by Julian Wiles, Lighting Designer for Cabaret
The lighting for Cabaret began at the photoshoot. Here for the first time I got to see the costumes and makeup and to experiment with different lighting angles on them. It was quickly clear that by using lighting from below (the kind of lighting that old fashioned footlights created) we could create an old fashioned and somewhat ghostly eerie look. Most of the scenes in the Kit Kat Klub rely on this type of harsh lighting. For the more realistic scenes of the play more naturalistic lighting was used. By using two completely different lighting styles I hoped it helps make it clear that Sally and Cliff live in two different worlds—the everyday world outside which is being overtaken by the Nazi’s and the exotic and fantasy underground cabaret world to which they and many others escape.
Click here to view trailer from the photo shoot!
