Interview: Ruby Westfall And Ellington Berg of THE SEASON at Red Eye Ny

Musical theater lovers can spend hours and hours talking about their favorite shows, their favorite scores, their favorite seasons on Broadway, but the smart ones will turn the pastime into a cabaret show and charge people money to see it.  It has happened before, it will happen again, and it is happening on February 26th at Red Eye NY, when Ruby Westfall makes her New York City cabaret debut alongside cabaret veteran Ellington Berg.  The two chums and musical theater performers and devotees are turning their attention to the Broadway season 2006 - 2007 and using their time on stage to share stories and song about why it is one of their favorite years in theater.  As Berg and Westfall rehearse for their big night, they took some time out to talk with BroadwayWorld all about THE SEASON.

This epistolary interview has been edited for spelling and punctuation.

Ruby and Ellington, welcome to Broadway World!

Ruby:  Hello! Thank you for having us today. We are both ecstatic to share more about ourselves and our upcoming cabaret! 

Ellington: Hello to the world of Broadway! The Broadway World! It feels iconic just saying that out loud.

You folks are making your duo debut as cabaret artists at Red Eye NY on February 26th.  How did you have the idea for THE SEASON?

Ruby:  I was lucky enough that Ellington approached me with the idea to create a cabaret around the 2006/2007 Broadway season. However, we both share in having a visceral memory of the 2007 Tony Awards. I remember sitting on the couch with my parents, seeing Spring Awakening perform for the first time with my jaw on the floor. In the years since, I’ve absolutely fallen in love with the 110 In The Shade cast album. The pro shoot of Company from that season is also a favorite of mine. The source material just has so many gems; Legally Blonde, A Chorus Line, Grey Gardens–I mean, come on!

Ellington:  I'm a show queen at heart. I grew up loving those Broadway Unplugged recordings or Ben Bagley composer anthologies. I felt like I was ready to do something like that, but at this point in my life, if someone wanted to watch me queen out about musicals, they could just talk to me at a party for free. I'm so glad Ruby said yes, so we can have some real talent on stage. The 2007 season was a no-brainer: I feel like it's still resonating culturally in 2026. 

Ellington, you are a cabaret performer who has done some work around town.  What has your experience in the industry been like so far?

What I love about producing a cabaret is that you really are creating something with your own playbook. It is a medium that has really activated my imagination. And it's the ultimate millennial art form: no red tape, instant gratification, kind of like if a TikTok was live-action. 

Ruby, this is your NYC nightclub debut.  What draws you to the industry and art form?

I adore the relaxed nature that you can find in this setting. It’s less stuffy and polished than musical theatre, which leads to really raw moments that you can’t find in the context of a musical where everything has to be set in stone. Plus, you can sing whatever you want! There are no rules!

How did you guys discover that you are good onstage playmates?

Ellington: Ruby and I have grown and changed a lot as people, even as we've remained good friends. I'm getting married, and she's in my bridal party! Even as we've found new ways to express ourselves, we're still randomly crying about THE WHO’S TOMMY. That is a sensibility I really need in my life. And I think it comes across naturally in performance. 

Ruby:  Ellington and I went to college together, so we have been in multiple shows together, and actually, one of them was Spring Awakening. Even though we were in shows together, we never really had the chance to be scene partners! Over the past decade, we have developed a rapport that (in my humble opinion) needed a vehicle that only we could create to capture our chemistry. 

Ruby, what is a way in which Ellington brings electricity to the act of creation?

Ellington brings electricity everywhere he goes and to everything he touches. He’s the type of person you notice as soon as he walks in the room. He oozes creativity and is constantly creating. Just this past fall, he created an entire cabaret around his previous tutelage as “the press Grinch,” where he shared many hilarious tales of his experience on tour. Last year he did an entire one-man production of Seussical, where he played every part–and it killed. I’m lucky to know him and rub shoulders in the hopes that some of his electric creativity will somehow transfer to me through osmosis.  

Ellington, tell me how Ruby enhances your desire to get out on that stage.

This might sound so superficial, but Ruby is just so - beautiful. In every sense of the word. Her talent, her kindness, her eyes when she's hit by the light. I'm usually just noise and movement. Ruby teaches me the value of presence and focus. 

