Come to the 'Cabaret'

Cinnabar Theater travels back 70 years to the decadent world of Berlin's club scene on the eve of World War II with 14 performances of the multi-leveled musical 'Cabaret'

September 8, 2004

By KATIE WATTS
ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

The time: 1930s Berlin. The place: The Kit Kat Club, a seedy nightclub for wanna-bes and has-beens where life, the sleazy emcee tells us, "is beautiful. The girls are beautiful. Even the orchestra is beautiful."

But are they?

Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome to "Cabaret," the opening show of Cinnabar Theater's 2004-2005 season.

Do not assume that the musical and the movie "Cabaret" are the same. "Cabaret" was made into a wonderful movie, deserving of its Academy Awards, but this is a musical, alive and exciting and happening all around you, because the audience for the show is also the audience of the Kit Kat Club.

"Cinnabar is a great place to produce 'Cabaret' because we can create the whole cabaret atmosphere," said Elly Lichenstein, director of the show and artistic director of Cinnabar Theater.

The Emcee may exhort you to "leave your troubles outside. In here life is beautiful É" and that's true on one level, but "Cabaret" is no frothy, cotton candy musical. It has strong political and racial overtones applicable to modern times as well as Hitler's early days.

"I've always wanted to do the show," Lichenstein said. "It's a brilliant work of art, and I think it speaks volumes for the relationship of a people to their own political milieu. I feel 'Cabaret' is very fitting for today's political climate. I think we're living in dangerous times, very much as the Berliners were in pre-war Germany. There are a lot of important parallels."

To make "Cabaret" work, she said, "you have to have two performers that can carry it.

"The Emcee [Greg Grabow] has to be able to bring the audience in and surprise them, as Hitler did with the German people -- and then they suddenly realize they have been sucked in by this charming, talented, charismatic personality."

The other performer is the female lead, Sally Bowles. Nancy Prebilich plays Cinnabar's Sally.

The role, she said, "is like being myself. It's a chance to be my full-blown self. This is a role I've always wanted to play.

"In my own life, I've had a wanderlust like Sally, and it's fun to re-live my youthful 20s." (Prebilich just celebrated her 30th birthday.)

"The character flows naturally; the challenge is in singing." This is only Prebilich's third musical, she said. "I had one in high school that I don't like to recollect, and I played a ghost that barely hummed in college, so this is my first big singing role."

"It wasn't much of a chance to take," Lichenstein said. "She's a phenomenal musical. I knew she could pull it off."

On some levels, they agreed, Sally shouldn't be much of a singer, otherwise what would she be doing in the Kit Kat Club?

"Cabaret" follows Sally Bowles in her affair with the young American writer Clifford Bradshaw, based on author Christopher Isherwood, whose 'Berlin Stories' was the genesis of the plot. A sub-plot involves the love affair between Clifford's landlady, Fraulein Schneider, and Herr Schultz, a fruit shop owner. And always there is the subtly disturbing Greek chorus of The Emcee.

The play has a strong Brechtian influence, Lichenstein said. Playwright Bertolt Brecht felt theater should be poignant yet pointed, simple, accessible, and should make the audience think more than feel. Yet, "I think people will be emotionally hit," Lichenstein said.

This is the essence of what Cinnabar is about, presenting theater that both entertains and challenges an audience.

(Contact Katie Watts at kwatts@arguscourier.com)

CABARET

What: "Cabaret," a musical by Joe Masteroff, John Kander and Fred Ebb

When: Sept. 10-11, 17-18, 23-26, Oct. 1-3, 7-9. Thursday through Saturday shows at 8 p.m., Sun-day matinees at 2 p.m. Opening night gala includes a light buffet and beverages from Dempsey's.

Where: Cinnabar Theater, 3333 Petaluma Blvd. North

Tickets: $20 adults, $18 seniors and students. Open-ing night tickets: $30 adults, $28 seniors and stu-dents. Call 763-8920 or go to www.cinnabartheater.org