Cabaret

Notes, Glossary, and Pronunciation Guide

Act I, Scene 1

• Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome! (VILL-komm-en, byeⁿ-və-nü) ['wil-kom-mən; bjẽ-və-ny]
• Fremde, étranger, stranger, (FREM-da, é-traⁿ-zhé) ['frem-də; e-trã-že]
• Glücklich zu sehen, je suis enchanté, happy to see you ['glyk-liç tsu 'ze:-en; žə syiz ã-šã-te]
• Bleibe, reste, stay (BLY-ba; rest-a) ['blai-bə; 'res-tə]
• Im Cabaret, au cabaret, to cabaret [im ka-ba-'re: ; o ka-ba-'re:]
• Meine Dame und Herren, Mesdames et Messieurs, Ladies and Gentlemen ['mainə 'da:me unt 'hεr-rən; medam e mesjø]
• Guten Abend, Bon soir, good evening (GOO-ten AH-bent; boⁿ swaR) ['gu:tən 'abənt; bõ swar]
• Wie geht’s? Comment ça va? Do you feel good? (VEE GAYTS; ko-maⁿ sah vah) [vi: ge:ts; komã sa va]
• Ich bin euer Conférencier, Je suis votre comprère, I am your host! [iç bin 'oy-ər kõfe:rã'sje; žə syi votr kõprer]

Act I, Scene 2

• Deutsche Grenzkontrolle. Ihr Paß, bitte. = German border control. Your passport, please.
• Sie wären geschäftslich in Paris? = You were in Paris on business?
• Öffnen Sie bitte Ihren Koffer. = Please open your suitcase.
• Haben Sie nur diesen einen Koffer? = Do you only have this one suitcase?
• Ja. Das ist alles. = Yes, that is all.

Act I, Scene 3

• The mark was established at the time of German unification, 1871, to create a decimal currency. The mark was divided into 100 pfennig. The 10 pfennig coin is called a groschen. (The Austrian groschen is 1/100 of an Austrian schilling. At one time the schilling was pegged to the mark at the ratio 7 schilling = 1 mark.) The original Mark of 1871 was called the Goldmark. But during World War I, Germany went off the gold standard and introduced the Papiermark (paper mark). However, after the war, the papiermark was subject to hyperinflation, so that a new Reichsmark was introduced in 1924 at the ratio 1 Reichsmark = 10¹² Papiermark. The Reichsmark remained the official currency of Germany until after World War II, when, in order to prevent another round of hyperinflation, the Western allies (US, UK, and France) introduced the Deutsche Mark. The Soviet Union used this as a pretext to close the borders and begin the Berlin blockade.
• The Nollendorferplatz (or Nollendorfplatz) is a square in the Schöneberg district of Berlin. Four U-Bahn lines serve the platz: U1, U2, U3, and U4. It was a center of gay culture in Berlin from around 1920 until 1933, and is now as well. (The Kit Kat Klub may have been based on the real El Dorado Night Club, located in Motzstraße in this area. Christopher Isherwood lived in this area, and it became the basis of his novel Goodbye to Berlin, on which the show Cabaret is based.) Schöneberg was in the American sector in the postwar occupation of Berlin, and thus became a part of West Berlin before reunification.
• U-Bahn = Untergrund Bahn = underground railway; i.e., the Berlin subway, or métro. The U-Bahn was begun in 1902, and was intended to accommodate commuters to the center of the city. Some stations were named after the Nazis came to power, and there was damage to the system during the war. However, most of the system was running by the end of 1945, through both sides of the divided city. Many East Germans used the system to escape the East; however, the Soviets and the East German authorities did not allow luggage other than briefcase size, so escapees had to leave most of their belongings behind. However, one enterprising couple is known to have cut their furniture into small pieces, carrying a piece out each day, and then reassembling it in West Berlin, after they made their final escape. In 1961, the Berlin Wall was built, and all of the lines were cut, except that some West Berlin lines continued to run through the East, but all their stations but one were closed; this was the Friedrichstraße station, which became a designated border crossing. With the reunification of Berlin in 1989, the U-Bahn was also reunited.
• The names of some of the characters can be translated: Schneider = tailor; Kost = food, fare, or diet; Tannenbaum = fir tree; Schultz = guard.
• Schatzi = darling, from Schatz = treasure.
• Schnapps, or in German, Schnaps, is a clear alcoholic liquid, 64 proof, that in French would be known as eau de vie. It is distilled from fermented fruit juices with no added sugar. American schnapps, by contrast, is a liqueur.
• Remington was an American brand of typewriter.

Act I, Scene 4

• Mayfair is one of the richest districts of London, located in the West End. (The name comes from a fair that was formerly held there each May.) Sally does not seem like the kind of girl that would hail from Mayfair!
• Antwerp is a city in Belgium. It was an important port until closed by treaty when the Spanish recognized Dutch independence in 1648. It was reopened during Napoleon’s time, and then again when it was part of the United Netherlands, 1815-1830. It was closed again until 1863. It was of strategic importance in both world wars.
• A nickel is a colloquialism for the five-cent coin used in the United States and Canada; one would hardly expect an English woman (Sally) to use the term!
• Ja, gut! = Yes, good!

