Thoughts from the Artistic Director: Which Cabaret are we doing?
Greetings and welcome to TCTA’s first blog page. I’m so excited to take part in the terrific opportunity to share my thoughts and insights about TCT’s artistic side. But much more importantly, I can’t wait to hear from you. Got a thought/question/comment/idea you’d like to share? Is there something you always wondered? Is there somethin that always bothered you? Love a program? Hate a program? Please share all of this with us. We stand ready to reply to any and all of your questions or ideas.
Since I plan on using this space as a forum to answer my most common questions, I thought I start off by answering one I’m getting almost daily. It concerns our upcoming production of Cabaret. The question is; “Which Cabaret are you doing?”
Arguably there are three choices. The Original Broadway show the opened in 1966. The film that opened in 1972. And though it was revivied twice on Broadway and twice on London’s West End it was the latter producyion in 1998 starring Alan Cumming and Natasha Richardson that seemed to reinvent this classic of the American Theatre.
The film was massively rewritten. Songs were dropped in favor of new songs that were added. Characters were minimized or replaced and the plot was incredibly changed. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, it’s just not the Cabaret I fell in love with as a young man. And, it is not the Cabaret we’ll be offering. The movie had great dance, great music, and wonderful costumes, but beyond that the stage version is very different than the 1972 film feturing Liza Minelli and Joel Grey.
As for the two prominant stage versions I can only say that like any director trying to tell a story I am greatly influence by both productions. But to say I’m doing it exactly like either production isn’t total fair. For instance, Joel Grey’s Emcee was quite different from Alan Cumming’s Emcee. But I’d never ask our Emcee, Ivory Mazur, to mimic either one. Since neither Joel Grey nor Alan Cumming showed up to our auditions I want Ivory’s version to be in our production.
Every production must be approached with the people you have in your cast, not the people you once saw play it and now you force their work onto someone else. Our version will be TCT’s version. A solid, entertaining, provacative, and extremly excellent production at that! (If I do say so myself).
I love directing at TCT because each and every show has it’s own challenges and it’s own unique feel. But best of all, these productions have some of the finest acting talent found on any stage. Our volunteers rock and I’m honored and excited about our upcoming show.
Gee, I hope this first post isn’t too long. Anyhoo - if you have any thoughts on this or other ideas please send us a reply. Each week I hope to takle a different subject and I look forward to each post.
Sincerly,
Shannon Reilly - TCT’s Artistic Director