The mask is off! Orville Peck has returned to his theater roots in Broadway's latest production of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club in the role of Emcee, currently staged in New York City and running through July 2025.
The Grammy-nominated musician has become a beloved and critically acclaimed country music star since his 2019 debut, with his music appearing in HBO's Euphoria and the release of his 2024 duet album Stampede, which included iconic features from Willie Nelson, Elton John, Kylie Minogue, and more. Peck's music career has been so successful that many fans had no idea he had roots in musical theater, and were even more surprised to hear he'd be appearing in Cabaretwithout his signature fringe mask, a "vulnerable" decision for Peck.
"It's been such a dream of mine to do this show, to do this role," the singer tells Out. "I just end up having the best time of my life every single time I'm out there."
In an interview, the musician tells Out what Cabaret means to him, how he humanized a character turning to darkness, the parallels between today's political climate and Nazi Germany, thoughts on MAGA gays, and how his return to theater is inspiring his new music. Yes, Peck is already back in the studio!
Orville Peck attends the 38th Annual Tibet House US Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall on March 03, 2025 in New York City.Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Tibet House US
Out: You're known as a country musician, but what's your relationship with musical theater like?
Orville Peck: I grew up loving theater in general, especially musicals. My family would always go see them. I started acting when I was a kid and because I sang and I was a dancer, the obvious path was to do musical theater for a while. I did a lot of that in my early twenties.
Do you remember the first musical theater show that you ever saw?
It sounds like it's a marketing answer, but genuinely, it was probably Cabaret. I saw the film. What really spoke to me about this show, and no shade to Mamma Mia or anything, but it has a lot of depth. It's that darker tone, something that feels impactful. It also has characters that are underdogs. These are people struggling with real-life circumstances. I think the Jacobean nature of it just really spoke to the kind of art I tend to find fascinating.
You told the New York Times that Cabaret is the favorite musical of your life. What made it so?
There are such complex characters in this story. Now that I'm older, I think I can recognize that stories like that appeal to me because I felt like a complex character in my whole life. I think it also speaks to the struggle that comes for anyone who feels unique or different or othered within their respective society for whatever reason that might be. That spoke to me.
The show depicts some dark themes, including the rise of the Nazi Party. What has entering that world multiple nights a week been like for you as an artist?
It's eight shows a week, so six nights. I get one day off a week. That's been pretty wild. Listen, I grew up dancing ballet professionally, so I'm no stranger to the stamina and the hard work that it takes, but I'm also 37 years old now. I haven't done this in 15 years, or more. That's been a hard thing, but I am happy to report that I feel like my stamina is back. I feel like I'm holding my own, which is amazing. I definitely wake up sore every day.
The thing about something that is as physical as this show, you have to have such a love for what you're doing that none of that matters. I'd forgotten that's what would carry me through this, cause I definitely had my reservations about my age and having had a hiatus from it for so long. But I do two shows in a day sometimes, and I'm about to start the second show, and I feel like I've been hit by a bus. I can't even fathom how I'm gonna get through. Like, no amount of Celsius is gonna carry me through. But then you get out there and you tell this story... Because it's been such a dream of mine to do this show, to do this role, I don't even think about it. I just end up having the best time of my life every single time I'm out there. It's been hard, but it's also been easy in a weird way.
Orville Peck arriving at the Warner Music Group Pre-Grammy Party at Citizen News, February 01, 2024 in Los Angeles, CA.Featureflash Photo Agency/Shutterstock
Thematically, the show is about the rise of the Nazi Party. There are some eerie parallels to what we're living through right now. Have any realizations or lessons jumped out at you?
More than just a couple, sadly. I've actually done this show before. I played one of the Kit Kat Boys and I was the gorilla, which is full circle, because now I get to dance with the gorilla. But something I'd never thought about... it came about sort of because of the current political climate. The MAGA gays, for instance. What would bring somebody to essentially vote against their own community or sense of self? What would bring someone to align with hate when they themselves are somebody who is othered or marginalized? That has been a very fascinating thought for me throughout this process, and me developing my version of this character.
My Emcee is obviously a queer man in this very free atmosphere that is the Kit Kat Club in Berlin. But, by the end of the show, he's taken a very different turn. What really fascinated me was trying to dissect what would make someone do that. When you are somebody that is disempowered in your life for whatever reason, whether that be societal, cultural whatever, I think there's sometimes a crossroads that people get to where you either can take one path, which is to be even a more truer version of yourself and live proud and free, even if that means living in the face of adversity or struggle or aggression or whatever it might be… Or you can take another path, which is to condemn that same thing that makes you feel othered. A path of conformity and assimilation, even if that means aligning with something that has hatred and essentially evil at its core.
It's an interesting dilemma to explore because, I think, now, in this political climate, we're actually seeing a lot of that. It may make us all scratch our heads, but I think there's a real human element behind it that is fascinating to get into in this play.
Sometimes people will go to extreme lengths to feel 'normal,' even if that contradicts with who they are. Especially if their family, everyone else is a part of that majority group.
Exactly, right? Instead of the Emcee just being this sort of figurative thing or a villain or the bad guy or whatever, it takes it to a more relatable and human place that actually feels a lot scarier than somebody just walking on stage and performing the villain. It takes it somewhere human that we can all see like, 'Oh wow, that could have been me if I had gone down a different path.'
Your mask has become an iconic part of your persona as Orville Peck. How did it feel for you to take it off on stage?
It was never a question in my mind whether I was gonna wear it or not. I knew I didn't want to wear it for the role. Leading up to it, I started to get really nervous. It just felt vulnerable. That being said, once I got on stage for the first time in front of an audience with this — and every performance since — I haven't even thought about it, to be honest. I'm truly just focused on trying to do this show justice and to tell this story in a very focused way. I literally forget about it until I put it back on at the end of the night and leave the stage door.
What has the reaction to your performance been like?
Honestly, I've seen quite a lot of reactions to my performance at this point, and they're all wonderful. I think I had the element of surprise on my side because I think a lot of people didn't realize that I had a background in theater or had this kind of performance up my sleeve, per se. People have just been very surprised. A lot of people assumed I was just gonna be stunt casting, I think that's been some of it. But like I said, and it may be actor speak nonsense, but my goal in this was to try and give the most focused and prepared performance with integrity. People seem to be seeing it that way, which is really lovely.
We're only a couple of weeks into your run in the show, but has it inspired your real life or music in any way?
I've been working on new music, and I will be working on new music while I'm here. The theatricality… I'm sort of remembering, by doing this show — not that I wasn't theatrical before — but it's definitely informing some of my creative choices. It reminds me of the freedom and creativity that can come when you are brave enough to express it.
For tickets and more information about Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, visit the musical's official website. Orville Peck's run on the Broadway show runs through through July 20, 2025.