Act I, Scene 5

• Frau Bradshaw—Apparently Frl. Schneider assumes that Sally is Cliff’s wife.
• A prairie oyster is a raw egg, or just a raw egg yolk, mixed with lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce, or some other hot sauce, with salt and pepper, customarily served in an old fashioned glass. It is a supposed cure for a hangover. (In parts of the United States, the term is also used for a Rocky Mountain oyster, which is a bull testicle, eaten as food.)

Act I, Scene 7

• Ems is a misspelling; it should be eins = one.

Act I, Scene 8

• The tune of the song Tomorrow Belongs to Me is reminiscent of the setting by Friedrich Silcher of Heinrich Heine’s poem Die Lorelei.
• A linden is a tree of the genus Tilia, which grows in the temperate regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. The most common North American species, T. americana, is also known as basswood. In England, the tree is usually known as lime, but it is unrelated to the citrus fruit known as lime. One of the most famous streets in Berlin is known as Unter den Linden, "Under the Lindens", and the linden tree in Germany is known as the lovers’ tree. Lindens have other references in German romantic poetry, as well as in other languages.

Act I, Scene 9

• The term Malaysian came into formal use in 1963, when the formerly-British Federation of Malaya joined with the British colonies of Singapore, Sarawak, and North Borneo (the latter two located on the island of Borneo; North Borneo is now known as Sabah) to form the Federation of Malaysia. (Singapore was expelled from the federation in 1965.) However, the term Malaysia was used informally for the islands in the area, and at one time, the Philippines considered renaming itself Malaysia.
• Prosit! is used as a toast in German, pronounced PROST, or sometimes PRO-zit. It is from a Latin word, prosit, which literally means "may it benefit".

Act I, Scene 10

• In The Money Song, the line "And now, Brünnhilde, my German Mark. You can’t keep that girl down!" refers to the hyperinflation of the Papiermark in 1922 and 1923.

Act I, Scene 11

• Herr Ludwig says, concerning Herr Schultz, He is not a German. Jews had lived in Germany from Roman times, and, although they were sometimes persecuted, especially during hard economic times and during the period of the Crusades, they managed to live alongside their non-Jewish neighbors. By the 19th century, many Jews had abandoned observance of Judaism and had become like their non-Jewish neighbors in almost every respect. During World War I, Jews served in the German army and navy in a larger proportion than the German population in general, and there were several Jewish generals and admirals.

Act I, Scene 12

• The fruits for sale at the shop of Herr Schultz include Äpfel (apples), Orangen (oranges), and Ananas (pineapple).
  • The German word for apple is apfel, plural äpfel (pronounced "epfel"). The apple is assumed to be the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden, although the Bible doesn’t actually identify the fruit; apples do not grow well in most Middle East climates; the fruit was more likely a pomegranate. Apples probably originated in what is now Kazakhstan. They were brought to the North America in the 17th century. Today, the United States is the second largest producer of apples, after China. 
  • The standard German word for orange is Apfelsine: which literally means Chinese apple. Sweet oranges were first brought to Europe by the Portuguese in the 15th century. But Germans also use the French word, orange, using the -n to form the German plural. The word orange is pronounced in the French manner. I would expect that in a cosmopolitan city like Berlin they would probably use orangen, until perhaps the Nazis decided to use only "German" words. The word orange is derived from the Sanskrit name for the fruit. However, it became identical with the name of the House of Orange.
  • The name pineapple comes from the resemblance of the fruit to a pine cone. The fruit is originally from Brazil and Paraguay, where the native name is ananas, from the Tupi word for pine, nanas. Ananas is also the name in French and German. (In German the s is pronounced, but not in French.) A piña colada (literally, strained pineapple) is a rum drink with coconut cream and pineapple juice, usually garnished with a pineapple spear or maraschino cherry, and is the official drink of Puerto Rico.

Act II, Scene 2

• Nazi is short for Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei = The National Socialist German Workers’ Party, or N.S.D.A.P. The term nazi was not used officially in Germany, but it was used in Austria and elsewhere by the Nazis’ opponents. Before the Nazis were a significant power in Germany, the Socialists had been called Sozis, from the German form Sozialist, and Nazi was an imitation of that form. During the 1920s the NSDAP was a small group of rabble-rousers, but became significant in the elections of 1930, as Germany suffered through the world-wide depression. In the elections of 1932, the NSDAP became the largest party in the Reichstag, although not a majority. On January 30, 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by President von Hindenburg, although Hindenburg despised Hitler and the Nazis. See also the page Cabaret politics.

Act II, Scene 7

• Letzte Ansage! Berlin—Paris Expreß, Abfahrt vier Uhr, Bahnsteig siebzehn. Alle einsteigen, bitte! Letzte Ansage! = Last call! Berlin-Paris Express, departing four o’clock, platform seventeen. All aboard, please! Last call!

References:

• Many definitions are from Dictionary.com.
• Many references are from Wikipedia
• See also the page Cabaret politics

• Last updated: 02/02/2010.
• For additions, suggestions, corrections, or comments on this glossary, please email me:  tf_mcq <at> yahoo.com.
• Return to the TAP Cabaret main page.
• Return to McQ’s theater page.

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