Cabaret Star Gayle Rankin Has Heard All Your Sally Bowles Takes

Andrew Arthur

Iconic seems too small a word to describe Cabaret, but the musical has always defied description and refused to fit into any box—which is precisely why it has endured since its Broadway debut in 1966. Over the years it’s earned a film adaptation, productions on London’s West End, international stagings, 12 Tony awards, and now, its fifth Broadway revival.

When Cabaret debuted at the Kit Kat Club at the August Wilson Theater in April, it opened to Hamilton-esque hysteria. Yes, it was a hot ticket for the show’s devoted cult-following, but it also conjured the rare buzz that reaches beyond theater fans. The show, which scored the most Tony nominations for a revival this year, has been the most in-demand and expensive ticket on Broadway.

One of Cabaret’s nine Tony nominations has been bestowed upon actor Gayle Rankin, who stars as the English chanteuse Sally Bowles. We are first introduced to Sally at the Kit Kat Club by the Master of Ceremonies or Emcee (played by Eddie Redmayne), who calls her the Toast of Mayfair. She launches into the number “Don’t Tell Mama” dressed like a baby in a ruffled skirt, puffy sleeves, and bonnet. It’s a fitting outfit for a song in which Sally shares that her mother believes she’s joined the convent. There’s arguably no better character introduction in all of theater.

Throughout the show, Rankin’s Sally is rollicking and vulnerable, funny and heartbreaking. It’s the level of acting demanded by a show like Cabaret, which offers a searing look into 1930s Berlin on the cusp of political upheaval from the Third Reich. The gravity of the storyline is juxtaposed against the decadent setting of the Kit Kat Club. As the club’s hedonist ring leader, Sally believes the party will never end, even when confronted with the rise of the Nazi regime. When she meets and falls in love with American writer Clifford Bradshaw, they are torn apart by their differing interpretations of reality.

Starring in a show of this caliber can be daunting, but this isn’t Rankin’s first Cabaret rodeo. Ten years ago the actor made her Broadway debut in the show’s 2014 revival as Fräulein Kost, a prostitute who lives in Clifford’s boarding house. Rankin recognizes the full-circle moment.

“It’s such a privilege to get to have a piece of art that is a mirror,” she tells me over the phone. “It’s such a mirror to our culture and our times, which is so deeply bittersweet, complicated, and necessary. But also inside of my own life, to be able to see the growth that I’ve made as a performer, as a woman, as a citizen, it’s really a privilege and emotional for me.”

It’s the week before Tony Award voting closes, and Rankin is understandably very busy. She is on vocal rest but has found a couple minutes to hop on the phone with me during her car ride. When I ask if she’s heading to a cool Tony’s event, she laughs.

“Oh, absolutely not. I’m going to the ENT to get my vocal cords looked at. That’s my life!”

Ahead, Gayle Rankin opens up about taking on the role of Sally Bowles, the discourse around her singing voice, drunken audience shenanigans, and the sisterhood among this year’s Tony Award nominees.

Glamour: You made your Broadway debut in 2014 with Cabaret as Fräulein Kost, and 10 years later you’re starring in the revival as Sally Bowles. From a character standpoint, how has it differed?

Gayle Rankin: Well, what’s been wonderful is that its a completely different experience. I was slightly trepidatious about working in the same material, that I would have a lot of baggage with it, but Sally’s just truly her own beast. It’s such an intimate relationship with all the actors that play her because I think she holds a lot of mystery or opportunity to imbue your own history, and backstory, and what you have to say inside of her. That was an amazing opportunity and gave me a lot to work with.

Did playing Sally make you realize things about Fräulein Kost that you hadn’t noticed before, or vice versa?

Natascia Diaz is so wonderful and so perfect as the version of Fräulein Kost that we have, but it definitely makes me think about my version. I was a young woman. I was 24 when I played her, which is unusual because that part is written for a woman who’s a little bit older than 24, certainly. So I was a bit confused with why I was playing her. Me and director Sam Mendes really had to figure out what the take on this part was for me to be playing this young woman who was in really a desperate situation, which is really heartbreaking.

When you prepare for a role like Sally, which is obviously so iconic and beloved, how much do you look to the past and other iterations? Or do you put the blinders on?

It’s a bit of both, to be honest. I actually decided not to see the production in London, and it was with sadness, because I really wanted to see so many of those women play Sally. Jessie Buckley, and Rebecca Lucy Taylor, and Aimee Lou Wood, and Cara Delevingne. I got to see up close Michelle Williams and Emma Stone play her. Part of them is inside of my DNA already, so I wanted to create a bit of a barrier. And also, I am so familiar with Liza Minnelli’s performance of Sally. I’m standing on all of their shoulders, so there was a part of it that was unavoidable. They were going to be in sight of and in conversation with what I was doing, so it was a bit of a dance that I was playing.

