The weekend of Nov 5 -7, OCU’s Wanda Bass School of Music presented one of Kander and Ebb’s most celebrated gems, Cabaret, as the Fall spotlight production.
The story is set in pre-WWII Berlin and follows a troubled and charming nightclub girl, Sally Bowles, and Cliff Bradshaw, an all-American writer. They navigate around to the famous Kit Kat Club. Through its entirety, it is guided and narrated by electric and ominous Emcee, who takes the story through the transition to Nazi Germany at the show’s final moment.
Most of the show’s actors were double cast. Olivia Fosson and Abigail Brock shared the role of Sally. Austin Jones and Gabriel Carton shared the role of Cliff. The Emcees, both brilliant standouts in their own right, were played by Allie Millburn and Cooper Clack, and each led their own army of Kit Kat dancers – including Caroline Morath, Olivia Reiter and Simón Gomez-Villegas.
One of my favorite parts of the show was the choice to cast both versions of the Emcee with actors who were gender-queer. Allie Millburn absolutely dominated the stage with their hauntingly commanding presence and undeniably electric persona, mentioning in their bio how much it meant to be freed by a role like this one. By the same token, Cooper Clack dazzled with their artistic sense of dance and laser focused intentions throughout.
The Kit Kat girls were a massive driving force through the entire show, lighting up the stage every time they sauntered on. Kassidy Weideman was a standout as Helga, taking up space as only she can, and always with a hint of cheeky humor.
One surprising show-stopping number of the night was ‘Two Ladies,’ performed by the Emcee(s), Rosie(s) and Bobbi. Dazzling with Catherine García’s creative and saucy choreography, the number’s casts both brought the house down and provided some much-needed comedic relief from the darkness that comes with a show like this one.
Karen Miller, assistant director of opera and music theatre and director of Cabaret used her time and vision with this piece to tell a story of humans, of warning and of possibilities, both good and evil. When I spoke to her during intermission, she said she noted how many people recount the happenings of Nazi occupation and WWII with intense wonder. Miller said her goal was to take this opportunity was to highlight the ‘how’ something as wild and charged as this happens, all while telling the story through deeply flawed, deeply human characters.
The final and most stabbing moment of the show left every audience member completely silent. The last scenes demonstrate what it was like as the Nazi party grew in Germany, and as the Emcee sang, admonished his final lines of text, he grabbed the old German flag, ripped it down the middle and crumpled it. Once it was thought to be over, they revealed an American flag and placed their fingers over the top with an eyebrow raise that dared to ask, ‘want this one was ripped, too?” The final light went out on this image.
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