Story by ELLA SAMS – Broadcast Staff
The Clarke Central High School drama department will present the musical Cabaret on Feb. 26-28 at 7:30 p.m. in Mell Auditorium.
The Clarke Central High School drama department began preparations for the musical Cabaret on Nov. 12 with auditions. Since then, the department has been rehearsing and developing aspects of the musical.
Cabaret takes place in 1931 in Berlin, Germany, where Cliff, a young author, falls in love with Sally, one of the female dancers at a nightclub. Conflict arises when the two become involved with each other during the rise of the Nazi Regime.
Senior Chyna Brooks plays a Kit Kat girl, one of the dancers at the Kit Kat Klub. Brooks found that the musical would be more difficult than she thought because of the many scenes involving the dancers. The cast began at around 30 actors, and has decreased to 20 since then.
“It’s a lot more work than we’ve ever done in any of the past shows, but the cast is a lot smaller and I really like that because it’s so much easier to communicate, and that’s what I like most about the show,” Brooks said.
Among the 20 cast members, senior Nick Magyar has found that his experience with the musical has made his transition to Clarke Central as a new student easier.
“It’s a really good experience,” Magyar said. “I think it’s a great way to meet new people. It’s been a very fun thing to introduce myself to the school. Everybody’s working hard, everybody’s trying to learn everything, get everything down and they’re all very friendly.”
Cabaret includes sensitive issues such as the rise of the Nazis and anti-semitism. Student director and senior Ben Foutz did research on the late 1930’s in order to gain a better perspective for the musical.
“It was a very dark period of time and we’re trying to respect that. These are not easy things to talk about, and they’re certainly not easy things to perform about,” Drama department teacher Harriet Anderson said. “But we hope that our performance is a statement on a dark time in history rather than something that’s been treated flippantly.”
Almost 3 months of rehearsing will come to an end with the performance on February 26-28 at 7:30 pm in Mell Auditorium. Anderson hopes that the effort put into the musical will be appreciated when opening night comes.
“I want the audience to have the opportunity to think about this period of time in history and to reflect while enjoying what is truly a fun show,” Anderson said.
