Gayle Rankin making her Broadway debut as Fraulein Kost in the 2014 Broadway revival of "Cabaret." Rankin is now starring as Sally Bowles in the 2024 Broadway revival of "Cabaret."
I saw her with Eddie Redmayne in NYC for Cabaret. Her Sally is raw, sad, desperate, angry, and defiant, and in short, you couldn’t look away and you also couldn’t look directly at her because her presence was so powerful.
I loved her in this role, can’t wait to see what she brings to Sally Bowles. Especially excited to see how well she works in the immersive atmosphere. Aurora, if you happen to have a clip Jessie Buckley performing the title number “cabaret” I would love to see it. I think Jessie was just sublime as Sally when she did her run in London.
She's going to be a great Sally, I never understood why Peg Murray won the Tony instead of Lotte Lenya in the original Broadway run because this isn't on the cast recording. But for a character that is only on stage for a small time you get the chance to show off with that Reprise. The casual revelation of Herr Schultz's Jewish identity becomes a significant turning point in Act 2.
Lotte Lenya was not competing with Peg Murray. Lenya was nominated as leading actress, up against the great Barbara Harris and Mary Martin. Murray was up for featured actress.
At least Peg Murray got to feel what it was like on both sides when she later played fraulein Schneider later in the play’s run and then in the revival.
