CABARET Will Open Wayne State University's New Hilberry Gateway Performance Complex

The Tony Award-winning musical "Cabaret" has engaged and entertained audiences since it was first staged in 1966. This spring - for its inaugural musical theatre performance - the Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance at Wayne State University will bring "Cabaret" to the brand new Hilberry Gateway. Performances run April 7-16.

"Cabaret" is directly inspired by English author Christopher Isherwood, whose writings focused on his time in Berlin before the eventual rise of the Nazi party in 1933. Isherwood described his experience of a queer culture of unrivaled vibrance, which comes to life in the smokey underworld of "Cabaret's" Kit Kat Club. When the American writer Cliff Bradshaw arrives in Berlin, he falls in love with club performer Sally Bowles. Cliff's stay in Berlin provides a glimpse into the social and political powder keg of Germany shortly before the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Painting a picture of a bygone era, "Cabaret" invokes the colorful nightlife of Weimar Berlin, a city known for an open sense of sexuality that drew foreign visitors to its clubs, ballrooms and brothels. The writings of Isherwood showed the marvel of modern Berlin, but also its eventual demise. "Cabaret" reveals to audiences a waning culture, struggling as political tides turn towards the darkest moments of the 20th century. Wayne State University's production aims to revive a moment lost in time when the progressive Berlin metropolis was brought to its knees by the advent of fascist ideology. This historical moment reflects concerning trends in America's contemporary sociopolitical climate, where the persecution of gender expression continues today as drag performers are becoming the target of increasingly extreme legislation and fascist movements are on the rise around the globe.

The Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance at Wayne State University is excited to open "Cabaret" in the new Hilberry Gateway. Continuing the legacy of the historic Hilberry Theatre, the new Hilberry Gateway will host performances in a state-of-the-art 550-seat proscenium theatre and a 150-seat black box theatre.

The iconic "Cabaret" is presented on the STAGE in Detroit's Hilberry Gateway performance complex. Prices start at $15 for students, $18 for seniors, Wayne State alumni, faculty and staff, and $22 for adults. Tickets can be purchased online at theatreanddance.wayne.edu/2022-2023/cabaret by phone at 313-577-2972, or in-person at the Box Office up to one hour prior to performance time.

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