From the balconies, actors in captivating burlesque costumes engaged with the audience by waving, dancing and blowing kisses. As the lights dimmed, the theater hushed in anticipation. Music began to play as a spotlight revealed Emcee (David Gonima) descending the playhouse stairs behind the audience, welcoming them in German, French and English with the song “Willkommen.”
“Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome,” Emcee sang. “Im Cabaret, au Cabaret, to Cabaret.”
Opening on Oct. 30, Texas Theatre and Dance hosted its fourth live performance of “Cabaret” on Nov. 2. The cost of tickets ranges between $10 and $26, with reduced rates for students, faculty and staff until the last showing on Nov. 9.
The first act introduced characters Cliff Bradshaw (Connor Burk), a starving author, Sally Bowles (Ella Eavenson), a cabaret singer, and Fraulein Schneider (Shaya Harris), a landlady, each navigating love and poverty.
The set design featured a spiral staircase at its center, an orchestra visible behind the stairs, two curtain-drawn doors on its sides and risers placed at the stage’s ends. The words “Kit Kat Club” and “Hier ist’s Richtig (This is the right place)” hung above the set.
Before the curtain fell, signaling the end of the first act, characters gathered at a party, discovering some of their peers were not who they thought they were, leaving the audience questioning the musical’s deeper themes of complacency and social commentary.
The performance delves into the topic of poverty through songs such as “So What?” and “Money,” while shedding light on the rise of Nazi Germany and its societal impacts with the songs “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” and “If You Could See Her.”
“The arts at large often serve as a timestamp in our cultural landscape,” Rodolfo Robles Cruz, director of the musical, said in a note within the program. “Theatre, in particular, is the practice of archiving these timestamps in our bodies – digesting them, wrestling with them and earnestly sharing them.”
The second act began with a surprise: Emcee, accompanied by a line of dancers, emerging from the exits. Making their way through the audience to the stage, they started with a kickline, gradually transforming into a stride, mimicking a military march, and finally a salute, signaling a further shift in the musical’s tone.
Sally Bowles’ rendition of the song “Cabaret” infused the final moments of the show with power and fury. Her performance not only showcased her vocal prowess and range but also delivered one of the most emotionally charged moments in the musical.
“What good is sitting alone in your room?” Bowles sang. “Come hear the music play / Life is a cabaret old chum / Come to the cabaret.”
Every production contains a different ending, each company making its own changes and directorial decisions, allowing the show to comment more on current events while reflecting a central theme that resonates throughout the production.
“How long will one stay passive for the sake of convenience, safety or power?” the note from the dramaturg, Georgia Beckmann, said in the program. “How easy is it to remain fast asleep as violence is inflicted on those around you? …Who gets to continue dancing while others suffer the end of the world?”
