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NPR MUSIC INTERVIEWS

Broadway Composer John Kander Reflects On
A Career Of 'Hidden Treasures'

November 25, 2015 1:29 PM ET

TERRY GROSS, HOST:

This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. My guest, composer John Kander, along with his longtime lyricist, the late Fred Ebb, wrote the songs for the Broadway shows "Cabaret," "Chicago," "Flora The Red Menace," "Kiss Of The Spider Woman" and "The Scottsboro Boys," as well as the songs for Martin Scorsese's 1977 film "New York, New York." The title song was a big hit for Frank Sinatra.

GROSS: …. John Kander, what impact did writing the songs for "Cabaret" have on you as a secular Jew because it's— you know, it's set in Germany as the Nazis are coming to power.

KANDER: I don't think I ever thought about that. I think I thought about it [as] a piece of theater. So…