Source

Economic instability and social unrest following World War I gave way to a culture of escapism and decadence in Weimar Berlin. Though previously Berlin had not made much of a name for itself on the global stage, the Golden Twenties turned Berlin into the third largest city in the world, with a population of over 4 million. The 20s were a time of rich culture and sophisticated developments in art, architecture, music, fashion, and particularly film and live entertainment. Popular personas of the time included Marlene Dietrich and Lotte Lenya. The city became a haven for many writers and artists, thrill seekers who were drawn to the magnetic, taboo atmosphere— particularly of Berlin’s nightlife.

Many artists interacted and blended with the underground culture, nightlife and cabarets. Described in Voluptuous Panic: the Erotic World of Weimar Berlin as the “International sex-tourist Mecca of the Twenties and early Thirties,” Berlin was known for its sexual perversity and moral degeneracy. The nightlife scenes were famous for their erotic performances and abundance of cocaine and alcohol. As a result, many right-wing individuals viewed the culture of the time as socially disruptive and profane. One American writer of the time, Ben Hecht, described Berlin as the “prime breeding ground for evil.”

Despite the culture of decadence in the newly cosmopolitan Berlin, most of the population still faced poverty and unemployment in the aftermath of WWI. Prostitution rose as a means of survival for both women and men. In the 20s, this was normalized to a point where the German army granted approval to it soldiers to attend certain brothels, and even rationed coupon books for sexual services at establishments that had been inspected and cleared of sexually transmitted infections like syphilis and gonorrhea. Drug trafficking and the black market played a huge role in Berlin’s underground economy. Cocaine, heroin, and tranquilizers were easily accessible at the time.

Nightlife venues were abundant and diverse. They included girlculture venues, homosexual venues, lesbian venues, nudist venues, sex museums, transvestite venues, underworld venues, and Weimar Nazi venues.

Berlin Cabarets

Berlin Cabarets of the 1920’s were of a different variety than the ones that would later arise in the early 1930’s in response to the Depression, growing Nazi influence and social unrest. The twenties featured kick-lines of beautiful women who were shining with exuberance and personality: “Their faces were made up with an optimism that nipped all resistance to economic development in the bud, and the little cries of pleasure, issued in a precisely calculated rhythm, gave ever renewed praise to the splendors of existence in just such circumstances story ... exploiting with unflagging zeal the very boom they themselves were representing.” (Anton Kaes, Martin Jay, and Edward Dimendberg, The Weimar Republic Source Book)

After the Great Depression struck, the tone of Cabarets shifted significantly. Despite their well rehearsed smiles, performers began to represent deterioration and frenzy as opposed to blasé luxury: “Their smiles are those of a mark; their confidence a leftover from better days; their precision a mockery of the difficulties in which the very powers they call to mind now find themselves. Though they might continue to snake and wave as if nothing happened--the crisis to which so many factories have fallen victim has also silently liquidated this machinery of girls.” (ibid.) The dancers became more brash and provocative. Large theatres were censored by Nazis for content (both immoral and libelous), whereas nightclub stages and small cabarets maintained their erotic and subversive atmosphere and slid under the radar for a slightly longer period of time. (Lisa Appignanesi, The Cabaret)

Queer Culture

Berlin has a long and substantial history of queer culture. It was considered, from 1920s until the rise of the Nazi party, to be the gay capital of the European continent. Berlin’s status as a site of prominent cultural production was at odds with formal law; homosexuality was illegal in Germany from 1871 all the way until 1994 under the Strafgesetzbuch, or German penal code. The provision Paragraph 175 outlawed homosexual acts between men (as well as prostitution, bestiality, and underage sexual abuse). It was made more draconian during Hitler’s rein.

