Photographs by James Anglin Flynn (stage manager)
Director's Note
Truly these are amazing times. Here, on the brink of a dynamic political (and ultimately cultural) shift, the likes of which has not been experienced in decades, there is hope and fear, anxiety and anticipation, the passionate, often jubilant pursuit of “the new” and the white-knuckled clinging to “the old.” Although distractions are plentiful, readily available and hypnotic in their appeal, try as one may -and many do try- to remain uninvolved, no one can claim to be unaffected. In these troubled times the barometer has changed; money does not provide a buffer for the affluent nor are the most impoverished protected from descending into situations of increased stress. The impact of the shift can only be sorted out in time. So, are we talking 1929 Berlin? or the 1960’s? or today?
At the time of the first staging of Cabaret in the early sixties, the United States was undergoing a dynamic political and cultural shift that forced a nationwide self-examination. In the midst of the “sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll,” the forces of Jim Crow and segregation were being shattered-
Wait a second! Linking the Civil Rights Movement and the Nazi Movement? Where the *#%^ is he going with this?! And what does it have to do with what’s going on now?!
You’re right, its not a good match, huh? Sorry, I got sidetracked. Well, let’s not look at the movements themselves. The fact is, what I’m saying has little to do with either movement and everything to do with how we respond, and how even a non-response becomes a significant factor in the outcome of any movement, political or cultural change. With the beautiful dancing girls (and boys), rollicking music and laughter, the Emcee welcomes the patrons of the Kit Kat Klub and beckons them to leave their troubles “outside.” We do love our distractions –somebody YouTube distractions for me- but do they really allow us to keep our troubles outside?
In the original production of Cabaret, the play opened with a huge mirror positioned to allow (force) the audience to see itself. Self-examination. Challenging, daring the audience to watch and acknowledge that they are witness to what is transpiring on the stage or all around them. Sitting. Watching. Allowing. Participating…?
“Please, turn off your Blackberrys at this time.”
Truly these are amazing times…
Don Mays
(director)
(director)
"Life is a Cabaret, Old Chum!" - A Dramaturgical Note
Cabaret, written by Joe Masteroff, John Kander, and Fred Ebb, based on Christopher Isherwood’s Berlin Stories and John Van Druten’s I Am A Camera, offers an ominous look into German life during the early 1930’s. At the end of World War I, Germany was in the midst of crisis. The country suffered economically not only from the international depression, but also from heavy war debts and reparations imposed by the Allies following the war. In addition to the economic woes, the loss of the war and forced demilitarization resulted in a lack of national pride and a longing for a restored Germany, reflected in the multiplicity of parties represented in the Weimar parliament and society at large.
Despite the general climate, or perhaps due to it, Berlin cultural life thrived; expressionist art flourished, cinema boomed, and live performance halls were scattered throughout the city. Revues, varietés, and cabarets offered an escape from the hardships of everyday life. As time passed, however, not even art could provide adequate escape.
The tension between the hardships of life and the escapism of the theatre was characterized as a “dance on the volcano”; live life to the fullest because one could never be sure what tomorrow would bring. Such is the backdrop for American novelist Clifford Bradshaw’s stay in Berlin. As Clifford tries to navigate life abroad, he is drawn to the Kit Kat Klub. There he meets nightclub singer Sally Bowles and their tumultuous affair begins. Ultimately, the entertainment at the Kit Kat Klub serves not as an escape from the Berlin in which it is located, but as a commentary on the grim reality of the moment.
The performance, inside and outside of the Cabaret, is symptomatic of the liminality of identity, gender, sex, class, and race. It negotiates the masks we put on every day; it shatters façades and protects illusions at the same time. Each character has to resolve his or her performativity in the light of impending doom. The concerns depicted in Cabaret are not exclusive to the historic moment of the emerging Third Reich but speak to the way in which the individual is always responsible for the shaping of society. In this way, the world itself becomes a theater through which a new order is formed.
Willkommen! Bienvenue! Welcome…
Katrin Dettmer & Aaron Malkin
(dramaturgs)
(dramaturgs)
Review from the Brown Daily Herald
by Rosalind Schonwald
Stuart Theater has been transformed into the Kit Kat Klub, where the musical Cabaret takes place and "life is beautiful," as the Emcee, Aubie Merrylees '10, sings in the opening number. The production, directed by Don Mays, who has directed other plays at local theaters, is a colorful display of nuance and chutzpah with the constant pop and fizz of double entendres and plain old indecency.
Stuart Theater has been transformed into the Kit Kat Klub, where the musical Cabaret takes place and "life is beautiful," as the Emcee, Aubie Merrylees '10, sings in the opening number. The production, directed by Don Mays, who has directed other plays at local theaters, is a colorful display of nuance and chutzpah with the constant pop and fizz of double entendres and plain old indecency.
Cabaret takes place in 1930s Berlin, where cultural life thrived despite - or because of - Weimar Germany's economic and social uncertainty. The Nazis were a rising force but had yet to grab hold of the reigns of power. Against this pre-World War II backdrop, the cast of Brown students portrays ill-fated love stories and struggles with identity, allegiance and fear while mastering German accents, elderly hobbles and shameless innuendo. The foremost storyline is that of Sally Bowles (Emily Borromeo '09), a cabaret singer, and her tempestuous love affair with an American writer, played by Michael Williams '10.
The show's subplots undermine the champagne-like bubbliness of the cabaret world, reminding viewers of the darkening cloud hanging over Germany. Facing anti-Semitic pressure, an elderly German woman (Alicia Coneys '09) decides not to marry the Jewish man she loves (Ellis Rochelson '09, a Herald sports columnist). Meanwhile, bigoted Fraulein Kost (Jessica Goldschmidt '10), Sally's prostitute neighbor, refers to bedding good German sailors as her patriotic duty. The theme of sexuality, in explicit references and symbols as well as implications from characters' costumes and body language, is a major facet of the play and the production.
The play centers on various love stories, and burlesque dancers and pan-sexuality dominate the scene at the Kit Kat Klub. The members of the orchestra, mostly male, wear beautiful sequined gowns. When the Emcee is introducing Sally, he announces, "I told her, 'I want you for my wife.' She said, 'What would your wife want with me?'"
The cast is saturated with the skills of triple threats - performers who act, sing and dance with equal talent. Many prove to be exceptional character actors, changing their inflections, accents and postures to embody their roles. The ensemble numbers involving the Cabaret's Kit Kat Girls (and boys) and the Emcee are formidable portrayals of lasciviousness and cunning.
For this production of Cabaret, the Kit Kat Klub occupies the same space as the theater itself, and the audience shares in the characters' own escapism. There are theatergoers seated on stage at red-draped tables under the club's yellow-bulb sign. With this arrangement, Mays blurs the line between the reality of Stuart Theater and the suspended non-reality of the Klub, making concrete the musical's refrain, "Life is a cabaret."
Impressions From A Rehearsal
13 February 2009, Stuart Theatre
Photographs by Katrin Dettmer (dramaturg)
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