Willkommen to the Kit Kat Klub

The image of Liza Minelli dressed in black, complete with bowler hat and garters,
dancing seductively across a stage might not resonate with college students today, but it most likely did in 1972 when Minelli starred in the film version of the Broadway musical “Cabaret.”

This weekend, minus Minelli, a group of students will put their hard work to the test when they premiere their production of “Cabaret” at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater on Friday.

The musical is based on novelist Christopher Isherwood’s “Berlin Stories” and John Van Druten’s play “I Am a Camera.” The play is set in Berlin in the years during Hitler’s rise to power. The musical’s lead character is Sally Bowles, an English cabaret performer at the local Kit Kat Klub.

She falls in love with American writer Cliff Bradshaw. Cliff and Sally’s relationship is tested by the threatening environment that surrounds them. The musical also focuses on the romantic relationship between Bowles’ German landlady, Fraulein Schneider, and Herr Schultz, a Jewish fruit vendor.

“I think it’s so pertinent today. ... People at the time were looking for someone to follow,” senior and director Emma Strauss said.

Strauss, who has stage-managed “Godspell” and “Once On This Island” in previous years for Union Board, was looking for a show to put on in 2008. The show’s choreographer, Esther Widlanski, suggested “Cabaret,” Strauss said. Usually a fan of straight plays, Strauss found a connection to “Cabaret” because it deals with heavier issues, such as sexuality and the rise of Nazi dictator Adolph Hitler.

Strauss and Widlanski came up with the idea last year and proposed it to Union Board at the end of March. They formed a production team of 19 and began work over the summer. The team held two days of general auditions in which students were asked to perform a vocal piece and a contemporary monologue.

Sophomore Julia Mosby will hold the lead role of Sally and junior John McLaughlin will play Cliff. Freshman Ethan Carpenter will portray Emcee, the man who oversees the action at the risque Kit Kat Klub. Senior Sarah Kiperman and freshman Matt Birdsong will portray the doomed couple of Schneider and Schultz. Men and women of the Kit Kat Klub will back up the main players on stage.

“It’s a young cast, but they have so much energy,” Strauss said.

The cast of students has been busy in rehearsals for weeks.

“They are so excited about it. It’s infectious,” said senior Julie Singer, Union Board representative and one of the show’s assistant producers.

The musical is divided into two acts, with 12 scenes in Act I and eight scenes in Act II. There will be 16 dance and/or vocal numbers throughout the performance. The show is estimated to run for about two hours, including an intermission, Strauss said.

“For Union Board, it’s a great way to reach students that we might not otherwise reach with our programs,” Singer said.

Strauss was able to fill in a lot of the holes of the musical by reading the play. She also researched cabaret performers, learned about sexuality and just finished assistant directing “The Diary of Anne Frank” for Cardinal Stage Company.

“The show is scandalous, but not trashy,” Strauss stressed.

Strauss wants to focus on what people wanted out of a cabaret performance of the time and the artistic message of the musical.

“Smut is not what ‘Cabaret’ is about,” Singer said. “It’s about being provocative and coming to terms with the times.”

Senior Quinto Ott is designing the costumes and junior Zach Miller-Frankel is musical director.

“He’s done a really great job,” Strauss said of Ott. “We’ve all been working really well together.”

The student-run production has received support from the IU Department of Theatre and Drama and local drama centers. They’ve also received advertising through Bloomington’s Beth Shalom Congregation and support through academic departments on campus.

Alexa Lopez, Union Board Performing Arts director and one of the show’s assistant producers, said she thinks the show will have a good turnout.

“People are really interested in this, and I think it’s great,” Lopez said.