CABARET Begins Tonight at the Marcus Center

As part of their 50th Anniversary Season, the critically acclaimed and award-winning Roundabout Theatre Company is proud to present, direct from Broadway, the national tour of SAM MENDES (Skyfall, American Beauty) and ROB MARSHALL's (Into the Woodsand Chicago, the films) Tony Award-winning production of CABARET, playing this weekend, February 23-28 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts as part of the Associated Bank Broadway at the Marcus Center and Broadway Across America-Milwaukee series.

JOHN KANDER, FRED EBB and JOE MASTEROFF's Tony-winning musical features some of the most memorable songs in theatre history, including "Cabaret," "Willkommen" and "Maybe This Time." CABARET is set in the infamous Kit Kat Klub, where the Emcee, Sally Bowles and a raucous ensemble take the stage nightly to tantalize the crowd--and to leave their troubles outside. Roundabout Theatre Company's acclaimed production ofCABARET opened in Spring of 2014 with Alan Cumming reprising his Tony-winning role as the Emcee. The show closed on Broadway on March 29, 2015, starring Alan Cumming and Sienna Miller at Studio 54.

The creative team includes direction by Sam Mendes, co-direction and choreography byRob Marshall, set and club design by Robert Brill, costume design by William Ivey Long, lighting design by Peggy Eisenhauer and Mike Baldassari and sound design byKeith Caggiano. Cabaret is based on the play by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood. Casting for the tour has not yet been announced.

Additional engagements will be announced at a later date. For more information, please visit www.CabaretMusical.com.

Roundabout's production of Cabaret opened on Broadway on March 19, 1998 starring Alan Cumming and Natasha Richardson and won four Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Musical. Alan Cumming received the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Cabaret went on to play on Broadway for six years and 2,378 performances before finishing its run on January 4, 2004.

Cabaret premiered on Broadway in 1966 and won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, in addition to the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, the Outer Critics' Circle Award, the Variety Poll of New York Critics, and London's Evening Standard Award. The original Broadway production played 1166 performances.

Roundabout Theatre Company was most recently represented across the country with the critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning national tour of Anything Goes starring Rachel York which toured for 48 weeks. Before that, Twelve Angry Men toured for 2 years, spending 63 weeks across the United States and Canada. Roundabout's longest-running musical, the revival of Cabaret, received a multi-year tour across the country beginning in 1999. In 2011, Roundabout Theatre Company's acclaimed work reached a worldwide cinema audience with the HD capture and broadcast of their Tony nominated production ofThe Importance of Being Earnest, starring Brian Bedford.

ROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director). Now in its 49th season, Roundabout has become one of New York City's most accomplished cultural institutions and one of the country's largest not-for-profit theatre companies. With four theatres both on Broadway and off, Roundabout reaches over 600,000 theater goers annually, including over 35,000 subscribers, through award-winning productions of classical and contemporary plays and musicals. In addition to providing an artistic home for many of the finest actors, playwrights, composers and directors of our time, Roundabout is home to model education and outreach programs designed to diversify and develop the theatre's audiences. With four distinctive homes, the American Airlines Theatre, Studio 54 and the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, site of the Laura Pels Theatre and Black Box Theatre, Roundabout has the unique ability to do high-quality, professional stagings of work in a venue perfectly suited to enhance each production. Roundabout also programs the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, where the acclaimed production of Beautiful: The Carol King Musical currently plays. Since moving to Broadway 20 years ago, Roundabout productions have received 177 Tony nominations, 163 Drama Desk nominations and 187 Outer Critics Circle nominations. Production highlights include Anna Christie, She Loves Me, A View from the Bridge, 1776, Nine, Assassins, Intimate Apparel, The Understudy, The Pajama Game, Sunday in the Park with George, Waiting for Godot, The Importance of Being Earnest and Cabaret, one of the longest-running musical revivals in Broadway history.

CREATIVE BIOS:

JOE MASTEROFF (Book). Born in 1919 in Philadelphia, he had only one dream from infancy: to write for the theatre. After the essential lonely childhood and four year stint in the air force, he came to New York to face his future: book-writer or book seller? Luckily, luck intervened. Before long he had three shows on Broadway bearing his name: The Warm Peninsula starring Julie Harris, and two musicals She Loves Me and Cabaret, for which he was the book-writer. Thanks to indulgent parents, the New Dramatists, Hal Prince, and many others, he is now retired and living in subdued luxury.

