Willkommen, Bienvenue to Cabaret!
Published: April 12, 2023 | Author: Kol Gibson | Read Time: 4 minutes
Meine Damen und Herren, Mesdames et Messieurs, Ladies and Gentlemen, and everyone else! The SUU Department of Theatre, Dance, and Arts Administration is pleased to announce its production of Cabaret. The show will play on April 14, 15, 17, and 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the Eileen & Allen Anes Studio Theatre with matinee performances on April 15 and 22 at 2:00 p.m. because of mature themes and strong language, this production is not suitable for all ages. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for alumni (with card), and $7 for non-SUU students. Admission is free for SUU students, faculty, and staff with a valid ID card. The Utah Shakespeare Festival Box Office will open 30 minutes prior to each performance, but tickets can also be purchased online by following the instructions at www.suu.edu/pva/ta/current-season.html.
Cabaret is a famous musical that has had many adaptations, including the 1973 film starring Liza Minnelli and more recently, a major plot point in the final season of the popular television show Schitt’s Creek. Set in the early 1930s as the Nazi party gains power, the play follows Cliff Bradshaw, an American writer who finds a cheap room in a boarding house and begins frequenting the local sleazy cabaret known as the Kit Kat Klub. Cliff hits it off with Sally Bowles, one of the club’s “Kit Kat Kids,” and after she moves in with him the following day, they begin a whirlwind affair. Another relationship unfolds as Cliff’s landlady, Fraulein Schneider, and the Jewish grocer Herr Schultz become engaged, but it turns out that neither relationship can withstand the chaos preceding the tragedies of Hitler’s rise to power.
Bee Manesse, who serves as a student dramaturg for the show, says, “Cabaret is a play guided by the major themes of self-delusion and struggling against apathy. Those who venture inside the Kit Kat Klub seek a fantastical world of illusion where they may forget the uncomfortable parts of their reality, but it is clear to both the characters and the audience that no one can escape reality forever.”
While the plot is driven forward by the characters’ dialogue, the play is punctuated with musical numbers that reveal their personal opinions and struggles. It is in the Kit Kat Klub that they have the space to tell the audience about the corruption, prejudice, and debauchery going on behind the scenes of Berlin’s society.
“Although this musical is set in a different time, it is about the lives we are living right now,” comments the production's director, Britannia Howe. “The characters are caught between the unstoppable forces of fear of the “other,” nationalism, survival, and love. It carries a desire to understand the past and the actions that must be taken to protect our present and future.”
Don’t miss the chance to join us at the Kit Kat Klub, where all outsiders are welcome. As Sally sings in the last number of the show, “What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play. Life is a cabaret, old chum, come to the cabaret.” Cabaret will play on April 14, 15, 17, and 21 at 7:30 p.m. and on April 15 and 22 at 2:00 p.m. For more information about arts events at SUU, please visit www.suu.edu/arts.
About the College of Performing and Visual Arts
The College of Performing and Visual Arts (CPVA) at Southern Utah University comprises 41 academic programs including liberal arts (BA/BS) and professional (BFA, BM, BMEd) degrees in art, design, dance, filmmaking, music, and theatre. It includes graduate programs in the fields of arts administration (MFA, MA), music education (MME), and music technology (MM). More than 60 full-time faculty and staff are engaged in teaching and mentoring over 900 majors in the College. CPVA presents over 100 performances, lectures, presentations, and exhibitions each year and is affiliated with the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA), Utah Shakespeare Festival, and the Center for Shakespeare Studies. Southern Utah University is an accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Art & Design (NASAD), National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD), National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), and the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST) making SUU the first public university in the state of Utah to be accredited by all four associations. For more information about the College of Performing and Visual Arts, visit www.suu.edu/pva.
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