University Theatre’s production of “Cabaret” is opening on Wednesday, Feb. 20 in Stewart Theatre. The story presents a controversial story in the economic depression of post-World War I in Berlin as the Nazi Party is starting to overtake Germany. The story revolves around an American writer who meets a cabaret performer in Berlin’s underground nightlife.
Through “Cabaret,” University Theatre is tackling a controversial musical. Mia Self, the director of the musical and assistant director for University Theatre, explained the reason she picked this specific musical in relation to the current political climate.
Self was inspired to direct “Cabaret” after the events that happened in Charlottesville, Virginia where a white supremacist group rioted in August 2017.
“We started having conversations about if there was a way to do productions that speak to this [Charlottesville] and the show that speaks to this more than anything else is “Cabaret” because it’s right on the start of World War II,” said Self.
The musical differs from previous productions as it contains sensitive topics. Self elaborated on some of the challenges of presenting “Cabaret”.
“You have to be sensitive to what’s [in the story],” Self said. “Here we have a story where Nazis appear at the end on stage, there are swastikas that are on stage. So, our students in the production are dealing with that in different ways. Isaiah Lewis, who is playing Ernst, is a Nazi in the show. It’s incredibly challenging for him to wrestle with [this] and to present somebody on stage to represent something that he personally finds something really abhorrent.”
Although the musical production covers sensitive issues, there is some good that comes with the topic. Nia Crews, a fifth-year studying communication media and stage manager for “Cabaret”, explained why she thinks that this musical should be presented by University Theatre.
“It’s nice to hear different perspectives of people’s takes on what we’re doing,” Crews said. “But, we also get to know the history of different people’s families. I think it lets the cast get closer together because you’re touching on stuff that even though it’s about a past event, it’s still stuff that we deal with today, like prejudice.”
Additionally, “Cabaret” is a musical production that allows students to present important topics through art.
“I think the good thing about doing a show like this is still relevant,” Crews said. “We’re in a time, especially right now, there’s prejudice every day and there’s so much happening in the world, we’re all people, we should treat each other with respect.”
There is also great showmanship of creative minds by various departments, like music, dance, design and fashion.
“It’s fantastic, everyone’s put in so much work,” Crews said. “They’re amazingly talented, I can’t imagine doing half the stuff some of the cast does, half the stuff the crew does, the designers, the directors, they are all just amazing at what they do and they’ve made a fantastic final product.”
Overall, Cabaret is a show for all to see. The sensitive content is not something to fear, especially when it’s taking on topics that the real world experiences every day. Self highlighted a few reasons to come and see the show.
“We’ve got some super spectacular dance in the show,” Self said. “The dance we’ve got, I haven’t seen on a musical theatre stage in a long time and it’s a lot of fun. So, spectacle-wise, the set is beautiful, the costumes are beautiful. Talking about the content and the weight of the content, you can disengage from all that and still have a good time but the opportunity is there to wrestle with big ideas if you want to.”
Cabaret will be presented from Feb. 20-24 in Stewart Theatre in Talley Student Union. Tickets will be on sale in ticket central box office in Thomspon Hall.
Editor’s Note: Video description was updated to show correct opening date
