Cast chosen for Southeastern Opera Workshop's “Cabaret”
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
by: Tonya Lowentritt
HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana University’s Opera/Music Theatre Workshop will
present the Broadway musical “Cabaret” Sept. 26 and 27, at 7:30 p.m., at the Columbia
Theatre for the Performing Arts in downtown Hammond.
The story of “Cabaret” has a long history, said Charles Effler, director of the
Opera/Music Theatre Workshop.
“In the early 1930s, English author Christopher Isherwood moved to Berlin and
met a number of people who became fictional characters in his books ‘Mr. Norris Changes
Trains’ and ‘Goodbye to Berlin,’ often published together as ‘The Berlin Stories.’
One of the characters was Sally Bowles, an English cabaret performer in a disreputable
Berlin nightclub,” he said.
In the 1950s, the story about Bowles was made into a play and film titled “I
Am a Camera,” and in 1966, the musical “Cabaret” opened on Broadway, based on the
play and the original story, Effler explained.
“The show was an immediate success; it was nominated for 11 Tony awards, receiving
eight, and ran for almost three years – a remarkable feat for the late 1960s,” he
said.
Set in 1931 Berlin as the Nazis were rising to power, “Cabaret” focuses on the
nightlife at the Kit Kat Klub and revolves around a newly arrived American writer,
Cliff Bradshaw, and his relationship with an English cabaret performer, Bowles.
“A sub-plot involves the doomed romance between the owner of a German boarding
house, where Cliff and Sally live, Fräulein Schneider, and her elderly suitor Herr
Schultz, a Jewish fruit vendor,” Effler said. “Overseeing the action is the master
of ceremonies at the Kit Kat Klub. The club and the emcee serve as a metaphor for
the ominous political developments in late Weimar Germany.”
The enormous reception of the 1966 original Broadway production inspired numerous
subsequent productions in London, a 1972 film starring Liza Minelli, Joel Grey and
Michael York, and three Broadway revivals in 1987, 1998 and 2014.
“Since Cabaret is set in and around a seedy Berlin nightclub during Hitler’s
rise to power, some violence and sexual innuendo are included in the production, so
it may not be suitable for children,” Effler said.
Opera Workshop welcomes back guest stage director Alton Geno for this production.
In addition to a long career as a performer, choreographer, and director in New Orleans
and around the country, Geno has directed Opera Workshop’s productions of “Into the
Woods,” “A Night on Broadway,” and “Sweeney Todd,” as well as productions of “A Funny
Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” “The Light in the Piazza,” “South Pacific,”
“The Wizard of Oz” and “The Music Man.”
The cast includes Jacob Shaver (Montezuma, Iowa) as the Master of Ceremonies,
Jeanetta Johnson (Bogalusa) as Sally Bowles, Andrew Butler (River Ridge) as Cliff
Bradshaw, Cheyenne Moore (Slidell) as Fräulein Schneider, Canaan White (Ponchatoula)
as Herr Schultz
Hannah Turner (Central) as Fräulein Kost, and Ryan Blanchfield (Baton Rouge) as Ernst
Ludwig.
The Kit Kat Klub boys are Alfred Harper (New Orleans) as Bobby, Evan Deroche
(Luling) as Victor, Wesley Newton (Bourg) as Herman, Jacob Chancey (Hammond) as Hans,
and Trey Tounsel (Slaughter) as Klaus.
The Kit Kat Klub Girls are Caroline Abadie (Luling) as Lulu, Deondra Bell (Baton
Rouge) as Texas, Ariel George (Baton Rouge) as Sophie, Elizabeth Langley (Bay St.
Louis, Miss.) as Rosie, Vivian McCalman (Mandeville) as Frenchie, Madeline Taylor
(Watson) as Helga, Harlan Thorpe (New Orleans) as Greta, and Madison Wilson (Baton
Rouge) as Fritzie.
Music Department alumni Scott McDonough will serve as stage manager, and current
music major Jaycie Chance (Amite) is assistant stage manager.
Effler will serve as musical director and conductor, Department of Music and
Performing Arts staff member Benjamin Norman will design the lighting, New Orleans
based Kaleb Babb will design the costumes, and the sets will be provided by the New
Orleans Opera Association.
Advance tickets are available online and at the Columbia Theatre box office Monday
through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will also be available one hour prior to
each performance. Ticket prices are $21 for adults; $16 for seniors, Southeastern
faculty/staff and non-Southeastern students. Southeastern students are admitted free
of charge with their ID.
Opera Workshop will use a version of “Cabaret” that is based on the 1998 Broadway
revival and has a book by Joe Masteroff, is based on the play by John Van Druten and
stories by Christopher Isherwood; the music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred
Ebb; it was co-directed and choreographed by Rob Marshall, and was directed by Sam
Mendes.
For more information, contact Effler at ceffler@southeastern.edu.
