Cara Delevingne to star as Sally Bowles in Cabaret

Cara Delevingne is joining Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club as Sally Bowles from 11 March.

The model, actress and campaigner is the latest in a line of high-profile performers to play the role in the Rebecca Frecknall-directed musical extravaganza which first opened in December 2021 and this April makes its Broadway debut with original Emcee Eddie Redmayne.

The most recent Sally Bowles, Rebecca Lucy Taylor, steps aside on 9 March to make way for Delevingne, who makes her debut on 11 March. She is joined by Olivier Award-winning actor Luke Treadaway, who replaces Scissor Sisters lead singer Jake Shears as The Emcee.

Another addition to the new cast is Michael Ahomka-Lindsay – a brilliant Jack Kelly in Matt Cole’s Newsies at the Troubadour Theatre in Wembley and a recent Rising Star in Musicals magazine – who plays Clifford Bradshaw.

Frecknall’s unique production of Kander and Ebb’s subversive musical won seven Oliviers in April 2022, and is also the recipient of three Critics Circle Awards and the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Design (Tom Scutt).

The role of Sally Bowles, particularly in Frecknall’s version, requires huge stamina, physically, vocally and mentally. Jessie Buckley, who originated the role in this production alongside Redmayne, famously rewrote the rulebook as Sally, to the extent that, as Emily Benjamin, her Alternate, tells us in the current issue of Musicals, it became clear that Benjamin would need to play one show a week as Sally ‘to ease the burden’.

That same tradition continues from 11 March, with Nic Myers playing the role once a week to give Delevingne a night off; there is also an additional handful of dates on which Delevingne will not be performing. Nevertheless, it’s a bold undertaking for someone who has not performed onstage before. Delevingne says ‘There are no words to explain the excitement I have to return home to make my stage debut in such an iconic role. I cannot wait to be a part of this brilliant cast and production.’

To book tickets, visit kitkat.club/cabaret-london