The multi-award winning and classic musical Cabaret opens this weekend at the Las Cruces Community Theater, bringing back the ominous era of the early 1930s when the Nazi party was on the rise in Germany, while also delivering a potent message for today.
Katalina Hadfield makes her directing debut with the production, which she says is “immersive” and will make audience members feel like they are part of the audience at the famous Kit Kat Club of the musical. Through the casting and staging, Hadfield said, they focus on the cabaret and its emcee as “a metaphor for authoritarianism and for what can happen if you let other people and outside forces control your life.” And, she said, she “wanted to be able to share this message that you can have agency in life and in our world.”
Music director Irene Brink has worked with the singers to help them both honor the past versions of the iconic songs while also putting their own stamp on them. “Peyton Womble [who plays the cabaret singer Sally Bowles] loves to improvise and ad lib and is super talented at that,” she said, so every rehearsal has been a little different, and “tingles and tears happen every single time because it’s never quite the same.”
Listen to the full interview to learn more about the haunting story of Sally Bowles, Clifford Bradshaw, Fraulein Schneider, Herr Schultz, and the cabaret performers.
“Not one person has been immune from the emotional impact of this show,” Hadfield said of the cast. “I’ve seen probably every person cry at some point so far. But that’s the beauty; we’re creating a powerful show that speaks to people.”
Cast members include Niko Gonzales, Peyton Womble, Jessica Jimenez, Kelly Jo Waggoner, Norman Lewis, Christian Nieves, Abby Prawitz, and Bruce Demaree. Joshua Peugh is the choreographer.
Cabaret opens on Friday, Aug. 8, with performances for three weekends at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and on Sundays at 2:00 p.m.
Musical clips: “Maybe This Time,” sung by Liza Minelli from “Cabaret” (movie) soundtrack; “Money” and “I Don’t Care Much” sung by Alan Cumming from 1998 revival; “What Would You Do?” sung by Lotta Lenya from original 1966 Broadway cast recording.
