For this Cordova High grad who’s on Broadway, life is a cabaret
Memphis native Calvin Leon Smith currently stars as Clifford Bradshaw in "Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club" at the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway. (Submitted)
Memphis native Calvin Leon Smith says starring in “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club” now on Broadway feels prescient.
Based on a true story, “Cabaret” centers on a fictional American writer — Clifford Bradshaw — who travels to Berlin during the Jazz Age and rise of the Nazi Party in Germany. Once he arrives, he stumbles upon the Kit Kat Club cabaret, led by the Emcee.
Calvin Leon Smith is Clifford Bradshaw.
Smith joined the cast in September 2024 and is slated to remain in the role until Sept. 26, 2025. Adam Lambert, the runner-up on the eighth season of “American Idol,” currently stars as the Emcee while Auli’i Cravalho, the voice of Disney’s “Moana,” plays the role of flapper Sally Bowles.
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Elle Perry
A native Memphian, Elle Perry has earned graduate degrees from the University of Memphis and Maryland Institute College of Art. She’s written for publications including the Memphis Business Journal, Memphis Flyer and High Ground News, and previously served as coordinator of The Teen Appeal.
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