Liza & Fosse No. 3 - Mein Herr
- Lauryn Johnson
- 11 minutes ago
- 2 min read
This number was cut from the film Liza with a 'Z' which aired on NBC, but the work print was found and edited using Fosse's original editing notes so this is true to his vision for the number.
Liza wrote: “When I first read the shooting script, [of Cabaret] there was a blank space right after the emcce introduces me in the film for the first time. The screenwriter, Jay Presson Allen, a woman, noted that a Kander and Ebb song-as yet unwritten— would fill this scene. And what a song it turned out to be…
“’Mein Herr’ was one of the most astonishing dance numbers that Fosse ever filmed. In this scene, Sally sings a cynical ta-ta to any man who thinks he's going to have a long-term relationship with her—or any kind of relationship —beyond a casual hookup.
“As she sings, she's leaning into and onto a precariously balanced chair. There's no polite way to say this. She's shtupping the chair. This is what Fosse had in mind, I'm sure, but he didn't say so. He didn't have to. We were in total sync. The problem was, how do you get through a number like this without collapsing onto the chair or breaking it? At first, we tried to use suction cups to anchor the chair. It didn't work. Then we nailed it to the Kit Kat stage. Voilà!
“The scene played brilliantly. I loved that the camera didn't just focus on me in the song but cut to other dancers, zooming in on members of the audience and waiters. This is your introduction to the Kit Kat Club, and it begins Cabaret's horrific story. The dancers behind me begin the movie as menacing, erotic creatures, slinking across the stage. By the end, they're marching with rifles. Welcome to the Weimar Republic.
—Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! by Liza Minnelli, 2026
I found the photo of Fosse on the left, as a slide transparency in the Fosse/Verdon Collection at the Library of Congress. One of my proudest finds! How amazing to see Fosse standing on Liza's mark with the same lighting on him!
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