Cabaret is a
musical with a book by
Joe Masteroff, lyrics by
Fred Ebb, and music by
John Kander. The 1966
Broadway production became a hit and spawned a
1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions.
It is based on
John Van Druten's 1951 play
I Am a Camera, which in turn was adapted from the novel
Goodbye to Berlin by
Christopher Isherwood. Set in 1931
Berlin as the
Nazis are rising to power, it focuses on nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub and revolves around the 19-year-old
English cabaret performer Sally Bowles and her relationship with young
American writer Cliff Bradshaw.