rendition of the Musical Cabaret Made People Forget The War
The wildly popular musical Cabaret has seen multiple different renditions through the decades. Creatives across the globe have left their mark and wowed us through different interpretations of the production. Most famously, the 1972 Bob Fosse film with EGOT star Liza Minelli, or the 90‘s Broadway version with Alan Cumming, that bagged several Tonys. More recently, thanks to audience footage of clips from the show going viral on TikTok, a Ukrainian stage version of the musical has been catapulted into popularity. But has the frenzy and obsession of the Ukrainian show caused the message of the musical to be lost on fans?
Like modern day Ukraine, Cabaret is set during a very politically challenging and threatening time. Based in Weimar Germany’s Berlin in 1931, Cabaret explores themes of inflation, antisemitism, and the rise of Nazi rule. Within the 1972 film, we first see this control of the Nazis when a uniformed member is kicked out of the ‘KitKat’ Club, where all the glamorous musical numbers take place. The consequences of this are that the KitKat employee who ejected the Nazi is brutally attacked by other Nazis. The terror inflicted by the Nazis continues throughout the film through worried conversations about their rise in power and the vicious assault on Brian, Liza Minelli’s love interest. Brian is left with a black eye and broken arm after attempting to challenge the right-wing regime. Antisemitism at the hands of the Nazis is also explored further in stage versions through the characters Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz, who demonstrate the complexities of marrying a Jewish person, whilst Nazi dominance is rising.
However, despite this civil unrest, when in the KitKat Club, these horrors are assured to be washed away. The audience is told that all their troubles are to be left at the door and all they have to do, in this moment, is enjoy the show. Although there is a promise of entertainment and escapism, during the film, an unnerving atmosphere cannot be shaken as we learn more and more about the reality of life in Weimar Germany. This promise of escapism slowly fades and the cracks of fascism start to show.
As it is apparent to us now, citizens of Ukraine have had their own atrocities to face after the Russian invasion and attack led by Vladimir Putin on 24th February 2022. Since then, countless lives have been lost, whilst other citizens displaced and made refugees. However, not all left. Some Ukrainians remained, including performers of the Molodyy Theatre, located in Kyiv.
The Molodyy Theatre production of Cabaret has reached a new online popularity after members of the audience posted to TikTok several different clips of the show. Viewers were in awe of the extravagantly camp costume and makeup and the performance of one cast member in particular, Ilya Choporov, in the role of The Emcee . These new fans of the Ukrainian rendition were hungry for more. But had the message of the show completely gone over their heads?
Within the Fosse film, despite members of the crowd being encouraged to forget about what is happening outside the doors of the KitKat Club and enjoy the performance on stage, it does not stop the Nazi party being continuingly mocked through various musical numbers. In one scene in particular, Joel Grey who plays the Master of Ceremonies, or known in other versions as The Emcee, imitates Hitler by drawing on an identical moustache and dancing foolishly across the stage.
The themes of political unrest are not to be forgotten when watching these clips of the Molodyy Theatre performance of Cabaret. Actually, connecting the similarities between Weimar Germany and modern-day Ukraine makes the viewing experience even more remarkable, giving you more to ponder.
However, either through lack of knowledge of the history of the much-loved musical, general ignorance, or a language barrier, many TikTok fans seemed to, on the face of it, not understand the ideologies of Cabaret. Seeing just snippets of the show did not stop obsessed viewers from becoming new fans of the production. This new wave of excitement led to some fans stating how they would love to travel to Kyiv to see the performance live, seemingly forgetting that its country was home to a war zone. They well and truly did forget what was happening outside of the club.
The irony was loud and clear. The glitz and glamour of the show had allowed people to forget about the troubles in Ukraine. A handful of TikTok users were distracted entirely from the show’s message and instead paid more attention to Choporov’s good looks, some even making ‘thirst trap’ edits of the artist.
Cleverly, whichever version of the show you see, what Cabaret does best is lure in the audience with charm and this promise of escapism. Once we are hooked by the seduction of the incredible dancing, flashy costumes, and outlandish performances, we are hit with the heavy message of the political controversies of life in Germany in 1931. In each version, The Emcee has always talentedly had control over the audience, treating them like a puppet, forcing them to clap when told and laugh when commanded. Famously in the Broadway version with Alan Cumming, in which he won a Tony for his captivating performance, he, as The Emcee, plays the audience like a violin. During the song ‘If You Could See Her’ he comedically sings and dances alongside a large gorilla in a dress. His confession of love for the animal has the audience in hysterics, and Cumming encourages this laughter. This chortling continues until the end of the song when it is revealed that the monkey in which he is singing about is actually a Jewish person, demonstrating the dehumanisation of Jewish people. The musical number symbolises how easy it was for Hitler and his party to convince the public into thinking that way. This manipulation and control over the audience symbolises the manipulation and control of the Nazis. So, is TikTok being manipulated and purposely distracted by Choporov’s magnetism or are they simply missing the point entirely?
The struggles faced by the Jewish people are consistently ignored by several characters within the stage production, as it is viewed as a problem that does not concern them. Are these new TikTok fans of the Molodyy Theatre production complicit in turning their heads away from the war in Ukraine?
Some TikTok users noticed this irony and began leaving donation links to charities aiding those affected by the war within the comment sections. Whilst some users expressed their wishes for the production to go on a world tour so that they can see the show in person, others reminded users that if the war in Ukraine does not end, there could be no tour.
Paradoxically, a musical about the desire to escape the realities of a politically and socially debilitating era of the past had people blindly forgetting the political troubles of the present.
Written by Natasha Fieldsend
Natasha is an aspiring screenwriter and Film and Television graduate. She currently works at the theatre and in her free time when she is not writing, Natasha enjoys attending live gigs, walking her dogs and swimming.
