Auli’i Cravalho Shares Advice From Gayle Rankin To Play Sally In 'Cabaret'

iHeartRadio Broadway sat down with Auli’i Cravalho, who is set to make her Broadway debut as ‘Sally Bowles’ in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club!

Cravalho talks advice from Gayle Rankin, what she brings to the role and what it's like working alongside Adam Lambert who is making his Broadway debut as ‘Emcee’ alongside her. Lambert and Cravalho will begin performances Monday, September 16 and play a limited engagement through Sunday, March 30, 2025. 

As previously announced, Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin, both of whom received widespread critical acclaim and earned Tony Award nominations for Cabaret, will play their final performances as ‘Emcee’ and ‘Sally Bowles’ on Saturday evening, September 14. Casting for the roles of ‘Emcee’ and ‘Sally Bowles’ after March 30 will be announced in the new year. 

Auli’i Cravalho (Sally Bowles) was born in Kohala, Hawaiʻi, and is boldly building her body of work as both actor and producer. Most recently, she can be seen starring as ‘Janis’ in Paramount Pictures’ box office hit, Mean Girls: The Musical, an adaptation of the Tony Award nominated stage musical of the 2004 cult-classic Mean Girls, written by Tina Fey. Cravalho can also be seen in the Amazon series “The Power” opposite Toni Collette and John Leguizamo, and Brett Haley’s Netflix film All Together Now leading Fred Armisen and Carol Burnett. Other notable credits include her starring roles in the Jason Katims musical series “Rise” for NBC, and the supernatural comedy Darby and the Dead and queer rom-com Crush, both films for Hulu. Cravalho has transitioned seamlessly to stage work and made her West End debut as ‘Eva Peron’ in Evita at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 2023. Additional theatre credits include Sunset Boulevard at the Kennedy Center and Children of Eden at Lincoln Center. She has continued to dominate in voice-over as well, lending her voice to projects for Amazon, Apple, Audible, Disney, National Geographic, and Paramount as well as video game studios Gameloft and Studio Wildcard. 

Perhaps best known for her performance as the title character of Disney Animation’s Moana, Auli’i sang the Oscar-nominated song “How Far I‘ll Go” live at the Academy Awards in 2017 and won the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Voice Acting in an Animated Feature the same year. She will be reprising the role of ‘Moana’ in Moana 2, set to be released in theaters November 2024. Cravalho is also an Executive Producer of Disney’s eagerly anticipated live-action adaptation of Moana, due 2026.