Cabaret

As the Nazis begin their ascent to power in the early 1930s, American writer Cliff Bradshaw visits Germany to begin his next book. Searching for inspiration in Berlin, he meets Sally Bowles at a cabaret called the Kit Kat Klub. Soon, Sally and Cliff move into a boarding house run by Fräulein Schneider and her suitor, Herr Schultz, a Jewish grocer. As Germany transforms at the hands of the Nazis, however, Cliff, Sally, Schneider and Schultz’s world and beliefs are disrupted forever.Set in the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp and performed by its inmates at the bequest of their Nazi captors, this production will explore the rich history of coerced and subversive theatrical performance in the ghettos and concentration camps of World War II.We will be casting actors, singers and dancers and assembling a large ensemble for this production. “Leave your troubles outside! So–Life is disappointing? In here Life is Beautiful. The girls are beautiful. Even the orchestra is beautiful… Outside it is winter but here it is so hot–every night we have to battle the girls from taking off all their clothing. So don’t go away. Who knows? Tonight we may lose the battle!”CABARET, 1966, Book by Joe Masteroff, Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb“My friends, you are lucky to be here this afternoon. Here, in Buchenwald, we have the best art and the best artists in the whole of Germany. Here you can actually laugh out loud at our jokes. Here is the freest theatre in the Reich. In the theatres outside, the actors and the audience are frightened because they fear that they may end up in a Concentration Camp. That’s something we don’t have to worry about.”Originally published in Theatre Arts. “The Freest Theatre in the Reich”: THEATRE IN THE GERMAN CONCENTRATION CAMPS. Curt Daniel. New York: Theatre Arts, Inc., November 1941. pp. 801-807.