Jake Shears, Self Esteem join 'Cabaret' West End cast

The new cast members will join director Rebecca Frecknall's Olivier Award-winning production at the Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre in September.

Willkommen! Jake Shears and Rebecca Lucy Taylor, best known as Self Esteem, will join the West End cast of Cabaret on 25 September.

Shears, the lead singer of the Grammy Award-nominated band Scissor Sisters, takes over the role of the Emcee from Mason Alexander Park. He is also known for playing Charlie Price in Kinky Boots and writing music for the musical Tammy Faye alongside Elton John.

Taylor is best known for her pop music career under the stage name Self Esteem. She will make her stage debut with Cabaret, assuming the role of Sally Bowles from Maude Apatow.

Also joining the company on 25 September are Wilf Scolding as Ernst Ludwig, Jessica Kirton as Fraulein Kost/Fritzie, Liv Alexander as Texas, Natalie Chua as Frenchie, Taite-Elliot Drew as Hans, Damon Gould as Victor, El Haq Latief as Helga, and Travis Ross as Bobby, joining Laura Delany as Rosie, Grant Neal as Herman/Max and Hicaro Nicolai as Lulu.

The current Cabaret cast also includes continuing members Nathan Ives-Moiba as Clifford Bradshaw, Beverley Klein as Fraulein Schneider, Teddy Kempner as Herr Schultz, and Emily Benjamin as the Sally Bowles alternate.

The cast is completed by Rebecca Lisewski, Ela Lisondra, Nic Myers (who becomes the Sally Bowles alternate on 19 October), Andy Rees, Toby Turpin, and Patrick Wilden.

Cabaret, the classic Kander and Ebb musical, charts the romance between writer Clifford and singer Sally at a nightclub amid the rise of the Weimar Republic. Director Rebecca Frecknall's production transforms the Playhouse Theatre into the Kit Kat Club and won seven Olivier Awards in 2022, including Best Musical Revival.

Book Cabaret tickets on London Theatre.

Photo credit: Jake Shears and Rebecca Lucy Taylor. (Photo courtesy of production)