Auli'i Cravalho and Adam Lambert Will Be Cabaret’s New Sally Bowles and Emcee

Auliʻi Cravalho and Adam Lambert will be the new Sally Bowles and Emcee in the Broadway revival of Cabaret. They take over the roles originated by Gayle Rankin and Eddie Redmayne, beginning performances at the August Wilson Theatre on September 16 and playing a limited engagement through March 30, 2025. Rankin and Redmayne, both of whom earned 2024 Tony nominations, will play their final performance on September 14. Casting for the roles of Sally Bowles and Emcee after March 30 will be announced in the new year.

Making her Broadway debut in Cabaret, Cravalho voiced the title character in Disney’s Moana and the upcoming sequel. She also appeared in NBC’s Rise, Netflix’s All Together Now and the film adaptation of the Mean Girls musical. Lambert, also making his Broadway debut, performed in the ensemble and understudied the role of Fiyero in the Los Angeles and national tour productions of Wicked, before rising to stardom as a runner-up on the eighth season of American Idol. He has fronted the rock band Queen since 2012.

"Growing up on the musical theater stage, it was always a childhood dream to perform on Broadway," said Lambert in a statement. "With this production of Cabaret, it finally felt like the right time to accept an invitation to make my debut. The themes of this show have always resonated with me and given the current sociopolitical climate the world is in, feel eerily timely. Eddie and Gayle have been a dream pairing and I’m looking forward to working with Auli’i to create our own magic. It is thrilling to be able to sink my teeth into this important story and collaborate with the rest of the talented artists in the cast and crew."

Cravalho commented, “I’m thrilled to join the long line of talented women who have taken on the iconic Sally Bowles; most recently, the woman I watched with notebook and pen in hand, the dynamite Gayle Rankin. To join a show with so much history–and such a stellar cast and crew–means it’s quite literally an honor to get my butt kicked each week. Mahalo palena ʻole family, I wouldn’t be making this debut without you.”

Lambert and Cravalho, who will perform seven shows a week throughout their runs, join a cast that features Ato Blankson-Wood as Cliff, Bebe Neuwirth as Fraulein Schneider, Steven Skybell as Herr Schultz, Natascia Diaz as Fraulein Kost/Fritzie and Henry Gottfried as Ernst Ludwig.

With a score by John Kander and Fred Ebb and a book by Joe Masteroff, Cabaret is based on the play by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood. It features the songs "Willkommen," "Don’t Tell Mama," "Mein Herr," "Maybe This Time," "Money" and the iconic title number. For this production, guests are invited to explore the Kit Kat Club and meet its seductive denizens before curtain time.

The production is directed by Rebecca Frecknall, while scenic and costume designer Tom Scutt oversaw the August Wilson's transformation into the Kit Kat Club, earning a Tony for his efforts. The production, which collected a total of nine 2024 Tony nominations including Best Revival of a Musical, also features choreography by Julia Cheng, lighting design by Isabella Byrd, sound design by Nick Lidster and music supervision by Jennifer Whyte. Angus MacRae composed the original music for the Prologue.