The burgeoning gay scene was the result of relatively tolerant policing policy that began in the late 19th century. Leopold von Meerscheidt-Hullessem, Berlin’s police commissioner in the 1880s, identified that the law was functionally unenforceable. The only way to convict someone was if they confessed, if it was a reported act of nonconsensual sexual violence, or if there was a witness who could testify in court. Rather than prioritize convictions, the police shifted their strategy to surveilling suspected individuals. The police tolerated a variety of gay public spaces—bars, cafés, and even gender non-conforming balls. Because Berliners were not penalized for frequenting these spaces a large and fairly open community emerged, one that did not exist in other European cities.

Gay culture in 1920s and early 1930s Berlin is most often, and fairly, associated with cabaret culture. A number of cabaret queens, both from Germany and abroad, were gay. One example is Claire Waldoff. Waldoff was not from Berlin, but moved there before World War I and earned a reputation as a review singer. She recorded the song “There’s Only One Berlin” in 1932, and it was banned by the Nazi Party in 1933 for its political content. However, it was so well known at the time that most people who lived in the city that year would have been familiar with it. Waldoff was a well-known lesbian; she lived with her partner, and owned a gay-lesbian salon. Although she socialized with many straight club owners and cabaret performers as well, her relationship with another woman was known and accepted.

The liberal attitudes in Berlin were partially the result of advocacy pioneered by Magnus Hirschfeld. Hirschfeld was a German physician who advocated for gay and transgender rights decades before the timeline of Cabaret, and his work and revolutionized German thought about homosexuality. The Wissenschaftlich-humanit?res Komitee, or WhK (“The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee”) was founded by Hirschfeld in 1897. The mission of the WhK was to advocate for the decriminalization and social recognition of gay and transgender people. At its height, the WhK had roughly 500 members and branches in 25 cities across three countries. Hirschfeld went on to found the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft (“Institute for Sexology”) in 1918 under the more liberal Weimar Republic. The institute advocated for widely available contraception, the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, women’s emancipation, and sex education. Hirschfeld coined the term “transsexualism”—while terminology has since evolved, it was an important beginning to the discussion of gender nonconformity and medical gender transition—and some of the institute staff were themselves transgender. The institute offered endocrinological and surgical services, including the first modern sexual reassignment surgeries. Hirschfeld also strongly advocated against the arrest of crossdressers, especially those involved in sex work. Documentation of much of Hirschfeld’s would be destroyed in Nazi book burnings, which included the Institute archives.

Outside of cabarets, there was also a sizeable gay literary culture. The 1920s and early 1930s, there were at least 25 different gay German periodicals. These publications were sold alongside other standard papers. They provided community news, listed events, and even listed personal advertisements.

Sally 最后選擇離開Bri應(yīng)該是因為發(fā)現(xiàn)自己無法理解Bri了吧。在野餐時，Sally發(fā)現(xiàn)Bri不愿意和她說自己在想什么，而且對話時心不在焉。Sally認為Bri不再愛她了。所以，她在解釋墮胎原因時，所說的擔心失去夢想，擔心生活的瑣碎會磨平激情，這些可能也的確是理由，但讓她真正下決心離開的，應(yīng)該是她最后那句沒有說出口的before：before you don't love me.

但我覺得Bri之所以有那樣的表現(xiàn)，是因為德國社會當時的情況已經(jīng)越來越嚴重，納粹已經(jīng)越來越聲勢浩大，因此他變得越來越憂慮，并不是因為不愛Sally。他還愛著Sally，因此才會在Sally墮胎之后那么生氣。

那，他們兩分開只是因為誤會嗎？如果兩個人溝通清楚，結(jié)局會不一樣嗎？

天真的人說：只要他倆明白彼此依然相愛，那就沒有任何問題了啊。

悲觀的人說：即便這樣，Sally其實毫不關(guān)心讓Bri憂慮不已的納粹問題，他們是不一樣的人。隨著時局動蕩，只想過好自己生活，很想成為一名演員的Sally，與極度厭惡法西斯和納粹，堅持原則的Bri，身處逐漸瘋狂的德國納粹狂潮之中，注定無法永遠幸福地生活在一起。

樂觀的人說：但只要他倆愛著彼此，那么這樣的不同也不會讓彼此分離，而是能夠不斷磨合堅持下去。這樣的亂世之中他們也能夠互相理解。而這種理解，這份感情，將成為支撐他們在亂世中生活下去的憑依，將成為亂世之中most beautiful，most marvelous, most extraordinary的東西。.

