ARTS: Cabaret Gets A Makeover

Willkommen im Cabaret: Berlin, 1930s. The Kit Kat Club of pre-World War II times is as vibrant and sexually charged as ever, overflowing with the decadent lifestyle that defined the loose and lively generation of the Weimar Republic.

This sassy and uncertain spirit of times past is revived in Hoof 'n' Horn's production of Cabaret, opening tonight in Reynolds Theater. The show delivers a timely and deep message in the raunchy, romantic and tragic tale of American nightclub performer Sally Bowles (Maggie Chambers). As the republic around her decays, the intrusion of fascism comes to have a profound effect on personal relationships and views on love and war.

Director Jacob Foster sees this play's necessity in a time when many Americans are on one hand tempted to condemn fundamentalist groups and on the other hand rallying in protest against the war.

"Nazi forces really are an outgrowth of human tendencies and perversion," Foster, a senior, said. "It is the worst of civilization blown up to monstrous proportions. In a two-hour span, Cabaret crams in all sorts of challenging questions about human relationships that aggregate to form real pertinent issues."

This play has opinions on the significant issues Americans continue to confront: gender barriers, sexuality, abortion, patriotism and government rule. Initially, Foster and the two dozen other cast members were weary of letting the risqué costumes for which Cabaret is known interfere with a greater message hidden deeper than its blatant sexuality. However, Foster found that toning it down too much would betray the true spirit of Weimar Germany. He said he has enough faith in this play to believe both messages can be pushed simultaneously, and as a result, costume design has left little to the imagination.

Hoof 'n' Horn's rendition of the show is based on the 1987 Broadway revival of John van Druten's Tony-winning 1966 play. Hoof 'n' Horn re-mastered it in ways that are said to interweave the relationship between the action inside and outside of the Kit Kat Club more closely. Sam Mendes, director of the 1998 version, and later of American Beauty, once stated that he wanted the work to be approached much like a work of Shakespeare, reinterpreted with each performance. Hoof 'n' Horn has attempted to follow this lead by presenting many of the show's most famous numbers in a style all their own.

While the play's messages may be electrifying, the tone is nothing short of tragic. The song "Cabaret" is, Foster said, one of the saddest songs in musical theater, as an undertone of despair sweeps the stage under Sally's ironically harmonious melody. Do not come with the expectation to be uplifted. Surely come, however, to be engaged, to learn about the past and our present and to support fantastic student-run theater.

• Kim Roller