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Show 'Cabaret' Opens June 4 at Egyptian Theatre V " i..wwiaMIMM.tmwr . . ' i. .? 1 n i I ' I ol ; ' .mmm Jr-v ? 1 f I ; 1 i INS ' v v , f I li ri j ' " - - ; - i 1- f' - - I t ' f WBO" Madeline Smith & Richard Scott Traditionally musicals are upbeat, happy and have you leaving the theatre whistling the memorable chorus number. num-ber. In the case of Cabaret, presented by Park City Performances and opening next weekend, if you leave the theatre feeling only happy and upbeat, something some-thing will have gone wrong. Cabaret, is set in Berlin in the early 1930's. It is a place where decadence is divine. A time when the careful social structure is slowly undermined by the growing ugly nationalism proposed by Adolf Hitler. The focus of the show is set in the Kit Kat Klub where "everything is beautiful". The pasty-faced emcee invites the patrons to leave your troubles outside." And in attempt to escape from a world that is too rapidly changing the Kit Kat Klub is packed with patron eager to come. For many of the actors in this show, this has proved to be a bit of a history lesson as well as a demanding acting experience. Veteran Park City Performer Val Thurnell protrays Fraulin Kost, a prostitute in the play. Val explains:"Life was gay, bawdy and escapist. It's easy to see this was an attempt to mentally suppress the rise of Hitler." Larry Sheldon who plays Herr Schultz, a fruit vendor in the show, agrees, "People were looking for some form of escape and continued to deny that they would be affected by the new politics." poli-tics." Catherine Janka, a Kit Kat girl in the show sees it in a lighter and more personal . vein. "It was a bawdier time than I thought. My mother lived in Berlin then', but never admitted how much fun it was." Perhaps her qi... , J a a , V i Steve Stancyzk & Andrea Metos mother wasn't working in a nightclub at the time... The musical Cabaret winds through the lives of four principal characters; Sally Bowles, a singer in the Kit Kat Klub, Cliff Bradshaw an American writer, Fraulien Schiender, a landlady-in Berlin and Herr Schultz, a fruit vendor. It explores the painful way each of them comes to terms (or refuses to) with the oppression of Adolf Hitler. It points out, as Kit Kat Girl Robin Riley so aptly states, "That indeed, most of us were fast asleep. Tickets for Cabaret are now on sale at the Egyptian Theatre. Reservations can be made by calling 649-9371. Ruth Ann Fitzgerald, Syd Reed, & Katherine Janka |