我不知道該討論納粹，還是討論愛情。

From 公眾號 Music Fans

但凡與風月場所扯上那么點關(guān)系的文藝作品，大多都離不開對當時社會某種意味深長的駁斥和批判。

《卡巴萊》便是這么一部將背景完全鋪陳在燈紅酒綠中的音樂劇。此劇英文名為Caberat，不止具有“歌廳”之意，還是一種融合音樂、舞蹈和表演的娛樂形式?？ò腿R這種演出是連續(xù)性的，通常在餐廳、酒館、夜總會等地上演，風格艷麗炫目，歡樂盛大。如劇名暗示的一樣，本劇中的許多曲目都是這種典型的卡巴萊風格，然而劇中講述的故事，卻映射著藏在這極致的歌舞升平之下，鋒利而冷酷的現(xiàn)實社會。

百老匯話劇《我是一個相機》（1951年）

《卡巴萊》改編自約翰?范?德魯頓1951年的話劇《我是一個相機》，由弗里德·埃布（Fred Ebb）作詞，約翰·坎德（John Kander）作曲，于1966年11月在紐約百老匯首演。

百老匯音樂劇《卡巴萊》1966年OBC海報

法西斯掌權(quán)前夜的柏林繁華開放又暗流涌動的社會現(xiàn)狀通過故事的推進層層展現(xiàn)在觀眾眼前：納粹在德國正初步興起，而柏林依舊沉浸在一片紙醉金迷之中。歌舞女郎莎莉?鮑爾斯與美國小說作家克利夫·布萊特肖的戀情是故事主線，而克里夫的房東施耐德小姐和她的追求者舒爾茨先生（一位賣水果的猶太老頭）之間注定要失敗的愛情則是另一條故事線索。

1998 Kennedy Center Honors表演：Wilkommen

Alan Cumming & Joel Grey as Emcee

（Joel Grey是1966年OBC和1972年電影版中Emcee扮演者）

而在身處其中，見證著所有悲歡離合的則是夜總會的主持“Emcee”。作為劇中男一，Emcee一直以一個旁觀者的視角孤立于整個故事之外，他不是故事敘述的主體，卻是用于體現(xiàn)全劇意旨中心的重要形象。他的曲目雖然看似都是Kit Kat Klub里的卡巴萊表演，并未嵌在故事之中，但卻與故事本身有著千絲萬縷的聯(lián)系：在開場曲“Willkommen”里，他竭力勸各方來客留下，用盡各種方式推銷：

“So- life is disappointing?

Forget it!

There're no troubles here!”

他將口中的Cabaret描繪成一個極樂至美的地方，煩惱灰飛煙滅，只有漂亮姑娘小伙香艷的肉體與肆意言歡的生活。可當困境作為常態(tài)，人們只能走進歌廳忘記煩惱時，社會危機已悄然出現(xiàn)。

2014年百老匯復(fù)排版中 Alan Cumming as Emcee

尺度極為大膽的“Two Ladies”中，Emcee反反復(fù)復(fù)強調(diào)“兩個女人”，但實際上二人只有一個是真正的女性——當時的柏林思想前衛(wèi)，盛行的同性戀風氣在官方的“第147條”的壓制下只能被迫掩于地下，表演中處處透露著的放蕩情欲才暗示著最真實的現(xiàn)狀；之后“Money”的荒誕演繹，揭露的是風行整個資本主義世界的拜金主義。

1998年百老匯復(fù)排版中Alan Cumming as Emcee

但如果說前面的曲目反映的問題都只是在20世紀30年代資本主義社會語境下的共同弊病， 那么“If You Could See Her”則直接指向了納粹種族主義的荒謬思想。Emcee牽著的大猩猩被暗喻成了劣等的猶太人，歌詞里反復(fù)強調(diào)的“假如你能用我的雙眼看她，你們將會改變對她的看法”正切合了前面房東與水果店老板由于種族原因終究走不到一起的悲劇結(jié)局;

