Broadway Access Review -
Cabaret

General (Prologue):

• this piece begins 1 hour before curtain

• I definitely needed earplugs for this, also you can feel the bass just about everywhere – the Green Bar in the mezzanine as the most sensory-friendly pre-show space

• the sensory accessibility is similar to that of Here Lies Love, Tommy, and Moulin Rouge

What to expect:

• there are moving performers throughout the crowd. Also there are many people on crowd control/flow, but it can still feel a little crowded sometimes

• when you enter through Door 1 you go down a red/green lit hallway with the occasional flicker and up 6 stairs where they give you a sticker to cover your phone’s camera (if you need a stair lift instead, tell a staff member at Door 1)

• apparently they give you a shot of schnapps here, I didn’t experience that when I went, but have your ID ready just in case!

• you then walk up a ramp and are ushered down a flight of stairs (if you have an access issue, tell the person at the top of this ramp and they will let you go into this stairless bar)

• the Vault Bar (downstairs) has a stage where people perform, also there are slow moving lights from a golden disco ball in the center. There are very few places to sit

• up a flight of stairs to your right you will find the orchestra level and the Red Bar which has many places to sit. There is live music on this level which can be a bit loud, and it is lit dimly and slightly red, but nothing moves. The booth for accessibility devices is here

• up the stairs to your left is the next set of bathrooms (halfway up) and at the top is the Green Bar. This is the quietest of the spaces. It is lit entirely in green

• all drinks are served in various glasses rather than cups

The Theatre:

• on the orchestra level, all of the seats have a little shelf in front of them for your drinks. The theater is fairly dim with hanging lights

• it is a bit quieter in here than it is in the rest of the building, though close to show time the live musicians and performers come in and play around the stage and interact with the audience directly around them

General (Show):

• I took my earplugs out after the first number 

• the aisles are used throughout the show and the tables immediately around the stage get interacted with

• there are bulb lights on the underhangs of the various mezzanines, they often turn on but rarely move or flash

• the night I was there I was very cold in the theater

• there is very occasional cigarette smoking, I don’t know if the audience could smell it or not

• the sensory accessibility of this show is similar to that of Hadestown, Once Upon A Mattress, and How to Dance in Ohio

Act I:

• Willkommen - lots of moving lights, as well as moving bulbs on the underhangs, but nothing ever felt strobey in this song; also Sally walks through the first row of the far mezzanine after she is announced

• Don’t Tell Mama - Sally throws cigarette into the audience

• Mein Herr - white backlight that creates moving shadows; there are on/off white moving downlights (and moving underhang bulbs) briefly at the end

• Tomorrow Belongs to Me - very dimly lit 

• Money - occasional moving downlight throughout that then get fairly spinny and almost strobey but with not much contrast so it doesn’t feel to straining for ~5 sec at the end. There are moving uplights for ~5 sec after the Emcee exits

• Tomorrow… (Reprise) - drums get very loud at the end

Intermission: the pre-show music returns in the Kit Kat Club. After maybe 5-7 minutes, music starts quite loudly in the theater  and the performers interact with the audience, bringing some up to dance with them, there’s a cheer off and everyone does the wave at some points

Act II:

• bulb lights alternate when the house lights go down

• when the gun appears, it does not go off (in a shot/noise sense), but the Emcee does blow a ref whistle for ~5 sec

• Schultz “somebody wonderful married” - blackout and very loud crash

• If You Could See Her - “at all” - bulb lights start to move and continue to into the next number

• content advisory - Sally gets manhandled a few times

• after “that Jew at the party”, there are maybe 5-6 loud noises with single LED white flashes

• after “orchestra is beautiful!” - music gets very loud

• after “à bientôt” - drums crescendo to get quite loud, ~5-7 seconds