Jake Shears and Self Esteem join cast of Cabaret

Scissor Sisters singer Jake Shears and pop star Self Esteem are to join the cast of Cabaret in the West End.

Shears will play the Emcee, while Self Esteem, whose real name is Rebecca Lucy Taylor, will take the role of Sally Bowles.

They joint the cast from September 25, and will appear alongside Nathan Ives-Moiba as Clifford Bradshaw, Beverley Klein as Fraulein Schneider and Teddy Kempner as Herr Schultz.

Emily Benjamin will continue as the production’s alternate Sally Bowles until October 18, with Nic Myers taking over  from October 19.

Shears said: “It is my privilege and honour to play the Emcee in this incredible show. I am especially excited to be sharing the stage with the force that is Self Esteem. This role has been a lifetime dream of mine and I couldn’t imagine a better production of it to be a part of.”

Taylor added: “I’ve never made a secret of my love of theatre and I honestly couldn’t be more excited about getting to make my stage debut as one of the greatest leads of all time. I’ve joked for years that there’s no need for a Self Esteem musical really because Sally’s story covers most of the points and here we are. I am both artistically and emotionally raring to take on this challenge.”

Also joining the company on September 25 are Wilf Scolding as Ernst Ludwig, Jessica Kirton as Fraulein Kost/Fritzie, Liv Alexander as Texas, Natalie Chua as Frenchie, Taite-Elliot Drew as Hans, Damon Gould as Victor, El Haq Latief as Helga, and Travis Ross as Bobby. Laura Delany will play Rosie, with Grant Neal as Herman/Max and Hicaro Nicolai as Lulu. The cast is completed by Rebecca Lisewski, Ela Lisondra, Nic Myers, Andy Rees, Toby Turpin and Patrick Wilden.

From October 16, the prologue company will be Rachel Benson, Ami Benton, Onyemachi Ejimofor, Joseph Hardy, Liz Kamille, Andrew Linnie, Aine McLoughlin, Jack Parry, Jazmyn Raikes, Oliver Stockley and Ena Yamaguchi.

Cabaret is directed by Rebecca Frecknall, with set and costume design by Tom Scutt and choreography by Julia Cheng. Musical supervision is by Jennifer Whyte and musical direction is by Ben Ferguson with lighting design by Isabella Byrd and sound design by Nick Lidster. 

The casting director is Stuart Burt and the associate director and prologue director is Jordan Fein. The prologue composer and musical director is Angus MacRae.
It is produced by Ambassador Theatre Group Productions and Underbelly.