Emma Stone to replace Michelle Williams in Cabaret

It has now been confirmed that Hollywood star Emma Stone will make her Broadway debut and take over the role of Sally Bowles from Michelle Williams in The Roundabout's revival of Kander & Ebb's Cabaret for a limited engagement from 11 November 2014 to 1 February 2015. Furthermore, the musical has also extended its run and is now booking to 29 March 2015. The production officially opened at Studio 54 on 24 Apr 2014, following previews from 21 Mar 2014.

Emma Stone had originally been tapped to open the revival of Cabaret, but, due to scheduling conflicts, was unable to commit. She is a Golden Globe nominee and widely known for her film work, including the role of Gwen Stacey in 'The Amazing Spider-Man' franchise. Her other film credits include 'Magic in the Moonlight', 'The Croods', 'Gangster Squad', 'Easy A', 'The Help', 'Friends with Benefits', 'Paperman', 'Marmaduke', 'Zombieland', 'Ghosts of Girlfriends Past', 'The House Bunny', 'The Rocker', and 'Superbad'.

The current cast of Cabaret includes Michelle Williams (Sally Bowles), who stars opposite Alan Cumming, who is reviving his Tony Award-winning performance as the Emcee. They are joined by Linda Emond as Fraulein Schneider, Danny Burstein as Herr Schultz, Bill Heck as Cliff, Aaron Krohn as Ernst and Gayle Rankin as Fraulein Kost.

Cabaret features a book by Joe Masteroff, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. It is based on the play by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood. The musical tells the story of Sally Bowles a female entertainer at the Kit Kat Klub in Weimar Republic era Berlin, who romances two men while the Nazi Party rises to power around them.

The revival is based on the 1998 revival and features direction by Sam Mendes and choreography by Rob Ashford. Studio 54 is transformed into the Kit Kat Klub with Cabaret-type seating as well as traditional theatre seating, to recreate the decadent environment of the notorious pre-war Berlin Nightclub. The original design team also returned for the 2014 production featuring set and club design by Robert Brill, costume design by William Ivey Long, lighting design by Peggy Eisenhauer and Mike Baldassari and sound design by Brian Ronan. Patrick Vaccariello is the Musical Director.

Cabaret's score includes the classic songs "Willkommen," "Maybe This Time" and "Cabaret." John Kander and Fred Ebb are two of the most successful and prolific collaborators in the American Theatre and are currently represented on Broadway with the award-winning revival of 'Chicago.'

The Roundabout's production of Cabaret opened on Broadway on 19 Mar 1998 starring Alan Cumming and Natasha Richardson and won four Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Musical. Alan Cumming received the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall received Tony nominations for direction and Rob Marshall received a Tony nomination for choreography. The production went on to play for six years and 2, 378 performances before finishing its run on January 4, 2004.

The original production of Cabaret premiered on Broadway in 1966 and won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, in addition to the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, the Outer Critics' Cricle Award, the Variety Poll of New York Critics, and London's Evening Standard Award. The original Broadway production played 1166 performances.

- by Tom Millward