Cabaret De Profundis or How To Sing While Ugly Crying at Buntport Theater

Buntport Theater Company is set to release a filmed version of their still unseen production Cabaret De Profundis or How To Sing While Ugly Crying. MARCH 13th, 2020 was the day that Buntport's 49th full-length original play was set to debut. It is also the day that Buntport shut its doors to the public. For months, an unused set has been collecting dust, awaiting the time they can safely re-open. In OCTOBER, they decided to put the set to use. After adapting portions of the script to acknowledge the change in medium, they filmed the performance (with the tech folks distanced and masked, of course). Currently in its final stages of editing and getting closed captioned, the filmed stage show is nearly ready to be released.


Cabaret De Profundis or How to Sing While Ugly Crying, based loosely on the real life Artemisia II of Caria, is a cabaret-style show featuring Hannah Duggan and local composer/pianist Nathan Hall. You'll learn about Artemisia, including her commissioning the creation of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and her penchant for mourning her husband's loss by drinking his ashes in her wine. Featuring a mix of old classics and new compositions (all by Nathan Hall), this monologue-with-musical-numbers is a dark comedy with the emphasis on comedy.

Does this show take on different meaning post-Covid? Yes, of course. Doesn't everything?

Buntport Theater Company has been creating new work in Denver for over 20 years now. While this is not the way that they thought they would be celebrating their 20th season, they are making it work, often putting out content with little warning. After the success of their mini outdoor show The Grasshoppers this summer, they plan to make another outdoor, distanced show for the spring of 2021. Buntport was thrilled to collaborate with Nathan Hall on their 49th play. Nathan is a former Fulbright Fellow to Iceland, and holds his Doctorate in Musical Arts from CU Boulder, his BA from Vassar College and his MM from Carnegie Mellon. Having mutually admired each other's work, all parties were excited to work with one another on the original stage production and the filmed version.

Note: at some point, they will absolutely mount the original stage production. It has its own little surprises, different from the filmed version and they hope people will enjoy both.

Cabaret De Profundis or How To Sing While Ugly Crying a filmed stage production will release on Vimeo on JANUARY 15th (a date originally slated for opening night of a remount of Buntport's award-winning Tommy Lee Jones Goes to Opera Alone) It is available for donations to Buntport (with a $20 minimum) and can be enjoyed by everyone in the household for the rest of time. If people can not afford the $20 minimum, they will work with them.