Cygnet Theatre Presents a Titillating Take on CABARET 3/17-5/15

Despite the recent cold weather outside, inside Cygnet Theatre the heat is rising with the steamy world of the Kit Kat Klub in Kander and Ebb's CABARET. Rehearsals are underway with Artistic Director Sean Murray at the helm, Billy Thompson as Music Director and David Brannen as Choreographer. This production is a favorite of Murray's who has directed CABARET before and is excited to present a new re-imagining of it. The cast will feature many San Diego favorites including Joy Yandell as Sally Bowles, Charlie Reuter as Cliff Bradshaw, Cygnet Resident Artists Jim Chovick and Melissa Fernandes, Linda Libby, Jason Heil and overseeing the frivolity and debauchery - Karson St. John as the Emcee. CABARET will run March 17th through May 15th, 2011. Press Opening is Saturday, March 26th at 8pm. The production is sponsored by Dr. Ronald & Susan Heller, Robert Shapiro and an anonymous donor.

The musical CABARET 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 the tumultuous city of Berlin, just before Hitler's rise to power, CABARET introduces the interlocking stories of cabaret singer, Sally Bowles; the American writer, Cliff who takes her in and the other local denizens of a quickly changing society. Through it all, the Master of Ceremonies presides over the Kit Kat Klub. This character, referred to as the Emcee, serves as a constant metaphor for the tenuous and volatile state of late Weimar Germany throughout the show. The dark, daring and provocative musical won 8 Tony Awards and includes the musical numbers Willkommen, Mein Herr and Maybe This Time.

For Artistic Director Sean Murray, CABARET was due for a shake up. "Cabaret was incredibly shocking and ahead of its time in 1966," said Murray. "Just the themes and setting alone were enough to stir audiences and make them take notice. Today, people familiar with the show have certain expectations. It's important to rattle those expectations to give Cabaret the intense impact it once had."

This has translated into a much larger, grander, more colorful version than the one Murray directed in 2003. Theatre-goers will enter into a party (soon to turn dangerous) already-in-progress; a multi-level set will place the band above the actors, costumes will parade in non-stop, delicious, eye-candy fashion; and perhaps, most uniquely, the Emcee will be played by a San Diego actress - San Diego Critics Circle Award Winner, Karson St. John. The role, so memorably portrayed on stage and screen in freaky, glass-eyed fashion by Joel Grey, and recreated with bawdy, sexual charm by Alan Cumming, was originally written for an asexual male actor. Murray intends to flip this preconception with a more unique depiction as an edgy, Marlene Dietrich-like show hostess. In the role of show-stopping lead Kit Kat Klubber, San Diego Critics Circle Award Winner, Joy Yandell will headline as Sally Bowles. Murray feels the "rattle" of "two ladies" leading audiences to the dark and decadent world of CABARET provides the right amount of seductive shock-factor the show may have lost through its familiarity. This will mark both St. John's and Yandell's debut with Cygnet Theatre..

The cast of CABARET will include many other familiar faces from San Diego Theatre. Charlie Reuter will follow up his San Diego Critics Circle Award Winning Music Direction of last year's Sweeney Todd by stepping out of the orchestra and onto the stage as Cliff Bradshaw. Resident Artist Jim Chovick (A Christmas Carol, Desire Under the Elms, Copenhagen) will take on the role of Herr Schultz. Linda Libby (Man from Nebraska, Hedwig and the Angry Inch) will play his love interest, Fraulein Schnieder. Resident Artist Melissa Fernandes (It's a Wonderful Life, A Little Night Music) will portray Fraulein Kost and Jason Heil (Noises Off) will play Ernst Ludwig. Other cast members include Resident Artist Jacob Caltrider (Sweeney Todd, The History Boys), Joyelle Cabato, Andy Collins, Eric Hellmers, Tony Houck, Marlene Montes, Rose O'Hara, and Katie Whalley.

CABARET will begin previews Thursday, March 17th, 2011 at 7:30 pm at Cygnet Theatre located at 4040 Twiggs St. in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. Opening Night is Saturday, March 26th and the show runs until May 15th. A special talk-back forum with the cast is scheduled for Friday, April 1st. Surround events featuring Cygnet's new book club and readings from The Berlin Stories performed by artists with WRITE OUT LOUD are scheduled for Wednesday March 30th and Monday, April 4th respectively.

Tickets can be purchased by visiting Cygnet's website at www.cygnettheatre.com or by calling the box office at 619-337-1525. Tickets can also be purchased in person by visiting Cygnet's box office located at the Old Town Theatre, 4040 Twiggs St. in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.