The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Cabaret

originally an improvised presentation given by poets, musicians, or actors in literary and artistic cafés. The performers read poetry, sang topical ditties, and staged short, satirical sketches. There was a master of ceremonies to help create an unconstrained and gay atmosphere. Cabarets became widespread in France (mostly Paris) in the 1880’s but lost their improvisational character gradually, as the bourgeoisie began frequenting them and professional artists from variety shows began to appear on their stages.

In Russia two of the most popular cabarets were LetuchaiaMysh (The Bat) in Moscow and Krivoe Zerkalo (The Distorting Mirror) in St. Petersburg, both founded in 1908. In present-daybourgeois countries cabarets are restaurants with variety showsthat are usually intended solely for entertainment and occasion-ally have erotic and vulgar overtones.

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

In 1926, New York City passed the Cabaret Law, legislation intended not only to curb the growing influence of the Prohibition-fueled mob but also to preserve the morality of innocent people who might fall sway to the shady characters of the night scene.

Show me your license, Daddy-O: how New York City tried to regulate bebop to death

Cabaret's best hope for the future may lie in the middle ground between uptown and downtown, in clubs like the recently opened 54 Below in the basement of the legendary Studio 54; the smaller Metropolitan Room on West 22nd Street; and the Laurie Beechman Theatre, in the West Bank Cafe's basement on 42nd Street.

At Cabaret Convention, only the songs remain the same

Earlier, citing "an unprecedented situation", the cabaret's management said in a statement it was "forced to cancel performances" on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Paris' Crazy Horse topless dancers call off strike

Aged between eight and 18, they performed with supreme confidence in a cabaret with a Christmas theme, staged on two nights.

Bright future ahead for this young cast; REVIEW

The crazy line-up includes magic, puppeteering, escape artists, flame eating, jokes, music, balloon sculpting and cabaret acts.

Cabaret strips back the boundaries

Music Theatre Warwick reveal the seedy underbelly of 1930s Berlin in hit musical Cabaret.

Come to the Cabaret! TheDailyPreview

It was with this desire that Hugo Ball went to a bar in Zurich's old town--the Hollandische Meierei--to ask its owner, Ephraim Jan, for the use of the back room for a new project: a cabaret with singing, theatrics, music, visual art exhibitions, and all sorts of other performances that would challenge bourgeois sensibilities.

Zurich's anti-art movement: ninety-four years after its manic inception, let's take a look back at Zurich's own anti-war, anti-class and anti-art movement, which celebrated anarchy and pandemonium: Dadaism

Lola Lola is a representation of a cabaret performer that expresses cultural tensions surrounding sexuality.

Gazes in conflict: Lola Lola, spectatorship, and cabaret in The Blue Angel

Into this seedy world comes American writer Clifford Bradshaw (Henry Luxemburg), who soon falls for cabaret singer Sally Bowles (Siobhan Dillon).

Pizazz and wit at the Kit Kat; review

Starring dance legend Wayne Sleep in the role of the notorious Emcee and introducing BBC1's I'd Do Anything finalist Samantha Barks as Sally Bowles, the multi award winning Cabaret has enjoyed a record breaking run in London's West End.

culture: Save a fiver when you come to the cabaret

At rst sight, Cabaret is a imsy tale of how American author Clifford Bradshaw (sensitively played by Henry Luxemburg) goes to Berlin and falls in love with the city - and feckless Sally Bowles.

reviews: Come to the Cabaret, old chum; CABARET Birmingham Rep ****