ON STAGE | Cabaret

I love supporting Toronto's awesome arts scene and I try to make it out to as much as I can. When I heard that Cabaret was coming to the Lower Ossington Theatre, I got pretty excited. Not only did I have the pleasure of attending its fabulous opening night, but I got a behind-the-scenes look a week before it debuted and got to chat with the show's director Jeremy Hutton.

Jeremy Hutton

What drew you to take on Cabaret?

I suggested it to them here at the LOT because it’s just one of the greatest musicals of all time. They asked me what would be a great musical that would also probably sell tickets and this was my suggestion. It appeals to a younger audience, it appeals to an older audience, and it appeals to a culturally diverse audience, so I think that’s among the reasons that we wanted to approach it. And it’s got some of the greatest song and dance numbers that everybody knows, on top of actually mean something. It’s rare in musicals, especially of that time; this was first performed in 1968 or 1969. And leading up to that time, it was rare for a musical to really have any depth to it, depth to character and depth to what they were trying to say. I think that’s what makes this musical so special, it’s really fun and sexy and even today, it’s different from your standard piece of musical theatre. It also says something that is relevant to when it was written, before it was written and it’s even relevant still today in terms of what we’re willing to accept, who we’re willing to accept and how much apathy can affect what goes on.

 

The show features an incredibly talented cast including:

KYLIE MCMAHON (Sally Bowles)

ADAM NORRAD (Emcee) [side note, I actually interviewed Adam before when he was Trekkie Monster in LOT's production of Avenue Q!]

DAVID LIGHT (Cliff Bradshaw)

It was really cool to see it all come together, from rehearsal to the big day. The show was full of energy and definitely had me on the edge of my seat. The cast does a fantastic job of bringing the audience in—it was almost trance-like for me. The songs were fantastic. I definitely got goosebumps during Kylie McMahon's rendition of the classic "Cabaret."

Photo: Seanna Kennedy

Photo: Seanna Kennedy

Photo: Seanna Kennedy

My friend Hillary and I chatted with one of the cast members, David Light, and obvs had to take an awesome photo...

Cabaret will be at the Lower Ossington Theatre from now until March 2. Want to stay updated on all the excitement that goes down at the LOT? Check them out at lowerossingtontheatre.com and find them on Facebook & Twitter!

- Christina

Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28