After releasing his second solo album, Last Man Dancing, this summer, the former Scissor Sisters frontman jumped at the chance to play the Emcee in the West End production of the acclaimed musical Cabaret at London’s Kit Kat Club.
While Eddie Redmayne initiated the role for the 2021 West End revival, Joel Grey, who came out in 2015, won a Tony and an Oscar for famously starring as the master of ceremonies in the original 1966 Broadway production and the 1972 film with Liza Minnelli.
Shears joined the production on September 25th and will continue in the role until March 2024.
While Shears has been performing on stages around the world for over 20 years, the 45-year-old started rehearsals for the demanding and flamboyant role in August.
With eight shows a week, the schedule for live theater isn’t for the faint of heart.
Back in early September, Shears shared a shirtless selfie in the midst of his intense regimen looking pretty fiiiiine just weeks before his Cabaret debut
“Zad’s home,” he captioned the snap showing off his zaddy muscles.
Prior to his opening night, the queer hitmaker expressed his excitement at getting to take on the iconic role.
“It is my privilege and honor to play the Emcee in this incredible show,” Shears said in a statement. “This role has been a lifetime dream of mine and I couldn’t imagine a better production of it to be a part of.”
After nearly three months of performances under his belt, playing the Emcee has changed Shears in more ways than one.
On Monday, the musician posted another shirtless selfie from inside his dressing room and made a joke how the show has affected his slender waistline and six-pack abs.
“Cabaret- doing wonders for the love handles since Aug ‘23,” he quipped.
While there was hardly a sign of love handles on his fit form before, no doubt signing and dancing for two hours each night is quite the workout.
Despite the busy performance schedule, Shears did manage to fit in time for hanging out with his pals and shared a photo having a gay ‘ol time at Elton John‘s holiday luncheon.
In addition to Shears and Sir Elton, the intergenerational queer extravaganza included John’s husband David Furnish, Heartstopper twinks Kit Connor and Joe Locke, It’s a Sin star Callum Howells (who played the Emcee prior to Shears in Cabaret) The xx member Oliver Sim, and DJ Fat Tony, among others.
“One of the best Sunday afternoons in recent memory. Thank you @davidfurnish and @eltonjohn for such a great and very gay lunch at Woodside, ” Shears captioned the group photo. “David and Elton are the best at not only bringing together old friends but making sure some new ones are made as well.”
Shears and Elton previously worked together on Tammy Faye, the Olivier-nominated musical about famed ’80s televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker.
The musical had its world premiere in London in 2022 and is set to launch on Broadway in 2024.
Those heading to London can check out Shears in Cabaret until March 2024 by getting tickets here. Everyone can see more of his transformative performance by peeping more snaps from the show below:
