Sir Samuel Alexander Mendes CBE (born 1 August 1965) is an English film and stage director, producer and screenwriter. In theatre, he is known for his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret (1994), Oliver! (1994), Company (1995), and Gypsy (2003). He directed an original West End stage musical for the first time with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2013).
For directing the play The Ferryman, Mendes was awarded the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play in 2019.
‘Cabaret’ Is As Eerily Prescient And Important As Ever
metroweekly.comCabaret is back on Broadway with unbridled decadence and immersive glory. Certain musicals are constructed so well that, even if they are cast with mediocre performances or if the production value is low, they still hold.Cabaret stands as one of the indestructible.This might explain why the original sixties production has been revived and reinvented so many times on both sides of the Atlantic.
Those lucky enough to see it will likely recall Sam Mendes’ stunning revival, first premiering at London’s Donmar Warehouse in 1993 and later transferring in 1998 to the New York City landmark which was once the home of Studio 54.
Both starred Alan Cumming.Cumming gave an unforgettable, Tony Award-winning performance as the Master of Ceremonies in a run-down Berlin nightclub before fascism would infiltrate Germany.
He would reprise the role in 2014 in yet another Mendes’ helmed revival which, though still fantastic, was essentially the same as his earlier production.The new Broadway production is also a London transfer.
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