Kelsey Theater, on MCCC’s West Windsor campus, latest production was the musical, Cabaret, presented by the production company Theater to Go.
The musical takes place in 1930s Berlin, Germany as Nazi power is on the rise. An American writer named Clifford “Cliff” Bradshaw meets British cabaret dancer Sally Bowles at her place of work, the Kit Kat Klub.
In this production, Cliff was played by Matthew Swanson, who has been in shows at Kelsey before. Cabaret, was Jenna German’s debut performance at Kelsey, playing her dream role of Sally.
The musical was directed by Theater to Go’s owner and artistic director Ruth Markoe, who has directed multiple productions at Kelsey, her most recent being A Raisin in the Sun in 2018.
Markoe said, “People who know Cabaret know it from 50 years ago. People, myself included, once we left the theater of seeing it, sing the music and remember the edgy cabaret dancers, but really the story seems to kind of disappear. And I really wanted the story to stand out…and that people remember what the story is about.”
The stage was decked out with a vintage marquee sign spelling “Cabaret” in red above it.
Prior to the start of the performance, both male and female cabaret dancers walked around the theater and interacted with the audience. Others conversed and laughed on the stage to set the scene of a nightclub preparing for its evening shows.
The stage floor was a dark map of Germany that displayed the capital of Berlin with vague borders. On the center of the stage, there was what seemed to be a large box-like structure with three doors on its front used throughout the performance as various doorways.
There were stairs on either side of the structure, used occasionally by the ensemble to dance on. The stairs also led up to where the orchestra sat and performed the jazzy and classical score.
The opening scene began with an introduction by the comedic relief character, the Master of Ceremonies (M.C., or Emcee). The Emcee was played by Steven Brandt who played the House Manager in the Off-Broadway production of Avenue Q from 2015 to 2016.
Following his intro came an energetic and enticing musical number, getting the audience excited for the remainder of the show.
Markoe used the full theater space by having the ensemble leave the stage and move around the seating area during larger numbers.
She said, “I wanted it to be a little more in your face.”
Every ounce of emotion was believable. The blossoming romance between German boarding house owner Fräulein Schneider (played by Linda Cunningham) and Jewish fruit stand operator Herr Shultz (played by Nathan Parker) showed that even in later life, love is still possible.
Occasionally the emotion seemed to overshadow the clarity of the words the actors were saying. It would be hard to comprehend what they were saying, though this was only rarely, and context clues usually resolved the problem.
The musical ends tragically in an argument between Cliff and Sally, Cliff wanting to leave together for the U.S. knowing the Nazis will soon rise to power and Sally refusing to go. The actors were able to give a sense of resolution even where there really isn’t one.
Attendee Madeline Daniels of Monroe Township said: “It was really good and entertaining, but sad, too.”
