Michelle Williams To Make Broadway Debut In ‘Cabaret’

Three-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams will be making her Broadway debut in the upcoming Roundabout Theater Company’s revival of Cabaret.

The 32-year-old Golden Globe winner will play the lead role of Sally Bowles, which was played by Liza Minnelli in the 1972 film. Minnelli won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 1973. The film was nominated for 10 Oscars and won eight, including Best Director and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Joel Grey, the emcee).

The emcee will be played by Alan Cumming, who played the same role in Sam Mendes’ 1993 revival in London’s West End opposite Jane Horrocks. Cumming was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical, but lost to Alun Armstrong for Sweeney Todd. He reprised the role in 1998 for the Mendes-Rob Marshall Broadway revival, this time opposite Natasha Richardson. Cumming won a Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, and a Tony Award for his 1998 reprisal.

Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall will be teaming up again for the latest revival, with Mendes acting as director and Marshall co-directing and choreographing.

While Cabaret marks Michelle Williams’ Broadway debut, the My Week with Marilyn star is no stranger to the stage. Williams did a stint in the Off Broadway production of Tracy Letts’ Killer Joe in 1999, and followed that up with Mike Leigh’s Smelling a Rat in 2002.

In 2005, Williams shot to international stardom after starring in Brokeback Mountain. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Alma del Mar, the wife of Heath Ledger’s Ennis del Mar.

Michelle Williams most recently starred in Oz the Great and Powerful as Glinda the Good Witch.

Cabaret previews will begin March 21 and the show will officially open on April 24. It is slated for a 24-week run at the Studio 54.

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