One of Sally’s bigger moments in the show is when she performs “Cabaret.” You talked about staying true to the character but also putting your own mark on it, and I do feel like it was very distinctly your own performance. How did you approach that scene?

Thank you, first of all. I feel like that’s a wonderful compliment. It’s how I really want to approach my work. It is really personal to me, whilst also being something that I’m actually building and is not me, but it’s certainly my take. And that can only come from me sharing something that’s quite personal. That is true. I decided very early on that this song and performance had to be as free and open and honest as I could possibly make it. I had so much support and help doing that.

Rebecca Frecknall is the first female director of Cabaret, and she’s a behemoth. She’s just a mad, wild talent who really rebuilt this together and made space for me to build my version of “Cabaret.” What’s so special about my Sally’s journey is, at that point in the show, a lot of people see Sally as someone who is broken or has some break down. I actually see it as a breakthrough. It was really important to me to share that as much as I could. And whether or not that reaches people, I don’t know. That’s not my job to decide that. But that was the intention, for sure.

Now that you mention it, it did feel like a pivotal moment for her. It was almost a moment of self-discovery and acceptance.

Yeah, and a catharsis. She’s a phoenix. Whether people want to agree or not, that’s the truth. She makes some really difficult, complicated decisions and is a complicated, flawed human being, but brave. Brave and good.

There’s this sentiment among Cabaret fans that Sally is not supposed to be a strong singer. Is there a degree of pulling back or altering your vocal abilities when you perform that song?

I don’t know if I agree, because there’s literally nowhere in the text that says that she isn’t a good singer. It’s this interesting thing that people and history have created about her, which I find to be totally fascinating. And look, I am not the best vocalist in the world, but I’m a trained voice. But the voice just wasn’t something I could fixate on. It always comes from acting for me. My Sally is certainly more of an artist than she is a singer. She’s way more of a performance artist. She’s a creative, so the voice was just something that was secondary. Maybe that’s why people assume she’s not a good singer. It’s like, What’s a good singer? It’s so much about opinion and subjectivity, which is so much of what Sally is too and what she represents in our culture

Do you ever worry that people who are unfamiliar with the show might think you're not a strong singer?

No, I don’t care. Of course, that thought has crossed my mind, but there’s so much about this that I can’t worry about it. I am really appreciative of this conversation, actually, because there’s so much dialogue about what’s good, and what’s not good, and what’s musical theater, and what’s not musical theater, and what Cabaret is supposed to be, or what Sally’s supposed to be, or not supposed to be. It’s just fascinating. People feel like they have ownership over that.

It certainly asked me to grow thick skin or a different layer of skin. But I don’t have thick skin. I just don’t and I don’t tend to create it, because it’s not who I am as an artist or as a person. It’s vulnerable, but I am willing to do that for my work. I know who I am and I know what I’m doing. I know I’m preaching, but none of this is by accident. For instance, if people think, Why is she singing it like that? Did she have a bad night or something? It’s like, That’s the point, sweetheart! That’s the point. You’re missing the point, babe. It’s fascinating to see how behind we are as a culture, but also, I can’t dictate to people what they like and don’t like. I appreciate people who want to be challenged and open their minds to what art is, and how we experience women, and performance, and beauty, and palatability.

The Kit Kat Club is a very unique theater. You’re served schnapps when you enter, the alcohol and vibes are flowing, but has that led to some people getting a little too loosey-goosey during the show?

A little frisky, yeah.

Do you notice any of the crowd shenanigans that have occurred while on stage?

Oh, yeah. Last night. Just like Chatty Cathies, you know? People like to chat. People sometimes take some pictures and videos, which we don’t love. It’s just a shame, but it’s fascinating. We’ve created a club environment and it’s a part of the show. Being inside of that gives us fuel. I’m certainly not encouraging disrespectful or bad behavior in any way, but we also are not trying to stop people from having a good time. We want people to be with us and hopefully, respectfully.

You were nominated for a Tony Award. How does it feel?

I don’t know. [Laughs.] Surreal. Totally surreal. Such an honor. I’m so confused. I’m very happy and grateful. The women I’m alongside are just so wonderful and unique. The wonderful Kelli O’Hara brought us together. I haven’t met Maleah Joi Moon yet, but I am very excited to meet her. And Maryann Plunkett, I’ve known and respected her work for so long. And Eden Espinosa, same. It’s just wild.

Do you think you’re going to win?

Absolutely not. But Maryann said something amazing the other day. She was like, “There’s no winning in art.” In some ways, not to be cheesy, but I really do feel like we’ve all already won. It’s an honor to be involved in all of it, but that’s not my focus, certainly.

Ariana Yaptangco is the senior beauty editor at Glamour. Follow her @arianayap.

Originally Appeared on Glamour