What goes together better than drag and Germans, Nazis and nightclubs?
Joe Masteroff's "Cabaret," the fall major for Torn Ticket II, skillfully combines the flamboyance of nightclub dancers and the terror of Berlin during the beginning of the Nazi Party's formation.
"Cabaret" tells the story of Cliff Bradshaw (played by senior Brian Raphel), a young American author in search of the subject of his next novel. His travels take him to Berlin, where he meets Fr?¤ulein Schneider (senior Rebecca Schoffer), a German landlady engaged to the Jewish Herr Schultz (freshman Kyle Sircus) and Sally Bowles (sophomore Greta Cottington), a performer in the "Kit Kat Club." According to senior Dave Naden, who plays Victor, a male Kit Kat dancer, the Kit Kat is "seedy - a place where you can get anything you wanted, sexually."
Schoffer called the production "an atypical, non-traditional take on 'Cabaret.' The director chose to depict the play from Cliff's memory."
In particular, the show relies on the emcee (senior Bennett Hillenbrand) who acts as the host of the play and the embodiment of the Cabaret. His character serves to lighten up the play by easing the transition from the reality of Germany to the escape of the Cabaret and hints at the foolishness of their separation. He sings, "We have no troubles here; life is beautiful," but the terror of the emerging war always lurks in the background.
The play repeatedly and symbolically expresses this contrast between exterior savagery and interior lavishness. The Kit Kat dancers depict a vision of flamboyance. The men wear risqué costumes of black thongs with lace pants, high-heeled boots, shaved legs and fishnet stockings. The female dancers strut in colorful variations on lingerie. Fr?¤ulein and Cliff, who experience the force of the Nazi invasion, contrast this grandiosity with their conservative knee-length trench coats.
Of the lavish and revealing costumes, Naden said, "When I first auditioned, it was really exciting ... And on opening night, it's going to feel right and natural."
Junior Cassie Wallace, who plays Rosie, another Kit Kat dancer, said, "I think the costumes have turned out fantastically, and I'm excited for the audience to see and react to our costumes."
The set design furthers the juxtaposition of reality and escapism. The production staff built balconies that jut out between the sections of the arena. Some audience members will sit on chairs set in the homemade balcony, enhancing the feeling of a club and drawing the audience into the environment of the time.
The floor of Balch Arena displays a collage of newsprint headlines from Germany. Junior Craig Kaufman (set production) chose headlines that revealed the growing unrest in Berlin at the time.
According to Kaufman, the irony of "Cabaret" is the presence of the headlines throughout the course of the production. The glamour and dancing of the Kit Kat Club only partially obscures the beginnings of the Holocaust.
Director Virginia Anderson, a PhD student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences' Drama program, found sensitively displaying the power of the Holocaust and the swastika the greatest challenge of the play.
"Some people think musical theater is all song and dance, but we have to tell the story truthfully, respectfully," Anderson said. "Cliff serves as a camera, taking snapshots of the world changing around him."
Naden said in agreement, "People know a lot about the Holocaust at its peak, but 'Cabaret' tells the spark of it all, what Germany was like before the war."
Cottington called the play "an example of the power and endurance of storytelling to promote social awareness and change."
"Art helps us reflect on injustice and history by appealing to our senses, and 'Cabaret' creates a vivid world that lets the audience narrow down their knowledge of the political upheavals in Berlin to one specific, intimate moment in time," she added.
After all, "Cabaret" is, at its core, a personal depiction of how World War II hurt individuals and a tribute to the idea of incompleteness, whether through Cliff's unwritten novel, Fr?¤ulein's unfulfilled love or the lives lost to the war.
To recognize the occurrence of World AIDS day on Dec. 1, the cast will give out red ribbons and condoms and accept donations for the AIDS Action Committee, a non-profit health organization based in Massachusetts. The cast also donated their complimentary tickets to the AAC.
"We have chosen to align ourselves with World AIDS Day to express our intent not only to recognize tragedies in the past, but to actively fight the injustices of our present," Cottington said.
CabaretThursday Nov. 29 at 8 p.m.Saturday Dec. 1 at 2 p.m.Balch Arena TheatreTickets: $ 7 at the Aidekman Box Office
In this article, "Junior director Virginia Anderson" was erroneously printed and has been replaced with the correct "Director Virginia Anderson, a PhD student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences' Drama program".
