Thursday, May 19, 2011

Life is an everchanging Cabaret



By Madelyn Miller, the TravelLady

The Dallas Theater Center’s production of Cabaret is actually the third performance of this musical I have seen. And each show had its own distinctive personality and interpretation.

Dallas Theater Center’s Cabaret was the most contemporary and most adventurous. And who would have thought Dallas would introduce so much nudity (I am not sure if knowing this fact will encourage or discourage you from seeing this show.) The show is both risqué and energizing at the same time.

The Wylie allows the show to create a real cabaret feeling as drinks are served to the tables surrounding the stage. And although they are rumored to have new seats, they are still no more comfortable than chairs in a cabaret


IN HERE, LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

Willkommen to the Kit Kat Club. Take your seat at a bar table, order a little something from your fetching cocktail waitress, and immerse yourself in the musical theater event of a lifetime. You’re not just at the show, you’re in the show as Dallas Theatre Center transform the Wyly’s Potter Rose Performance Hall into 1930s Berlin. Inside the cabaret, Sally Bowles and the beguiling Emcee live in a seedy, sexy world of delicious decadence, while outside, the gathering storm of Nazi oppression grows. Filled with hit Broadway songs and a story that still speaks profoundly to us today,Cabaret is a knock-out, once-in-a-lifetime theatrical experience.

Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Joe Masteroff, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions.

It is based on John Van Druten's 1951 play I Am a Camera, which in turn was adapted from the novel Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood. Set in 1931 Berlin as the Nazis are rising to power, it focuses on nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub and revolves around the 19-year-old English cabaretperformer Sally Bowles and her relationship with the young American writer Cliff Bradshaw.
A sub-plot involves the doomed romance between German boarding house owner Fräulein Schneider and her elderly suitor Herr Schultz, a Jewish fruit vendor. Overseeing the action is the Master of Ceremonies at the Kit Kat Klub which serves as a constant metaphor for the tenuous and threatening state of late Weimar Germany throughout the show.

WADE MCCOLLUM IS TRULY THE STAR OF THE SHOW

His body language, his voice, and his facial expressions are captivating. His performances include:
Emcee) Broadway/Tours: Jersey Boys (Chicago Co.). NYC Theatre: Jeffrey in Jeffrey (Sage Theatre); Nestor in Irma la Douce (Musicals Tonight). Selected regional: I Am My Own Wife;Santaland Diaries; Batboy in Batboy the Musical; Emcee in Cabaret; Lancelot in Merchant of Venice (Portland Center Stage); Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch (L.A. Celebration Theatre - L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award; Drammy Award; and the Garland Award for Best Actor; Ovation Award for Best Musical); Woody in the workshop of Toy Story the Musical(Disney); Peter/Craig in Dying City (Portland Playhouse). This July, Wade will be playing the Narrator in the World Premiere of Fly By Night at Theatreworks. As a writer/composer, Wade’s musical One has just been workshopped at OSF’s Black Swan Lab and is moving forward.

Sally Bowls was nowhere near as effective, allowing Emcee to steal the show.

TiME IS GETTING SHORT
Just like the numbered days of Berlin, the show is closing soon. But at least we know what is coming next. The Wiz will be playing July 8 to August 7, 2011


PEACE OF MIND

Don’t miss a moment of the 2011-2012 season.
 Purchase a Full-Season Ticket Package for as low as $90 or one of the new Series for as low as $45 and guarantee yourself best seats for the best prices with the peace of mind of guaranteed access–even for sold-out shows.


Along with an entire season of unforgettable, world-class theater right here in Dallas, you’ll get:


BEST SEATS: Subscriber seats are reserved before tickets go on sale to the public.

BEST PRICES: Subscribing means a savings of nearly 20% individual ticket prices.

FREE & EASY TICKET EXCHANGE: Can’t make a show date? NO PROBLEM. Exchange your tickets for another date without an exchange fee.

SUBSCRIBER-ONLY DISCOUNTS: Exclusive savings on additional tickets for family and friends with up to 15% off individual ticket prices for any DTC production, including priority ticket access for our annual holiday tradition – A Christmas Carol.

VIP BOX OFFICE: Access to subscribers-only ticket concierge service. 
Just contact our Subscriber Courtesy Department at (214) 252-3927 or Subscribers@DallasTheaterCenter.org.


*Contains adult themes, language and brief nudity. Appropriate for mature high school-age children and older.


Photo compliments of Karen Almond

Madelyn Miller is a travel and food writer who loves theatre and particularly enjoys seeing performances of the same show by different companies

Read her stories on www.travellady.com, www.carladynews.com, www.yogayaya.com, www.chocolateatlas.com, www.cocktailatlas.com, www.coffeeatlas.com, www.teaAtlas.com

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