How Adam Lambert Became a Broadway Star (Exclusive)

Standing in a Broadway dressing room, backstage at the August Wilson Theatre, I feel like I'm starring in a musical theater version of Room Raiders.

In the classic MTV dating show, a contestant visits the empty rooms of three potential suitors each episode and after snooping around chooses which to date based solely on the items they find stashed in the apartments. In my case, I'm peering around a tiny dressing room while I wait for my interview subject to arrive.

The items I spot include a pair of tights with eyes embroidered on them, a small turquoise party hat, Hall's cough drops, an unopened bottle of champagne, Emergen-C packets, a TheraGun mini, Vicks Sinex saline nasal spray, a giant brown leather bow, a humidifier pumping full blast, dozens of makeup brushes, a large Elmer's glue stick and a mirror with false eyelashes pasted all over it.

It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to quickly piece together that the dressing room belongs to a vocalist with a penchant for makeup—in this case, the newest star of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Adam Lambert.

The Grammy-nominated singer and runner-up of American Idol Season 8 is now over a month deep into his run in Broadway's latest revival of Cabaret. This summer, Lambert was announced to replace Eddie Redmayne in the show's iconic Emcee role at the same time Moana's Auli'i Cravalho would take over the Sally Bowles role from Gayle Rankin. On Sept. 16, the pair made their Broadway debuts to rave reviews.

When Lambert arrives a few minutes later, he gives me a quick tour of the space. "I'm a full hypochondriac," he says regarding the health products. "I'm a singer. This is par for the course. We have cough drops, tea, lozenges, nasal sprays. It's basically a CVS over here."

Lambert is the latest in a long line of greats to play the Master of Ceremonies at Berlin's famed Kit Kat Klub, a ghoulish, androgynous and flamboyant role often played by queer people. The Emcee role was originated by Joel Gray, who won a Tony for the 1966 Broadway run and an Oscar for the 1972 film. Alan Cumming then won a Tony for his Emcee in the 1998 revival, with Neil Patrick Harris, Michael C. Hall and John Stamos later taking over the role. Redmayne debuted his version on the West End in 2021, with Lambert now taking over the part with a few tweaks.

"I asked the costume designers if I could make this leather bow bigger," he says pointing out a piece of his opening costume that Redmayne also wore. "At one point it was smaller. They said, 'You can have a big bow,' so I got an oversized bow."

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Now Lambert is performing eight shows a week in the newly renovated theater, completely reconstructed to put seats where the stage previously stood, allowing the cast to perform in the round. Lambert not only welcomes audiences to the Kit Kat with the iconic "Willkommen" number, but also presides over the show from start to finish, popping in for songs like "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" and "Money" along the way.

Of course, a rigorous performing schedule isn't necessarily new to Lambert. Prior to American Idol, Lambert toured in Wicked. He's since headlined five of his own tours, and since 2012 has been performing alongside Queen as one of very few vocalists who can hit the notes left behind by Freddie Mercury. In 2024 alone, he's already served as a judge on The Voice: Australia, toured with Queen, voiced characters in both Megamind and Fraggle Rock, and released a new hedonistic dance EP titled AFTERS.

On a Tuesday night, before getting into hair and makeup, Lambert takes the time to sit down with Parade to discuss his Broadway debut and the long career leading up to it.

Read on for Parade's full interview with Adam Lambert: 

Matthew Huff: You began your career performing in musicals, but this is your Broadway debut. How did the opportunity to perform in Cabaret come about, and why did you decide this was the time to return to theater? 

Adam Lambert: [Theater] is definitely a big part of who I am. It reminds me of being younger. It reminds me of my childhood, my formative years, and I missed theater people. I missed working in a team to put something on for an audience.

I actually don't even know how Cabaret came up. I went to go see [the 2021 West End Revival] in London, and we started talking with the people that put it together. It became a ongoing conversation, and it was like, "Okay, what about New York?" and I thought that would be amazing. I leapt at it the minute they offered it.

The Emcee is such an iconically queer role. What does it mean to you to be making your Broadway debut with this role? 

This role feels like it's in my wheelhouse. It's always been on the short list of parts I would love to play. There's so much room for interpretation with him, and he's so enigmatic and abstract, which creates a completely open playing field. This production, in particular, took some amazing liberties with how they interpret who he is and what he is to the story. Seeing it in London, I thought, "It's so cool what they did. They've made me think about other ways in which he is part of the story."

Eddie [Redmayne] was a big part of that. Eddie created this role in this production and created this puppet master energy. That is a big part of what I'm doing here. I put in my own ridiculous camp, queer, flamboyant energy as much as I possibly could.

What pieces of Eddie Redmayne's Emcee did you keep and which parts did you change when you took over the role? 

