The Kit Kat Club, NYC

When ATG Entertainment set out to revive Cabaret on Broadway, their vision was clear: to push the boundaries of the traditional musical and reimagine what a night at the theatre could feel like. Building on the immersive concept developed for London’s Playhouse Theatre, the challenge was to adapt the August Wilson Theatre—one of Broadway’s most historic venues—into an environment where audiences felt embedded in the world of the show from the moment they arrived.

Charcoalblue’s role in this transformation was central. Drawing on our work on the London production, we collaborated closely with production designer Tom Scutt and Kostow Greenwood Architects to reconfigure the building’s layout to deliver a fully integrated immersive experience.

A key aspect of the redesign was converting the historic proscenium theatre into an immersive in-the-round space. This involved re-levelling both the auditorium and stage floors and introducing intimate cabaret-style seating that surrounded the central performance area. We added a new onstage balcony within the existing stage house, connected through the proscenium arch to raised platforms in the auditorium that house the live orchestra—bringing musicians into view and creating new levels and angles for the performers to engage with the audience. To support this new layout, we added accessible seating positions at both the new onstage balcony and within the cabaret-style tables on stage, improving accessible seating options across multiple levels.

The transformation extended beyond the auditorium. With Tom Scutt, we reimagined the audience’s entire journey, starting with a new entrance through a side alley—evoking the feel of a hidden Berlin nightclub and immersing visitors in the world of Cabaret from the outset. New bars and lobby areas were added on multiple levels in what used to be the rear orchestra seating and at the original balcony lobby.

Charcoalblue’s scope encompassed spatial planning and design of all new seating. Our design concept and placement of the production within the theatre maximized sightlines and capacity while laying the foundations for structural and technical interventions which truly enabled the bold and sensitive transformation of this landmarked venue.

The success of Cabaret at the August Wilson Theatre demonstrates Charcoalblue’s expertise in immersive theatre design and our ability to deliver thoughtful, technically ambitious environments that meet the demands of contemporary productions—on Broadway and beyond.