Shirt worn by Joel Grey as the Emcee in <i>Cabaret</i>
date: label: date made
content: before 1972
name: label: wearer
content: Grey, Joel
notes: label: Description
content: Joel Grey wore this shirt as part of a costume to portray the Emcee (Master of Ceremonies) in both the 1972 film and 1987-1989 national tour of the musical <i>Cabaret</i>. The white cotton shirt has three metal buttons down the front and two metal snaps on each sleeve, and the entire front closes with velcro.
label: Description
content: The musical Cabaret premiered on Broadway in 1966. With music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Joe Masteroff, the show was an adaptation of John Van Druten's 1951 play <i>I Am a Camera</i>, which itself was based on Christopher Isherwood's 1939 memoir <i>Goodbye to Berlin</i>. <i>Cabaret</i> is the story of love triangle centered around Berlin's Kit Kat Klub amidst the decadence, corruption, and political intrigue of the Weimar Republic era. The musical was celebrated for its originality, but was also controversial for its moral ambiguity, frank sensuality, and mature themes, including homosexuality, abortion, anti-semitism, and the rise of the Nazi party. In 1972, director Bob Fosse adapted <i>Cabaret</i> as a critically- lauded and popular film.
label: Description
content: For his performances as the impish, leering Emcee in both the stage and film productions, Grey won the Tony Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Broadway Musical in 1967 and Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1972.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Movie
label: Subject
content: Music
label: Subject
content: Musical Theater
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Popular Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Movies
label: See more items in
content: Movie Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Joel Grey
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1989.0374.06
label: accession number
content: 1989.0374
label: catalog number
content: 1989.0374.06
objectType: label: Object Name
content: shirt
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (buttons material)
label: Physical Description
content: velcro (front closure material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 29 in x 16 in; 73.66 cm x 40.64 cm