WJU Performance Art Series: Cabaret
“It was the end of the world…” Willkommen to Berlin! American writer, Cliff Bradshaw, arrives in Berlin in 1929, on the eve of a new year and a new regime in Germany. Centered in the deliciously raunchy and seedy nightclub, the Kit Kat Klub, Cabaret follows Cliff and the 19-year-old English cabaret performer Sally Bowles, navigating their relationship, their dreams and their limitations in a world permeated by politics, economics, and sexuality. It also follows the doomed romance between boarding house owner Fräulein Schneider and her suitor, Herr Schultz, a Jewish fruit vendor, which cannot seem to survive in the impending colder, terrifying Germany. The Emcee oversees the action as the Master of Ceremonies at the Kit Kat Klub as well as the parallel journey as Nazi Germany rises to power. Based on John Van Druten’s play I Am a Camera and Christopher Isherwood’s Goodbye to Berlin, with lyrics by Fred Ebb and music by John Kander and book by Joe Masteroff. Cabaret is intended for mature audiences. The Performing Arts Series is made possible in part by the generous financial support of the WJU Student Government Association.