作為將全劇推向情緒頂峰的“I Don't CareMuch”不只體現(xiàn)了Sally的絕望心境，并且也是絕大部分底層百姓在面臨納粹即將到來的大范圍侵襲時最深刻寫照：衣衫單薄、屋頂塌陷，岌岌可危的生活讓他們無暇顧及太多曾經(jīng)擁有的美好。此處驟變的曲風與Emcee換上的閃亮耳墜和禮服，更像是一種對舊日榮華的追悼。直至“Finale”中令人震驚的結(jié)局，Emcee這個角色給我們呈現(xiàn)的，超脫了故事本身的維度，但在眾多歌曲的演繹中，Emcee這個本應(yīng)獨立于故事的個體，個人特性也在不斷展現(xiàn)，最后甚至變成了本劇中，最具有象征性的存在。

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“I Don't Care Much” by Alan Cumming（1993倫敦復(fù)排版）

Jane Horrocks as Sally，Adam Godley as Cliff

這樣的劇作設(shè)計，可以說是相當驚艷，而Alan Cumming無疑是能將這個角色詮釋得最生動的演員之一：他是1993年倫敦復(fù)排版和1998年百老匯復(fù)排版中的Emcee, 15年后，又參與了2014年百老匯復(fù)排版的演出。外媒有評論他的Emcee“既風騷又咄咄逼人，讓人難以想象他是如何把這兩種特質(zhì)完美糅合的”。而15年后，他所呈現(xiàn)的Emcee是一個似乎更加輕佻又更加絕望的角色，以至于最后一幕皮衣褪下只剩囚服時，Cumming臉上的笑容都寫著歇斯底里的癲狂。

相較之下，女一號Sally Bowles,作為故事的主要參與者，體現(xiàn)的更多的則是私人化的情感表達。風云際會，大時代下的小人物雖被裹挾在歷史潮流中但仍心懷夢想，歌舞女郎與旅德小說家相愛但最后又以其重返歌廳作為結(jié)束。

2014年百老匯復(fù)排版中由Emma Stone飾演Sally

Sally Bowles的悲劇來源于她不斷的逃避，而歌廳始終被她當作一個庇護所，當面臨她長期難以承受的壓力，無論是來自家庭的亦或是社會的，她自然而然地轉(zhuǎn)向自己習慣的環(huán)境，繼續(xù)活在自己的幻夢中。她并不是天真愚蠢的金發(fā)嬌娃，所有的傷痛和苦難無力傾吐，只能被化作一句故作輕松的“Life is a cabarat”——對于當時的底層民眾來說，也許這是唯一慰藉自己的方法。而Cliff和Sally之間難以逾越的階層與觀念差異決定了他們之間命運走向的全然不同。就像Sally說的：

"Isn't it funny -It always ends this way?

Even when I do finally love someone quite terriblyfor the first time,

butit'sstillnot quiteenough."

2014年百老匯復(fù)排版劇照Emma Stone（as Sally）& Bill Heck （as Cliff）

其實細想，Cliff和Sally的愛情，更像是一場短暫的幻夢，美好但注定要分崩離析，Cliff先從夢中驚醒，但Sally依舊沉睡其中佯裝不醒，所有與歌廳締結(jié)關(guān)系的一切，都是黑暗到來前最后一絲頑強的抵抗。

這段故事如果反應(yīng)的是末日狂歡，那么另一條故事線中，房東和水果店老板的際遇才是真真實實的納粹陰云下愛情的悲慘寫照：兩人興趣相投，心意相通，連一個菠蘿都能燃起愛的火花，婚約都訂下最后也只能被硬生生毀掉。在這個故事里，雙方人物性格極其相似，隱忍、謹慎，小心翼翼，就連對唱也帶著一種克制的情緒，與Cliff和Sally形成了鮮明的對比，平凡卻更加真實，更加壓抑。

