Video: Come to the CABARET with New Stars Billy Porter & Marisha Wallace

I always remember my mother used to say, God's delay is not denial

Look at all these years later. It has rolled, come full circle

I'm speechless. Truly, truly speechless. Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World

Billy Porter and Marisha Wallace are stepping into the roles of the MC and Sally Bowles in the new production of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club

They'll play the final 13 weeks now through October 19th, and I caught up with both of them here at The Edge

Oh my gosh, I'm so excited because it's been such a long time coming. I left Broadway to go to London and to come back this way

It's just been it's been a miracle and also a blessing and just so exciting

Yeah, I am thrilled. I haven't been on Broadway in about eight years

And like Marisha said, it is home. I also love experiencing it through her eyes

You know, she's I've I've gone through all of the stuff, but like the wonder

and the gratitude and the joy, it's like, you know, it's really, I'm getting a lot from that

I really, really am. It's great. Well, it's been incredible to do it during this time

in the world with what's happening in the world and the rise of fascism in real life And then we also emulating that on stage but also the joy that we found in like presenting these roles with these new lenses which I feel has been incredible to be the first black MC full time MC in Sally Bowles and people seeing it from that perspective

So that's what's been really eye opening and the amount of people who feel seen

And it's still the show still resonates in the same way that it did 60 years ago

Yeah. Well, you know, I have had a dream of doing this role since I could remember. And I, you know, I even tried to, you know, be seen for that last revival back in the 90s. And I was told, no, that's not the story we're telling

And I remember sending them a book called Destined to Witness, growing up black in Nazi Germany, signed, we were there, we are always there

And I didn't hear anything then, but I always remember my mother used to say, God's delay is not denial

Look at all these years later. It has rolled, come full circle

I'm speechless, truly, truly speechless. Liz. I've always loved Liza Minnelli. That was always like the blueprint for me for this role

Like I just loved her in general. And I just never thought that I would have access to playing this

role. And then sometimes when you haven't had the access and then you get it, you're like, wait

this was always for me. And that's what's been so eye opening and been like, wait, this was always

for me but I just didn have access to it And now that I have access to it and just to be able to be a fully 4D woman like I have rage I have anger I happy I sad I funny I vulnerable like to be able to stretch my muscles

as an actor in this part and you sing and you do and you're dancing it's just been so fulfilling

especially as a black woman in this industry we don't always get opportunity to to do this

very rarely do we get the opportunity to have a role where you can just be everything

better than it was it's better than it was but it's rare

and it's special so I really have taken the bull by the horns

and ringing it for all it's worth singing these incredible songs by Cantor and Abb

these are iconic yeah they are and they're in daddy's keys too so get ready

get ready es and we are singing We are singing the song

Well, maybe this time, as soon as it starts, you hear people go, they gasp

But like as soon as it starts, they're excited, they're on bated breath. And some of my friends have come and other people have come and said

I didn't even breathe the whole time during maybe this time until it was over

And they were like, okay, I took a breath. So it's amazing

When you do cabaret too, what do you do afterwards? Because you leave it all on the stage

And then you have to come back for another scene. Have a cocktail. Well, luckily, it's at the end of the show, so it's not like when I played Effie and then I did Am Telling You and I got a whole act left

So I can't just leave it all on the stage and then go home. But no, it's incredible to sing those songs

They're still so good. I think that what a timeless piece classic They still so good They still resonate They still hit their hits And they part of the zeitgeist of our culture And people don even know where those songs came from

which has been eye-opening to me. Some people didn't even know how they fit in the show

because they're their own entity, the songs. It's been crazy to me that most of the audiences coming to see this show

do not know what they're coming to see. I was like, oh, well, I guess I'm a musical theater queen

Because it never occurred to me that you don't know what cabaret is

You haven't seen a production of it. There's lots of people who haven't seen a production of it

But isn't it great that you're introducing this to a whole new generation? The kids on TikTok are like, this is like their personality is cabaret

So I love it. I love it. Kit Kat Club. That's what the kids are these days

They love the makeup. They love the styling of it. The non-binaryism

Yeah, they love it. It's for them as well. I'm looking forward to interacting with real people

and people who want to share the love, want to share love

I'm interested in it. I'm looking forward to that. I'm so happy to be back so my family can come see me and my friends

and then also to spread the message of the show in this time period

America and Broadway needs this show now more than ever. And they need to see our interpretation of it as well

I think it's really important for historical reasons, but then also just for personal reasons

People come out changed after they've seen this show. And I think it's time

It's time for change. Yeah