Orville Peck to Take Over Adam Lambert as Emcee in Cabaret on Broadway
Trailblazing out country music star Orville Peck is headed to the Kit Kat Klub to join two-time Tony Award® nominee and GRAMMY Award® winner Eva Noblezada in the hit Broadway musical Cabaret.
Peck, who has been openly gay since he was a child and has been vocal about the importance of representation for LGBTQ+ people in the music industry, will star as ‘Emcee’ opposite Noblezada as ‘Sally Bowles’ in the Tony Award-winning Cabaret at the KitKat Club at the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway for a limited 16-week engagement in Cabaret starting Monday, March 31 through Sunday, July 20.
Tickets for their run in the acclaimed musical, which in November was called by EW “a potent and timely revival that is even more of a must-see,” are available now at www.kitkat.club.
Adam Lambert and Auli‘i Cravalho will play their final performances in the production on Saturday evening, March 29. Casting for the roles of ‘Emcee’ and ‘Sally Bowles’ after Sunday, July 20 will be announced this summer.
Peck and his signature mask have been redefining country music and introducing it to a new audience since the release of his 2018 debut album Pony. He followed that with Bronco in 2022 and last year’s duets album, Stampede. His boldly theatrical live performances have made him a sought-after collaborator, working with music vanguards such as Willie Nelson, Elton John, Shania Twain, Kylie Minogue, and Beck. Peck trained as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and appeared in an Olivier Award-nominated play on London’s West End. Cabaret will mark his Broadway debut.
Noblezada will be finishing her run as ‘Daisy Buchanan’ in the hit Broadway musical The Great Gatsby as of January 30. She’ll then join the West End production of Hadestown for a limited engagement reprising her Tony Award nominated performance as ‘Eurydice.’ She made her Broadway debut in the 2017 revival of Miss Saigon, for which she received a Theatre World Award as well as a Tony Award nomination. On film, she has starred in the acclaimed indie film Yellow Rose and comedy Easter Sunday.
Peck said, “The Emcee has been my dream role since I was a teenager. The nature of the character allows for complete freedom of individual expression. It can be portrayed through such a vast range of emotions, perspectives, and performance styles. That kind of freedom is every actor’s dream. I truly cannot believe I’m getting to make my Broadway debut in one of my favorite shows and in probably my favorite role in all of musical theater. I grew up in the theater. I was a working actor and a dancer for many years before I started making music. I did the hustle, and the struggle, for a long time, trying to make things happen for myself. But it taught me so much of who I am as a performer and a person, so it feels very full circle to be making a return to it at this point in my career.”
Noblezada commented, “While studying musical theater in school, Cabaret always stood out. I was, and am, amazed by the lineage of theater royalty who have been in the show. And Sally Bowles to me is simply… fascinating. She is like a totally conscious child who is also completely unhinged. Almost clownish. But real and raw and in your face. And that character amidst and against that backdrop of such an evil reality is painfully surreal. I am totally psyched to start learning more. And I am ready to be as submissive as possible to the iconic world that is Cabaret.”
Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club on Broadway is directed by Olivier Award winner and 2024 Drama Desk Award nominee Rebecca Frecknall with club, scenic, and costume design by Tony Award winner, Evening Standard Award winner, and Olivier Award nominee Tom Scutt, and choreography by 2024 Chita Rivera Award nominee and Olivier Award nominee Julia Cheng.
Olivier Award-winning director Frecknall said, “After such a brilliant collaboration with Adam Lambert, I’m thrilled to be able to bring yet another incredible contemporary musician into the role of the Emcee. Orville brings such theatricality to his own musical performance and has one of the most crystalline voices in music right now. It’s going to be exciting to see him become a part of our production and hear him sing John Kander and Fred Ebb’s score.
“I’ve followed Eva’s work for years and it’s a privilege to have her join the company as our next Sally Bowles on Broadway following Auli‘i’s magnificent run. She brings such truth and emotional vulnerability to her work and has a voice that always thrills. She is truly one of theater’s great leading ladies, so it only seems fitting for us to get to see her take on this great canonical role.”
Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club also stars two-time Tony Award winner and 2024 Tony Award nominee Bebe Neuwirth, Calvin Leon Smith as ‘Clifford Bradshaw,’ 2024 Tony Award nominee Steven Skybell as ‘Herr Schultz;’ Henry Gottfried as ‘Ernst Ludwig,’ and Michelle Aravena as ‘Fritzie/Kost.’
Experience this groundbreaking musical like never before. The denizens of the Kit Kat Club have created a decadent sanctuary inside Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre, where artists and performers, misfits and outsiders rule the night. Step inside their world. This is queer Berlin transported to Manhattan.
Cabaret, one of the most revered and successful musicals of all time, has music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and a book by Joe Masteroff based on the play by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood. The show features the songs “Willkommen,” “Don’t Tell Mama,” “Mein Herr,” “Maybe This Time,” “Money,” and the iconic title number.