I brought my lived experience to the part. I've definitely been at a lot of parties and hung out with a lot of crazy, wild people. I've been a part of environments that are very ... what's the word ... liberal, is the way I would put it, adventurous. I tried to bring some of that into the part.

Back in my early 20s, I traveled to Germany to do another musical Hair, but I lived in Berlin for about six months. That was such a formative time for me, and I saw some things in nightlife I had never seen before. Berlin was very wild. It still is, but in 2003 I was seeing things there that I did not see in the United States. In a way, it's a love letter to that experience as well as me taking the audience down this little, naughty, secretive little path.

Since you replaced Eddie Redmayne, your rehearsal process is different. I've heard it's daunting, and you don't get to practice much with the whole cast. What was that process like? 

It's definitely not the typical "start from scratch, start on day one with everybody, everyone gets their scripts, getting to know each other all at the same time" situation. It is different. Thankfully myself and the other new cast members were put in together. We were up for the challenge, but you had to imagine other bodies on stage. Then you don't actually [practice with the full cast/props/costumes] until three days before you're gonna be in front of an audience. I was up for the challenge. I was like, "I know theater. I love theater. I miss it. I can't wait to get back to it. This is an opportunity to challenge myself."

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What was the first live performance like? Was there anything that went wrong?

No, it was really exciting. Definitely nerves were like high. We had a lot of adrenaline, but it landed. It was a very solid show.

How long does it take you to put on your makeup before the show? 

I can take my time with it and really get into the details or I can slap it on in like 30 minutes. The hardest part is the eyebrows. The glue stick is necessary for making the brows disappear. It's basically the drag style of getting rid of your eyebrows. For the opening I pencil in 1930s eyebrows.

You were on American Idol 15 years ago. What stands out from that experience today? 

I just had such a good time. I got to sing all this great music. I got to meet great people. That adrenaline rush of being on television in front of millions of people was definitely something that I had never experienced before. That kind of made me realize, "You know what? I can do a lot more than I thought that I could do." It gave me confidence.

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Do you still keep in touch with other people on the cast? Is there a group chat?

There is a group chat that comes up now and again, that everyone chimes in on. I've worked actually with Allison Irahita, who was on my season. She's a great artist in her own right. She sings backgrounds for people as well. I actually just recently had a text conversation with Kris Allen. It had been so long since we had connected and it was so nice saying hi and seeing what he was up to, diving into his Instagram, seeing the music and his family. It was really great.

You've been a judge on RuPaul's Drag Race multiple times. What is that filming process like? Is it daunting to be there next to Ru and Michelle Visage? 

I think I've done five different episodes. I always love it. Michelle and I, we keep up on text. We're friendly, and Ru's always been lovely to me and so are the producers. I'm a big fan of the show, so I always love going in and guest-judging.

Now Marcia Marcia Marcia aka Marty Lauter is in Cabaret with you as Victor and the understudy for the Emcee role. Had you watched their season of Drag Race?

Yes! When I found out that I got this role, I had never met her before, so I reached out to Marty and was like, "I'm so excited to meet you. I hear you're great in the show." Marty's also one of my understudies, so we have a special understanding of the Emcee.

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You also release your own music. How do you find time to write and produce songs in between all your other work? 

Since I started Cabaret, I have not gotten into the studio, because I've been very focused. This is a full-time job. The thing about theater is that everybody on stage does this because they love it. We're not doing it to get rich. We're not doing it because it's easy. It's a lot of work. Eight shows a week, audiences are seeing a group of people that love what they do, but it is all-consuming. It is your life.

So I have not gotten into the studio since I've started this. I'm gonna figure it out. I'm finding the groove. I've been in it for about a month now. I feel like I'm starting to get the routine of it. Still not totally down. On my days off, I just want to sleep, but I'm enjoying it a lot.

What is coming next for you after Cabaret? 

I have a couple things on the pot slowly coming to a simmer. I can't say anything yet, but we're spicing the the stew. I always just love figuring out the next project. I just did The Voice in Australia and I was on tour with Queen the year before that. I like staying busy. I like changing it up and keeping it interesting.

If you could dreamcast the role of the Emcee and pass it off to anybody, who would play him next? 

That's a good question. Let me think. I have to be responsible with the answer.

There's lots of iconic people who have played the role. 

[Musing] Who would be good as the Emcee who hasn't done it already?

Have any of the past Emcees reached out to you?

Mason Alexander Park, who I've seen perform some of these songs online, is amazing and played it in London. I saw Mason on a show and reached out to them two or three years ago before they were cast in Cabaret just to say, "You're amazing in this show." So we've kind of like been pen pals.

Did you watch the Schitt's Creek version of Cabaret? 

I did. Actually Daniel Levy could play this part. He would be great. I don't know if he can sing, but he's funny. He's definitely funny.

This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.

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