Full Cast and Creative Team Set for CABARET at The Old Globe

The Old Globe is pleased to announce the full cast and creative team of the reimagined and visionary new staging of the Tony Award–winning musical Cabaret. The production features a book by Joe Masteroff, based on the play by John Van Druten andstories by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, and directed and choreographed by Josh Rhodes (Broadway and The Old Globe’s Bright Star, The Old Globe and Asolo Repertory Theatre’s Guys and Dolls, Pittsburgh CLO’s The Drowsy Chaperone). Performances run September 1 to October 8, 2023, with the opening on Wednesday, September 6 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe’s Conrad Prebys Theatre Center in San Diego’s Balboa Park. Tickets are available at www.TheOldGlobe.org.

Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome to Cabaret! It’s 1931 Berlin, and inside the Kit Kat Klub, British nightclub singer Sally Bowles keeps the delirious party raging. But no amount of booze, music, and dancing can slow the ominous march of a changing Germany. Featuring an iconic score from Kander and Ebb—including “Maybe This Time,” “Mein Herr,” “Don’t Tell Mama,” and, of course, the title song—this Tony Award–winning musical is reimagined in a visionary new staging by Globe favorite Josh Rhodes. BroadwayWorld calls this production, “Hands down the most cohesive, well-rounded, fully conceptualized staging of this musical that I have seen to date. My friends, this is how you do Cabaret.”

“The Old Globe’s track record of reviving great American musicals is extraordinary and inspiring,”said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “And once again we turn to the classic musical theatre canon to bring a thrilling new production of Cabaret to our stage. The visionary director/choreographer Josh Rhodes, an important member of the Globe’s artistic family, reimagines this wonderful show, injecting bold new energy into its remarkable score, and finding vital new echoes in its themes. And he does this while enhancing all the sexy and anarchic theatricality for which Cabaret is celebrated. Cabaret asks us to reexamine our ideas about how the personal and the political intersect in tumultuous times. Rhodes and his collaborators find brand new power in this bracing revival, and I could not be more excited to welcome audiences to see it.”

An earlier version of this production of Cabaret premiered at Asolo Repertory Theatre (Michael Donald Edwards, Producing Artistic Director; Linda DiGabriele, Managing Director) in November 2022.

In addition to the previously announced lead principals Lincoln Clauss as Emcee and Joanna A. Jones as Sally Bowles, the cast of Cabaret also includes, in alphabetical order, Alan Chandler as Clifford Bradshaw, Abby Church as Fräulein Kost and Fritzie, Christian Douglass as Max, Alex Gibson as Ernst Ludwig, Yoni Haller as Herman, Brandon Halvorsen as Victor, Leeds Hill as Hans, Karma Jenkins as Texas, Celeste Lanuza as Frenchie, Kelly Lester as Fräulein Schneider, Trina Mills as Helga, Natalia Nieves-Melchor as Lulu, Bruce Sabath as Herr Schultz, Michael Seltzer as Bobby, and Amy Smith as Rosie.

Understudies for Cabaret include Christine Hewitt and John Rosen, and swings include Emily Bordley and John Viso.

In addition to Josh Rhodes, the creative team includes for Cabaret includes scenic design by Tijana Bjelajac, costume design by Alejo Vietti, lighting design by Cory Pattak and Paul Vaillancourt, sound design by Haley Parcher, hair, wig, and makeup design by Michelle Hart, music direction by Robert Meffe, additional arrangements by Angela Steiner, fight direction and intimacy staging by Rachel Flesher, cultural competency consultant DeWanda Smith Soeder, associate director Lee Wilkins, associate choreographer Natalia Nieves-Melchor, casting by Tara Rubin Casting/Felicia Rudolph, CSA, and production stage management by Anjee Nero. 

Cabaret will play on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in The Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe’s Conrad Prebys Theatre Center in San Diego’s Balboa Park (1363 Old Globe Way). Performances for a six-week limited engagement run September 1 – October 8, 2023, with the official press opening Wednesday, September 6 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are available at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE (234-5623), and in person at The Old Globe’s Box Office in Balboa Park. The Vicki and Carl Zeiger Insights Seminar, scheduled for Tuesday, September 5 at 6:00 p.m., will provide patrons an exploration of the themes and background of Cabaret from selected artistic company members. Post-Show Forum events will be held on Tuesday, September 12; Wednesday, September 13; and Wednesday, September 27. Community Nights at The Old Globe will provide festive opportunities to connect over refreshments and conversation for BIPOC community on Friday, September 8 and LGBTQIA+ community on Friday, September 15. For additional information about Cabaret, visit www.TheOldGlobe.org.

In alignment with the State of California, which has removed mask and vaccine requirements for indoor events, The Old Globe will not require patrons to provide proof of vaccination or to wear masks while attending shows or events. However, the theatre still recommends mask-wearing while at the Globe, and patrons should feel comfortable wearing a mask anywhere on our campus if they choose.

Cabaret is supported by Major Production Sponsors Elaine and Dave* Darwin, Pamela Farr and Buford Alexander, HM Electronics, Inc., Darlene Marcos Shiley, and Karen and Stuart Tanz; Production Sponsors Jules and Michele Arthur and The Joseph Cohen and Martha Farish New Play Development Fund; and Artist Sponsors Alicia and Jonathan Atun (for director and choreographer Josh Rhodes), California Bank & Trust (for actor Lincoln Clauss), Gail and Doug Hutcheson (for actor Joanna A. Jones), and Gary and Jerri-Ann Jacobs (for Music Director Robert Meffe and the orchestra). Additional financial support for The Old Globe is provided by The City of San Diego. The Theodor and Audrey Geisel Fund provides leadership support for The Old Globe’s year-round activities. *In memoriam. 

The Tony Award–winning The Old Globe is one of the country’s leading professional not-for-profit regional theatres. Now in its 89th year, the Globe is San Diego’s flagship performing arts institution, and it serves a vibrant community with theatre as a public good. Under the leadership of Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein and the Audrey S. Geisel Managing Director Timothy J. Shields, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 16 productions of classic, contemporary, and new works on its three Balboa Park stages, including its internationally renowned Shakespeare Festival. More than 250,000 people annually attend Globe productions and participate in the theatre’s artistic and arts engagement programs. Its nationally prominent Arts Engagement Department provides an array of participatory programs that make theatre matter to more people in neighborhoods throughout the region. Humanities programs at the Globe and around the city broaden the community’s understanding of theatre art in all its forms. The Globe also boasts a range of new play development programs with professional and community-based writers, as well as the renowned The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program. Numerous world premieres—such as 2014 Tony Award winner for Best Musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Bright Star, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! —have been developed at The Old Globe and have gone on to highly successful runs on Broadway and at regional theatres across the country.

Photo credit: Cliff Roles

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