Put me in the picture of the decision to choose this particular Broadway season for your show.

Ruby:  Ellington and I share in having somewhat of a canonical knowledge of musical theatre (and emphasis on Ellington’s knowledge, I know a drop compared to his ocean of theatre lore) and my first memories of consciousness during the Tony performances were of the 2007 Tony Awards. My TiVo recording of The 2007 Tonys was played many, many, many times that year. Almost twenty years later, the nostalgia for that time in my life when theatre was becoming my life source simply brings me joy. And so, I know I’m doing this for my younger self and she would think I’m pretty cool.

Ellington:  I agree with Ruby regarding the 2007 Tony Awards. For me, it was my entry point to musical theatre. I watched them because I had googled if there were like, awards for theatre? Imagine watching Raul Esparza singing “Being Alive” when you’re 12 and having 0 context. And then looking through what actually happened in the season, I was really humbled by the diversity of what was out there. The idea of switching from SPRING AWAKENING to MARY POPPINS is just so funny to me. I will say there is no PIRATE QUEEN in our show. My apologies to Stephanie J. Block. 

Ellington, tell me about your personal relationship with the show that, for you, stands out in this season.

I'm going to cheat and give away the ending of our show, but actually, the musical that is the most personal to me from this season was off-Broadway: [TITLE OF SHOW]. It just felt like a musical that was really trying to speak to things I was interested in. I’m from Michigan, so I never got to see it. But I did order their tote bag from their online merch store, and that was my book bag for the rest of my high school career. It literally broke so many times, and I would just keep stitching it back together piece by piece. 

Ruby, what is the show from this season that made a significant impact on your life?

Spring Awakening was a game-changer. I still say it’s my favorite musical. I keep circling back to watching The Tony’s from June of 2007, but before the Tony Awards had concluded and Spring Awakening was even announced as the winner of best musical, my parents had gone online and bought me and my mother tickets to see Spring Awakening in August. Cut to two months later, I’m eleven years old by the way, two pigtails in my hair, and my mom and I get to see Groffsauce’s buttcheeks. Wow. I will never forget that moment. I am half joking, because the material in the show and the music is really what touched my heart. The idea that a musical could have such cool rock and folk music without that pingy belty musical theatre sound blew my mind! And the subject matter of kids figuring out their sexual identities was so universally relatable. As a teen and adult, I was able to do Spring Awakening a couple of times, and those are some of my favorite memories onstage. 

If this performance goes well, would you consider taking a shot at another season in the future?

Ellington:  Absolutely. I think we'd have to be super picky. I think the novelty of presenting all the works of a single Broadway season is getting to say, “Wow, this is what was going on at this time.” I don't think we'd pick a season that's like “Well, 1989 had GRAND HOTEL and I want to sing ‘Love Can't Happen’”

Ruby:  Yes! Ellington and I have already been chatting about this. I almost don’t want to give too much away because it’s still very much in the idea stages. I think dipping back into a much older season could be cool, or maybe expanding our cast of two to include more of our pals. 

Ruby, tell me some things about Ellington away from the cabaret stage that audiences will find interesting.

Ruby:  Aside from his cabaret and comedy career at night, Ellington works at Balenciaga by day! So you will always be impressed by the way he dresses. Expect oversized shoes, baggy pants, and of course, something tiny on top to show off those arms!

Ellington, what would our readers like to know about Ruby that will shine a light on who she is offstage?

Omg I won't spoil which number, but there's a moment in the show where Ruby’s id is on full display. Definitely key to who she is off stage vs when she's singing a ballad, I'll say that much. 

Well, Season-ers, thank you for chatting with BroadwayWorld and me today.  I look forward to seeing youse at Red Eye NY on February 26th.

Ellington:  Thank you for READING an ARTICLE! Or maybe this will be a carousel post with pull quotes over gradient wallpapers. Either way, if you give us six seconds of your attention, we will pay that off in dividends!!! On February 26th!

Ruby:  Thank you to everyone who read through our interview! We are expecting to have a fabulous, silly, unabashedly us night to remember on February 26th at 8 pm, and we hope you will join us. Ciao for now xoxo

THE SEASON will play Red Eye NY on February 26th at 8 pm.  Tickets can be accessed HERE.