Welcome to “Cabaret!” A pleasure playground devoted to satisfing sexual urges through powerful seduction and scandalous stage performances. An alluring ambience encouraging outbursts of intense passion and the display of shocking sexual related activities.

The GCC Dance, Music and Theatre Arts Department’s successful and unique recreation of the Broadway musical “Cabaret’ is currently entered in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. According to the Theatre Arts Department, “The aims of this national theatre education program are to identify in college-level theater production.”

The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival or KCACTF offers awards, internships, grants and scholarships to actors, playwrights, critics, designers and stage managers at both regional and national levels. Winners for the KCACTF National level are invited to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC in the spring of 2004.

Although the summer production, “Cabaret,” focused on the emotional roller-coaster relationship between a young American writer, Clifford Bradshaw (Jeff Leatherwood) and cabaret performer, Sally Bowles (Bonnie McMahan), in the Berlin, Germany nightclub Kit Kat Club there is a covert and vital subplot.

When the Master of Ceremonies (Ben Magallanes Jr.) says, “Life is beautiful, the girls are beautiful, even the orchestra is beautiful,” it is impossible to detect the dawn of the Nazi era as it mysteriously arises. The audience quickly discovers that “Cabaret’s” saftey is a Nazi target and must be destroyed. With the assistance of Bradshaw’s friend, Ernst Ludwig (Aaron Foley), the Nazi arrival has an unfortunate impact on the future of the characters.

GCC Director Ken Gray said, “My concept centered around the question ‘How could this happen?’… I wanted them [the audience] to know that this actuallyhappened; that events like this must never happen again. It is so easy for one culture to begin to think it is the only one worthy of survival. Genocide must not ever happen again.”

In order to ensure that the audience was able to grasp the concept, Gray used the original source material and re-read Christopher Isherwood’s “The Berlin Stories.” Gray said, “Quotes from this [“The Berlin Stories”] were projected onto the walls, asking the audience to shift to a thinking mode intermittently throughout the show.”

As meticulous as the effort to establish a clear concept was an entertaining combination of dance, music and theatre. Gray said the qualities to cast a student included, “Strength, vocal and physical power and a sense of character, an understanding of relationship.”

Although the dance, music and acting skills were polished through a considerable amount of time the end product was worth the struggle.

Entertainer Katrina Rennells said, “We had separate dance, music and acting lessons and as we went along, they all came together. Even though the rehearsals were time-consuming it was a lot of fun because we were all dancing and the chorographer (Carlos Ramos) made it exciting.”

“Cabaret” presented capturing solo musical numbers including Fraulein Schneider’s (Patt Paczynski) “So What” and Herr Shultz’s, (Brian Keith Price) “What Would You Do?” It is amazing to observe the all-around talent of these aspiring actors and actresses by their ample vocal range. Practices were, “Hours and hours, vocal, dance, and staging. About a hundred hours for every hour you see on stage,” Gray said.

For theatre enthusiasts the original “Cabaret” closed in 1969, but the revival play is now on Broadway. The current production is modified and includes music from the 1971 film. Rennells said, “I like the GCC show better than the movie because the movie focuses on Sally’s life and this ‘Cabaret’ overlooks the lives of everyone with much more music.”

Upcoming theatre arts productions include “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in October and “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress” in November.

As soon as the Master of Ceremonies (Ben Magallanes Jr.) says, “Life is beautiful, the girls are beautiful, even the orchestra is beautiful,” it is impossible to detect the dawn of the Nazi era as it mysteriously arises.

The audience quickly discovers that “Cabaret’s” saftey is a Nazi target and must be destroyed.

With the assistance of Bradshaw’s friend, Ernst Ludwig (Aaron Foley), the Nazi arrival has an unfortunate impact on the future of the characters.
GCC Director Ken Gray said, “My concept centered around the question `How could this happen?’… I wanted them [the audience] to know that this actually happened; that events like this must never happen again.

It is so easy for one culture to begin to think it is the only one worthy of survival. Genocide must not ever happen again.”

In order to ensure that the audience was able to grasp the concept, Gray used the original source material and re-read Christopher Isherwood’s “The Berlin Stories.”

Gray said, “Quotes from this [“The Berlin Stories”] were projected onto the walls, asking the audience to shift to a thinking mode intermittently throughout the show.”

As meticulous as the effort to establish a clear concept was an entertaining combination of dance, music and theatre.

Gray said the qualities to cast a student included, “Strength, vocal and physical power and a sense of character, an understanding of relationship.”

Although the dance, music and acting skills were polished through a considerable amount of time the end product was worth the struggle.
Entertainer Katrina Rennells said, “We had separate dance, music and acting lessons and as we went along, they all came together.

Even though the rehearsals were time-consuming it was a lot of fun because we were all dancing and the chorographer (Carlos Ramos) made it exciting.”

“Cabaret” presented capturing solo musical numbers including Fraulein Schneider’s (Patt Paczynski) “So What” and Herr Shultz’s, (Brian Keith Price) “What Would You Do?”

It is amazing to observe the all-around talent of these aspiring actors and actresses by their ample vocal range.

Practices were, “Hours and hours, vocal, dance, and staging.
About a hundred hours for every hour you see on stage,” Gray said.

For theatre enthusiasts the original “Cabaret” closed in 1969, but the revival play is now on Broadway.

The current production of “Cabaret” is modified and includes music from the 1971 film.

Rennells said, “I like the GCC show better than the movie because the movie focuses on Sally’s life and this `Cabaret’ overlooks the lives of everyone with much more music.”

Upcoming theatre arts productions include “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in October and “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress” in November.