JOHN KANDER (Music) & FRED EBB (Lyrics). The John Kander and Fred Ebb collaboration of four decades has created what many would consider Broadway standards and contemporary classics. One of their first collaborations became a hit song for Barbra Streisand "My Coloring Book" earning John and Fred a Grammy nomination. In 1965 the pair worked on their first Broadway show Flora the Red Menace, produced by Hal Prince and directed by George Abbott. Flora also introduced a rising new star Liza Minnelli. Followed by: Cabaret (Tony Award music and lyrics), The Happy Time, Zorba, 70 Girls 70, Chicago, The Act, Woman of the Year (Tony Award music and lyrics), The Rink, Kiss of the Spider Woman (Tony Award music and lyrics) and Steel Pier. Their collaboration also transferred itself to movies and television as they wrote original material for the Academy Awards, "Liza with a Z" and HBO's Liza Minnelli's "Steppin Out" (both Emmy winners), "Baryshnikov on Broadway", "Goldie and Liza Together", "Funny Lady", "Lucky Lady", "New York, New York", "Steppin Out", and "Chicago", the movie. In 1985 the song "New York, New York" became the official anthem of New York City. At the time of the unfortunate death of Mr. Ebb in 2004, Kander and Ebb had several projects in different stages of completion waiting in the wings, including: Tony nominated Curtainswhich played at the Al Hirschfeld Theater on Broadway in 2007, twelve-time Tony nominated The Scottsboro Boys which opened on Broadway in 2010, All About Us (an adaptation of Thornton Wilders "The Skin of our Teeth") and The Visit which had a successful run at the Goodman Theater in Chicago and The Signature Theatre in Fairfax, VA starring Chita Rivera. Mr. Kander is currently collaborating with author/playwright Greg Pierce on two new projects, The Landing and Kid Victory. The Visit, starring Chita Rivera, will begin previews on Broadway on March 26 and open on April 23, 2015.

SAM MENDES (Director) directing work spans twenty five years. In 1989 he became first Artistic Director of the Minerva Theatre. In 1992 he founded Donmar Warehouse in London and served as the Artistic Director, also directing their award winning plays: Assassins, The Glass Menagerie, Company, Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night. Mendes also founded the Bridge Project, a joint venture between The Old Vic and BAM, directing their acclaimed productions: The Tempest, The Cherry Orchard, A Winter's Tale and Richard III. He has also directed for the RSC, National Theatre, West End and on Broadway. He is the recipient of several Tony and Olivier Awards. Film credits include Away We Go, Revolutionary Road, Jarhead, Road to Perdition and Oscar® winning American Beauty. Most recently he directed the BAFTA and Academy Award-winning Skyfall, grossing over $1 billion dollars. Mendes has received the Directors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award and has also been awarded a CBE.

ROB MARSHALL (Co-Director, Choreographer).A six-time Tony Award nominee and George Abbott Award winner, Marshall was nominated for Tonys for direction and choreography for Cabaret. His stage work includes Broadway productions of Little Me, Kiss of the Spider Woman, She Loves Me, Damn Yankees, Victor/Victoria, A Funny Thing...Forum, and Company. Marshall's film Chicago was the winner of six Oscars including Best Picture. For that film Marshall received the DGA Award, an Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA award nominations, the National Board of Review Award and the New York Film Critics Award. His epic film Memoirs of a Geisha was the winner of three Oscars, three BAFTA Awards and a Golden Globe. Marshall's film Nine was nominated for four Oscars, five Golden Globes and 10 Critics Choice Awards. His film, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, grossed over one billion dollars, making it one of the highest grossing films in history. His film version of the Sondheim/ Lapine Musical Into the Woods was recently nominated for three Oscars, three Golden Globes, two BAFTA Awards and one Screen Actors Guild Award. Marshall has won four Emmys and the American Choreography Award for his work on NBC's "Tony Bennett: An American Classic" and the TV musical Annie.

