KC Rep Presents CABARET, 3/25

After a week of strong previews, Eric Rosen's electrifying new production of Kansas City native John Kander and Fred Ebb's Broadway classic Cabaret is set to open tomorrow, Friday, March 25, at Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Rosen, who directs and is also the Rep's artistic director, has created a production that evokes the exciting, decadent cabaret world of pre-war World War II Berlin.

For the first time in its 46-year-history, Kansas City Rep is presenting a show on a specially-designed, 360-degree rotating theatre-in-the-round stage. From a limited number of on-stage seats and tables, audience members see a behind-the-scenes perspective of Cabaret, including the crew running the show, scenery load-in and actors in the wings. One patron was heard to remark, "Fascinating. It's like sitting at the chef's table in a restaurant. You see everything." Traditional seating in the theatre is also available.

The cast of Cabaret is: KC Comeaux as Bobby/Kit Kat Klub Boy/Ensemble (Into the Woods-directed by Moisés Kaufman, KC Rep); Jerry Jay Cranford as Max/ Kit Kat Klub Boy/Ensemble (Les Miserables, Broadway production and national tour); Claybourne Elder as Clifford Bradshaw (Into the Woods-
Brian Sills as the Master of Ceremonies in CABARET at KC Rep.

directed by Moisés Kaufman, KC Rep; Bonnie and Clyde, La Jolla Playhouse and upcoming Broadway premiere); Jenny Florkowski as Kit Kat Klub Girl/Ensemble (national tours: White Christmas, 42nd Street, Cats); Charles Fugate as Ernst Ludwig (A Christmas Carol, Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, KC Rep; Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre); Colleen Grate as Kit Kat Klub Girl/Ensemble (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, American Heartland Theatre; Footloose and Jesus Christ Superstar, Starlight Theatre); Gary Neal Johnson as Herr Schultz (90 productions at KC Rep where he is artistic associate including 10 as Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol; The Voysey Inheritance, KC Rep, American Conservatory Theater-Dean Goodman Award; Much Ado About Nothing and The Merchant of Venice, Utah Shakespeare Festival; King Lear, Goodman Theatre and Shakespeare Theatre Co., D.C.); Bryan LaFave as Victor/ Kit Kat Klub Boy/Ensemble (National tour: Beauty and the Beast; TV: "Last Comic Standing"); Kara Lindsay as Sally Bowles (National tour: Little House on the Prairie, also at Guthrie Theatre); Mandy Morris as Kit Kat Klub Girl/Ensemble (A Christmas Carol-KC Rep; Seussical the Musical, Coterie Theatre); Kym Chambers Otto as Kit Kat Klub Girl/Ensemble (National tours: Cats and Cinderella; Anything Goes and The Wizard of Oz, Starlight); Hollis Resnik as Fräulein Schneider (The Light in the Piazza, Arena Stage; Grey Gardens, Philadelphia Theatre Co.; Man of La Mancha, Long Wharf Theatre and Court Theatre); Vanessa Severo as Fräulein Kost/Ensemble (A Christmas Carol, KC Rep; Clean House, Unicorn Theatre; Much Ado About Nothing, Heart of America Shakespeare Festival; Desdemona, KC Actors Theatre); Emily Shackelford as Kit Kat Klub Girl/Ensemble (Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Coterie Theatre); Brian Sills as Master of Ceremonies (The 24 Hour Plays, Broadway; The Lion King, Broadway national tour).

The creative team includes Anthony T. Edwards (Music Director/Conductor/Pianist); Doug Peck (Orchestrator); Richard J. Hinds (Choreographer); Jack Magaw (Set Design); Sarah Beers (Costume Design); David Weiner (Lighting Design) and Zachary Williamson (Sound Design). Production Stage Manager is Brooke Redler and Assistant Stage Manager is Sara E. Beatty. Casting is by Stephanie Klapper.

Cabaret runs March 18-April 10 at Spencer Theatre in the James C. Olson Performing Arts Center, 4949 Cherry Street, Kansas City, Missouri. Tickets for on-stage seating are $30-$70. Cabaret table tickets are $199 for a table for two, including refreshments. Regular house seats are $20-$60. Please contact the Rep Box Office at 816-235-2700 or visit www.KCRep.org for information about performance times and ticket options.

Now in its 46th season, Kansas City Repertory Theatre is its region's only member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and serves as the professional theatre in residence at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). The Rep produces mainstage plays and special events at Spencer Theatre on the UMKC campus and Copaken Stage located in downtown Kansas City. Kansas City Rep employs more than 250 professional artists, technicians and administrators, and serves more than 100,000 patrons annually.

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