Rehearsals are well underway for the musical Cabaret on a Vernon stage.
Big Apple Productions is putting it on with a cast full of local talent, spearheaded by producer and musical director Melina Schein.
“It is set in pre-war Berlin in the early 1930s just before Hitler and the Third Reich are coming into power, it’s a huge song and dance musical but with an underlying story of love and loss and struggle, and the stage version is very much not the movie version,” said Schein.
The musical follows the ill-fated love story of Cliff Bradshaw and Sally Bowles who meet at the Kit Kat Club.
Bringing the character, Sally Bowles, to life in the June production is Amelia Sirianni.
“Sally Bowles is a young Brit who has come to Berlin to pursue her art singing and dancing and she loves love and loves life, loves people, loves the scene,” said Sirianni.
Playing the part of her love interest is Craig Howard as Clifford Bradshaw.
“Clifford is an American writer and he comes to Berlin publicly to work on a novel, but privately he’s going there because at the time Berlin was a fairly liberal place where it was okay to be gay or bisexual, which he is,” said Howard. “He falls in love with a showgirl and while that’s happening fascism is kind of taking over.”
The producer and musical director says this is a story that has a crucial message, even today.
“Right now there’s a scary rise in antisemitism around the world and not just that, the intolerance that is happening for marginalized groups,” said Schein. “This show takes all of that into account. It also touches on abortion and women’s rights and the cost of being silent in the face of adversity.”
Experience the Big Apple Productions version of Cabaret at Powerhouse Theatre June 7 to June 17. Tickets are available online at www.ticketseller.ca
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