ROBERT BRILL (Set & Club Design). Broadway: Cabaret, Jesus Christ Superstar, Assassins (Tony nom), Buried Child, Guys and Dolls (Tony nom), Design for Living, A Streetcar Named Desire, Laugh Whore, The Story of My Life, The Good Body, Anna in the Tropics, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and The Rehearsal. Other credits include The Flaming Lips' musical Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Christopher Plummer's A Word or Two, Moby-Dick (Dallas Opera), Faust (Met/ENO), Sinatra (Radio City), On the Record (Disney), American in Paris (Boston Ballet), A Clockwork Orange (Steppenwolf), and The Laramie Project (BAM and others). Founding member of Sledgehammer Theatre and recipient of the Merritt Award for Excellence in Design and Collaboration.

WILLIAM IVEY LONG (Costume Design). Current Broadway: On the Twentieth Century and Chicago, now in its 18th year. Previous Roundabout: The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Don't Dress For Dinner, Pal Joey, The Ritz, A Streetcar Named Desire, Twentieth Century, The Man Who Came To Dinner, Cabaret (1998), 1776, Company, Picnic, The Homecoming. Select Broadway: Bullets Over Broadway, Rodgers and Hammerstein'sCinderella, Grey Gardens, Hairspray, The Producers, Crazy For You, Nine. Other: The Merry Widow at The Metropolitan Opera. Mr. Long has 13 Tony Award nominations, winning 6 times. He was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 2006, and was elected Chairman of the American Theatre Wing in June 2012. www.williamiveylong.com

PEGGY EISENHAUER (Lighting Design) designs concurrently for Broadway, film, and the music industry. She is known most prominently as design partner to renowned lighting designer Jules Fisher, a 29-year collaboration. Broadway design highlights include Lucky Guy, Jane Eyre, Gypsy, Ragtime, Noise/Funk, Assassins, and Victor Victoria. Music industry highlights include Tracy Chapman, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Whitney Houston, and Neil Young. Her designs for film include Chicago, School of Rock, Dreamgirls, The Producers, and Burlesque. In 2010 she was selected as one of Variety's 100 Women of Impact in Hollywood. She is the recipient of three Tony awards and eight nominations.

MIKE BALDASSARI (Lighting Design) is a Tony and Emmy nominated Lighting Designer whose work has spanned many industries and 25+ countries. Films include: Nine, Rock of Ages, Joyful Noise, Sex and The City 2, Going the Distance, Neil Young Trunk Show. Broadway: Cabaret, First Date, Upcoming Holler If Ya Hear Me. European:Beauty and The Beast. Family entertainment: Yo Gabba Gabba. World premières; Tennessee William's One Arm, Somewhere In Time, 13, Nerds. Multiple National Tours. Production Designer: Alice In Chains, co-designed Neil Young's "Chrome Dreams". Television: U2's Top Of The Rock, SNL's Digital Shorts, Mary J. Blige, Tim McGraw. Emmy Nomination: Garth Brooks Central Park. www.mike-o-matic.com

BRIAN RONAN (Sound Design). Over 25 Broadway shows including If/Then, Beautiful, Annie, Bring It On, Nice Work If You Can Get It, The Book of Mormon, Anything Goes, American Idiot, Promises, Promises, Next to Normal, Grease, Curtains, Spring Awakening, Grey Gardens and The Pajama Game. Brian is the recipient of the Obie, Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, London's Olivier and Tony awards. His career has spanned North America, Europe and Asia and has allowed him to work with the most talented composers, directors, designers, actors, musicians and stagehands in the world for which he is eternally grateful.

Established in 1969, the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts is the premier performing arts venue in Southeastern Wisconsin. As the Marcus Center moves into its 46th year, it continues to set the standard for high-quality arts entertainment in the region and the state. The touring Broadway series, sponsored by Associated Bank, is recognized as bringing the best of Broadway entertainment to Milwaukee for the past 19 years. The Marcus Center is also the home to the Milwaukee Symphony, Milwaukee Ballet, Florentine Opera, First Stage plus a variety of other important community and family events throughout the year. For more information about events visit the Marcus Center website at www.MarcusCenter.org. The Marcus Center is a private 501(c) 3 corporation.

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