Image courtesy of Heather Evered.
On March 4-6, the Connecticut College Theater Department put on a production of the 1966 musical Cabaret in the newly renovated Palmer Auditorium. Cabaret (book by Joe Masteroff, music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb) takes place in Berlin, Germany during the 1930s as the Nazi Party emerged and rose to power. The Kit Kat Klub, the show’s main setting, is a paradise for the performers and residents of Berlin. People go to the club to forget all of their troubles and have a good time. However, the reality is that the personal is political. Politics will always end up affecting people in one way or another; there is no escape.
The two main plotlines in Cabaret involve the love stories between Cliff Bradshaw (Adam Dutton ‘22) and Sally Bowles (Brielle Blood ‘24) and between Herr Schultz (Ian Albanese ‘24) and Fräulein Schneider (Katie Caviness ‘25). Cliff is an American novelist searching for inspiration in a new country, and Sally is a performer at the Kit Kat Klub. Their relationship highlights the cultural differences between the United States and Germany during the 1930s. Schultz is a Jewish man and Schneider is a German hotel owner. The two fall in love despite their different backgrounds and make the risky decision to get married even as the Nazis gain power. Cabaret’s narrator is the Emcee at the Kit Kat Klub, played by Wylie McCann ‘24. The Emcee is traditionally played by a man in drag, but the Conn Theater Department decided to take a new and exciting route by casting McCann, a female-identifying student, in the role.
The entire cast, crew, and production team of Cabaret worked to create a beautiful, historically accurate, captivating production. The show was directed by Ken Prestininzi, the chair of the Conn Theater Department, musically directed by Jake Cannon, and choreographed by dance professor David Dorfman. The rehearsal process began with an “Immersion Week” during the final week of winter break, when the actors had a chance to explore their characters in depth. Mia Lowy ‘23, who played Fritzie (one of the Kit Kat girls), expressed, “since the pandemic, I have not been able to perform musical theater in a fully-produced show (my last musical was February/March of 2020). This excitement to perform and be together was so prevalent during Immersion Week– everyone in the cast came in with such a great attitude and a willingness to create something beautiful together.” Lowy went on to explain how the actors found ways to connect with their characters: “Our director, Ken Prestininzi, had everyone choose words from the script, as well as research a few images, that related to our character. Along with this, the Kit Kat 6 had a special time dedicated to exploring our character’s backstories and how they relate to each other.” These activities helped the actors analyze their characters on a deeper level so they could portray them as authentically as possible.
Katie Caviness ‘25 reflected on her character’s background and motives: “Fräulein Schneider was a lot older than I am, which made finding ways to connect to her more difficult. I spent a lot of time just sitting down and asking myself questions about her: Who is she?; What does she want?; What obstacles does she face?” Kate Rubel ‘24 also shared how she connected to her character, Fräulein Kost: “Portraying a prostitute who did not seem to care about the political state of 1930s Berlin was definitely a challenge. I started off with noting what Fräulein Kost wanted most in life and settled on an advantageous marriage or sexual arrangement. Because of this, she did not worry about what political party any of her male callers belonged to; she only looked at their social status and power.” Rubel continued, “I also read some articles on prostitution in Berlin at the time of Cabaret and watched some movies with famous prostitutes (Pretty Woman etc.) to understand the way they acted.” According to Rubel, the actors even spent time perfecting their German accents with a dialect coach from the University of Connecticut (Julie Foe). It was easy for the audience to imagine this story taking place in 1930s Berlin because of the detailed work done by each cast and crew member to make the show realistic and believable.
Clearly, the production was the result of a lot of thought, not to mention all of the behind-the-scenes work done by the crew members and pit band. Ethan Chin ‘25, the Sound Designer for Cabaret, said, “as the only student designer, I was extremely excited to have the opportunity to help bring this production to life. Subtle sounds like popping sounds and other background noises allowed for the audience to feel like they were experiencing the story as if they were in the Kit Kat Klub themselves. My favorite was the subtle egg-cracking sound effect.”
The cast faced obstacles during the very end of their rehearsal process for Cabaret. Blood (Sally Bowles), shared, “On February 23rd, I tested positive for COVID and my 10th day [of isolation] would be opening night of the show. Luckily, I tested negative on day 5, and was able to get back to stage in time for our dress rehearsals! Opening night was my fourth day performing on the new Palmer stage, and it was just a thrilling and nerve-wracking experience.” Blood did not let her experience with COVID impact her incredible performance as Sally Bowles. She continued, “During our opening night performance, I began to cry very real tears in Sally’s last scene because the weight of all Sally goes through was something that I deeply felt. I was so moved that after coming off stage, I went to my fellow castmates and said, ‘Wow… Sally goes through a lot, man!’”
After undergoing a massive renovation, Palmer Auditorium reopened just in time for Conn’s production of Cabaret. Its beautiful 1,300-seat theater made Cabaret an even more exciting experience for all the students involved, as well as the audience members. “After performing in Fun Home my first year in Tansill Theater, getting to perform on the Palmer stage was a huge difference. As much as I love Tansill, Palmer really feels like a professional stage,” said Lowy. “I have performed a lot, but I have never performed on a stage that had the seating arrangement that Palmer does. It was a truly incredible experience, and I felt so loved. I’m so excited to make more art and memories in this beautiful space,” Blood shared. Conn students and community members filled the theater during all three performances of Cabaret, happy to be back in Palmer and enjoy a wonderful show.
In many ways, Cabaret is a period piece, so it may seem hard to relate the musical’s messages to the modern day. However, Blood elaborated, “Even though none of the people performing or watching Cabaret are navigating the 1930s in Berlin, we are navigating the 2020s during a pandemic, and within that there is a great amount of tragedy and heartbreak.” We can certainly make some parallels between the current tragedies in our world and the tragedies that occured in Berlin, even if they are not of the same magnitude. Ginny Anderson, a theater professor at Conn, said, “At one point in Cabaret, Cliff says to Sally, ‘Some day I’ve got to sit you down and read you a newspaper. You’ll be amazed at what’s going on.’ She replies, ‘You mean — politics? But what has that to do with us?’ At its core, Cabaret reminds us that politics has EVERYTHING to do with us. Each of us. The atrocities in Ukraine remind us of that. The growing push to ban books in the United States reminds us of that. What does it take to wake up to what’s unfolding around us? Where will it end and at what cost? Once awakened, what will any of us choose to do about it?”