2014年百老匯復(fù)排版劇照Linda Emond & Danny Burstein

如此一來，《卡巴萊》實際上是個深刻的悲劇，“起起落落落落落落”恐怕是個貼切的形容詞，每次看都令人心尖一顫。但好在其中還有絕妙的諷刺和香艷的歌舞段落，揪心的情緒能稍微地被緩解。同樣是黑色吊帶襪蕾絲短裙，Sally Bowles呈現(xiàn)出的放蕩的純真和芝加哥里的Roxie竟莫名地有些相似。而Sally顯然擁有除了美艷外更多的特質(zhì)：1973年電影版中LisaMinnelli賦予她黑貓一樣的詭黠又繾綣，而石頭姐用標志性的大白牙咧嘴笑突出了她小獸一樣的懵懂和放肆。

1973年電影版莎莉·鮑爾斯的扮演者Liza Minnelli

Sally是令人心碎的，歌廳自身卻是縱情享樂的桃色場所。2014年復(fù)排版里樂隊自成一景，大大的粉紅霓虹燈框成方形掛在舞臺上方，營造出迷幻的氛圍。Emcee小哥煙熏紅唇一樣不落，雙馬尾的小姑娘眼神誘惑，場上場下都很曖昧。而這種曖昧感，即使是在劇情急轉(zhuǎn)直下的時候，還沒有消失，只是漸漸變得壓抑又悲涼，最后Emcee斬釘截鐵地說：“We have no troubles here!”隨后帶著紅袖章的納粹們走上舞臺，黑壓壓的Cabaratdancers站在后面。歌廳的宏大夢幻，在這一刻土崩瓦解。

人們在末日來到之前紙醉金迷的狂歡心態(tài)，再回頭想想似乎也不無道理：人生就是一場秀。時代早晚都要終結(jié)，沒有能力反抗的我們，為什么不先享受一番呢?但這一切終究有些不對勁?？蓳Q個角度來看，這個故事本身試圖拋出的可能并不是特定的價值觀，而是某個值得深思的哲學命題吧。

1.男孩高歌那一場戲簡直絕了，鏡頭運用出神入化，從男孩的頭部開始下移，納粹的標識赫然揭露，接著橫移展示在場的觀眾，伴隨著從清揚的歌聲到令人毛骨悚然的納粹激昂高歌的轉(zhuǎn)變，在場的觀眾開始狂熱。

2.歌廳鏈接起來的兩條線并進，并利用舞臺的歌舞表演恰如其分的表達。

3.故事以德國納粹像癌細胞一樣開始擴散的背景。

費利茲與蘭道爾的戲劇化的愛情線。

“all is equal fire… equal passion in me.”

“I did think it was the money，at first.But not now.Now I know you love me.I know you are an honest man who would never lie to me.”

“I’m a jaw.”

…

“I’m a jaw.”

布萊恩與莎莉糾纏不清的愛與距離.

香煙，偉大的墮落套路；地鐵下的尖叫；薩莉?qū)Σ粸樗鶆拥牟既R恩的誘惑，得知布萊恩三次與女人的不愉快經(jīng)驗；薩莉因父親簡短的信不愉快后的脆弱。

“The poor man，he tries to love mePerhaps he even thinks he does… but the real truth is that he just does’s care.”

“Maybe I am just nothing.Nothing.”

三人的游戲?qū)嶋H上只是一個人的游戲。

薩莉了解她自己嗎？

一個詭異的想象畫面極好的回答了這個問題。

她選擇了不讓baby出生。因為… 她不會真的為愛所犧牲。她想象不到。

To me and the baby… 那兒其實就已經(jīng)預(yù)示了布萊恩與薩莉的結(jié)局。

納粹隱線的暗涌，歌舞片已不再是才子佳人式的浪漫童話。

它一定是一部偉大的作品。