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AMTSJ takes a trip to sinful
pre-war Berlin in ‘Cabaret’
By NICOLE LIEURANCE
Decadence, entertainment and
vice are the staples of Cabaret,set in
pre-World War II Berlin as the city
struggles to escape mentally from
the horror that is to come. American
Musical Theatre of San Jose presents
this classic musical in collaboration
with Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre
and the Ordway Center for the Per-
forming Arts in St.Paul,Minn.
The performance runs March 4-16
at San Jose Center for the Per-
forming Arts, 255 Almaden Blvd.,
San Jose.
The multi-Tony award winning
Cabaret tells the colorful yet fore-
boding story of the risqué Kit Kat
Klub in Berlin,circa 1930.The club
is a means of distraction from the
outside world, where the Nazi
movement is gaining momentum.
The cabaret, however, is not
immune to the political climate …
and there is a haunting desperation
present throughout the musical.
The cabaret, how-
ever, is not immune
to the political cli-
mate … and there
is a haunting des-
peration present
throughout the
musical
Cabaret (book by Joe Masteroff,
lyrics by Fred Ebb and music by
John Kander), first hit Broadway
in 1966, spawning a movie in 1972
that starred Liza Minnelli as main
character Sally Bowles.The musi-
cal also had two Broadway
revivals,in 1987 and 1998.
In this production, Tari Kelly
(most recently in Broadway’s How
the Grinch Stole Christmas) plays
Sally, a free-spirited, saucy cabaret
dancer who falls in love with an
American novelist,Cliff (Louis Hob-
son).Their romance is not without
troubles, however, nor is that of an
older couple,Herr Schultz (Broad-
way veteran Allen Fitzpatrick) and
Photograph by David M. Allen Photography
The Emcee (Nick Garrison) bids ‘Willkommen’ to audiences at the
Kit Kat Klub in ‘Cabaret.’
Fräulein Schneider (Suzy Hunt).
Presiding over Cabaretis the icon-
ic emcee (Seattle favorite Nick Gar-
rison),who coaxes the audience into
the show with the opening number,
“Willkommen.”The love stories are
interspersed with avant-garde
cabaret performances that still have
enough shock value to warrant a rec-
ommendation of ages 14 and up.
Cabaret can be dark even in its
comedy—a mirror for the nihilism
German citizens felt at the time.
Still,it can get toes tapping.Sally’s
song “Don’t Tell Mama,”as well as
the vivacious title number, have a
beat that’s hard to resist.
Director Bill Berry of Seattle’s
5th Avenue Theatre says that he
studied the historical context of
Germany in 1930 to help him inter-
pret the subtext of the musical.
“Really, all the cabaret clubs
were very in tune with the world
around them,” Berry says. “The
musical numbers in Cabaret are
often a commentary on what’s
happening in the world at large.”
The harder that characters try
to ignore anti-Semitism and
Nazism, the more unavoidable
such forces become in shaping
their lives and relationships.
“One way of looking at Cabaretis
as a cautionary tale,”Berry says.“The
characters are so caught up in their
hedonistic lifestyle,they lose control
of what’s going on around them.”
Berry says that Cabaret lends
itself to different interpretations,
and he wishes to bring out elements
of the show that will make it appeal-
ing to a modern audience while
staying true to the original material.
“I’m fascinated by Cabaret,”he
says. “It’s one of those musicals:
every time you see Cabaret you
see a different production.”
Cabaret features musical direc-
tion by Ian Eisendrath and chore-
ography by Bob Richard, whose
credits include work on The
Tonight Show, The Today Show
and Macy’s Thanksgiving Day
Parade.Recently he staged Broad-
way’s How the Grinch Stole Christ-
mas.He is also resident choreogra-
pher for Sacramento Music Circus.
After Cabaret makes its San
Jose debut, the show will go on …
to Seattle and St. Paul, that is.
Tickets are $14.75-$74.For more
information, call 888.455.SHOW
or visit www.amtsj.org.
STEPPIN’ OUT STAFF
Editor
Dale Bryant
408.200.1021
dbryant@community-
newspapers.com
Arts Coverage
Heather Zimmerman
408.200.1054
hzimmerman@community-
newspapers.com
Social Coverage
Mary Gottschalk
408.200.1035
mgottschalk@community-
newspapers.com
Advertising Information
408.200.1002
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