SAXTONS RIVER — The cast is set, rehearsals are going full blast, and tickets are on sale for Main Street Arts' production of Cabaret, which opens Friday, March 13, at the Bellows Falls Opera House for a two-weekend run.
The cast of the award-winning musical set in 1931 Berlin features Aidan Flower Des Jardins in the role of Sally Bowles, a British songstress performing in the seedy Kit Kat Club against the background of the Nazis' rise to power, and her relationship to American writer Cliff Bradshaw, played by Sean Roberts.
Des Jardins was seen as the maid Martha in last year's MSA production of The Secret Garden, and Roberts starred in Jesus Christ Superstar on the Opera House stage.
While outside the political world is swirling and life for many is feeling more and more repressive, inside the club decadence reigns as The Emcee (played by Gavy Kessler) invites everyone to “Leave your troubles outside. In here, life is beautiful.”
With music by John Kander and Fred Ebb and book by Joe Masteroff, Cabaret was a hit from its Broadway opening in 1967, garnering 10 Tony awards, including best musical and best featured actor for Joel Grey as The Emcee. The movie version with Grey and Liza Minelli earned eight Academy Awards.
In addition to its title song, the show's memorable numbers include Wilkommen, Money, Don't Tell Mama, If You Could See Her, and Tomorrow Belongs to Me.
David Stern directs, with musical direction by Ken Olsson.
Others in the cast include Heather Martell (Fraulein Kost), Jeannie Levesque (Fraulein Schneider), Mark Tullgren (Herr Schultz), and Victor Brandt (Ernst Ludwig).
The Kit Kat Club girls are played by Shoshana Bass, Sally Regentine, Morganna Ekkens, Aspen Moriarity, Meredith Pelton, Eliza Klein, Annesa Hartman and Aminah Pereira. They are joined by male counterparts Ezra Leonard, John Savastinuk, Sam Empey, and Chris Olson.
Costuming is by Sandy Klein, with assistance by Liz Guyzinski. Choreography is by Bass and Hartman. Barbi Kurkul and Bill Lockwood are stage managing.