Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, part 3, 9/29/24 on

Adam Lambert Makes Broadway Debut in 'Cabaret'




Just when you think the current Broadway production of Cabaret couldn’t get any gayer, American Idol alum Adam Lambert joins the cast as the Emcee, a legendary symbol of queer visibility, played in the past by Joel Grey, Alan Cumming and, most recently, Eddie Redmayne.

Making his Broadway debut, Lambert not only has the vocal chops to sing some of the most beloved showtunes around — “Willkommen,” “Money” and “If You Could See Her,” to name a few — he also has the face-beating skills to do his own makeup for his opening number.

It’s clear Lambert is having a ball on stage, playing with gender and sexuality, eight times a week. He also recently released Afters, his latest EP that goes on a late-night musical jaunt through a clubby world of sexy fun.

PAPER caught up with Lambert after his first week of performances.




Tell me about your history with Cabaret.

My first voice teacher was a big fan and showed me the movie early on. I think I was probably like 14. She was just like, "Isn't it scandalous?" And it just felt so naughty and edgy, and I was very drawn to that. Big surprise. Still am. I remember performing “Money” with my voice teacher for a recital. The music has been in my wheelhouse for a long time, and my dream roles in the theater have always been sort of the strange roles. And the Emcee has always been on a short list for me. It's like, "Oh, that would be so fun."

This is your Broadway debut, right?

Yeah. It's really interesting. I was doing theater all the way up until I auditioned for American Idol. I was 28 when I did American Idol. Theater was sort of the trajectory I was on. And I wasn't in New York, I was in LA doing theater, and there's not a lot there — but I was doing what I could find. And I always thought, "Oh, one of these days I'm going to move to New York. One of these days when I have the right gig, I'm going." And I was waiting for something to take me. And then I did the national tour of Wicked, and I got to rehearse here in New York. It was a Broadway production, even though it was a tour, and it was rehearsing with a Broadway-caliber creative team and all that. So I was like, "Oh, this is pretty much the same thing. I've sort of made it to Broadway."

I did that for a while, and then Idol happened. I felt like I took that fork in the road and it's been amazing. I've loved recording my own music and being my own artist and working with Queen. But coming back to this, it feels like it's this full-circle moment, and I get to return to a younger alternate reality. You know what I mean? What if I hadn't done that? What would my life have been? And this almost answers that question in a way, and it's really cool.


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