Key Insights
As groundbreaking now as when it first premiered on Broadway in 1966, the UAB Department of Theatre’s production of this stylish jazz musical gives students exciting performance opportunities
UAB Theatre
Illustration by Michael Vizzina, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is presenting a season of plays that explore power, and up next is the stylish, classic jazz musical “Cabaret,” with shows from Nov. 11-15.
UAB Theatre is the performance company of the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Theatre.
American writer Cliff Bradshaw falls in love with English cabaret performer Sally Bowles at the decadent Kit Kat Klub in 1930s Weimar, Germany. They navigate the complexities of love against the hedonism of Berlin’s nightlife and the looming threat of the rising Nazi Party.
Created by the musical theater powerhouse team of John Kander and Fred Ebb, and as groundbreaking now as when it first premiered on Broadway in 1966, “Cabaret” explores political and social tensions as the characters struggle with their personal desires, indifferent to the existential threats in the streets of Berlin and across Europe.
Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. nightly Nov. 11-14 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, in UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, Sirote Theatre, 1200 10th Ave. South. Tickets from $20.
For information, visit AlysStephens.org or call 205-975-2787.
With music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb and book by Joe Masteroff. Assistant Professor and Head of Performance Santiago Sosa will direct the production, with music direction by Jonathan Parks.
In 1999, as a young theater student at Wharton County Junior College in Texas, Sosa says he traveled to New York City and saw the 1998, revival of “Cabaret.” He had never experienced anything like it.
“It was sexy, dangerous, funny, uncomfortable and extraordinarily alive,” Sosa said. “That production changed the way I understood what theater could be.”
For UAB Theatre’s production, Sosa wanted the entire theater to become the Kit Kat Klub. The musical’s ensemble is not simply a collection of singers and dancers, he says, but Berlin itself — a living, breathing presence throughout the story.
“I want our audience to feel welcomed into this beautiful, chaotic world, to fall in love with it and ultimately to understand the devastation of watching it disappear. Because before we can mourn the loss of something, we must first understand why it was worth loving.”
“Cabaret” is a story about belonging. Cliff, Sally, the Emcee and the inhabitants of the Kit Kat Klub are all searching for somewhere they can exist fully, within a society growing increasingly intolerant and tightening the options for self-expression.
“A place to love, to create, to be ridiculous, to be frightened and to be themselves,” Sosa said. “Theater did that for me. My hope is that, for a little while, our Kit Kat Klub might do the same for you.”
The power of theatrical storytelling lies in its ability to hold a mirror up to culture, says Megan Lewis, Ph.D., chair of the UAB Department of Theatre.
“Perhaps in the mirror of the Kit Kat Klub, we can see ourselves reflected, reflect on how escapism and complacency mask hard realities, and ask ‘what parts of our society are we willing to lose, and what do we strive to protect?’” Lewis said.
Visit the UAB Department of Theatre online at uab.edu/cas/theatre, or call the department at 205-934-3236.
The cast and crew of “Cabaret”
Assistant director is Simon Tsikalas of Madison, Alabama; assistant choreographer is Aurkheem Jolley of Midfield, Alabama; and assistant music director is Knox Villemarette of Lafayette, Louisiana; with stage management by Hannah Heller and assistants Katelyn Gottlieb of Helena, Alabama, and Sarah Thiel of Conyers, Georgia. Intimacy choreographer is Kelley Schoger.
Kenneth Weldon of Midfield is the Emcee; Elena Santini of Atlanta, Georgia, is Sally Bowles; Jordan Foster of Birmingham, Alabama, is Cliff; Peyton Siegel of San Antonio, Texas, is Ernst; Cheslee Duke of Munford, Alabama, is Fraulein Schneider; KK Murphy of Columbus, Ohio, is Fraulein Kost; Case Warner of Edwardsville, Illinois, is Herr Schultz; Jane Delahoussaye of Sugar Land, Texas, is Rosie; Lilly Grace Wilmoth of San Antonio, Texas, is LuLu; Monica Velma of Wetumpka, Alabama, is Frenchie and understudy for Sally; Emery Hammer of Knoxville, Tennessee, is Texas; Ava Chen of Parkland, Florida, is Fritzie; Dance Captain Sophia Evangelidis of Manhattan, Kansas, is Helga (and Gorilla); Caleb Womack of Gadsden, Alabama, is Bobby and understudy for Cliff; Brenn Foy of Gardendale, Alabama, is Victor; James Taylor is Herman; Zion Carmichael of Birmingham is Hans; and Ryan Chalmers of Cumming, Georgia, is Customs/Club Owner and understudy for Shultz/Ernst; with swings Lauren Parrish of Bessemer, Alabama, Jackson Scott of New Orleans, Louisiana, and Francis Fremin of Thibodaux, Louisiana.
Lena Racelis of Madison and Reese Hand of Hoover, Alabama, are props run crew; Stella Shipman of Trussville, Alabama, is light board operator; Addison Albrecht of Alpharetta, Georgia, and Rosemary Sharp of Trussville are spotlight operators; Andrew Gleason of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Blake Barrett of Cumming are audio run crew; Brady Taylor of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Isaiah Leslie are dressers; Brennen Foy of Gardendale, Alabama, and Myah Mutton are costume studio crew; with Chalmers and Chen, scenery studio crew; Foster, properties studio crew; and Duke, electrics studio crew.
Scenic design/production management by Therrin Eber; lighting design by Kelly Allison; sound design by David Jones; costume design by Sharon Morgan; props design by Inji Ha; technical direction by Jennifer Glass; with assistant director and scenic studio supervisor Jonathan Harder; and costume direction by Amy Page with assistant Vivian Hogeland of Birmingham.