I wrote this out a while ago to justify the reason why I should read Goodbye to Berlin in ELA 😭

Some things to note is that the original source is Goodbye to Berlin, which is a collection of six loosely connected stories. The adaptations that follow are the play  “I Am a Camera” which also has a film, Cabaret (1966) , Cabaret the film (1972)

1. Sally’s friend is Diana in the book but in the musical play her name is Chelsea.
2.  The film adds a new character, Maximilian von Heune.
3. Sally is younger in Goodbye to Berlin, being 19 while the role of Sally Bowles is normally played by older actresses in their 20s-30s.
4. Goodbye to Berlin is in first person, with the author being the main character.
5. The character of Christopher Isherwood changed from being English to being American to being English again.
6. Sally’s character was also changed to being American in the film while she was British in every other adaptation.
7. The name of Chris changed too, in the film he character is named Brian Roberts while in the play he is called Cliff Bradshaw.
8. In the film the relationship between Fräulein Schneider and Herr Schultz is removed and replaced with a younger Jewish couple.
9. In the book Goodbye to Berlin, Sally and Chris do not form a romantic relationship while in every other adaptation their relationship has romance in it, and this is due to the fact that Isherwood is gay.
10. In the film and the play, Cliff is portrayed as bisexual while in I Am a Camera his sexuality is undefined.
11. Sally doesn’t have a abortion in the film I Am a Camera, instead she has a false pregnancy.
12. The film Cabaret introduces new songs such as “Maybe this time” and “Money, Money” that were not in the original musical
13. Songs that were in the original musical were cut from the film 
14. In both the film and play  I Am a Camera the looming threat of the nazi’s is not central to the story like it is in other adaptations.