Press Releases

May 25, 2001
The Southampton Players Take Risks, Get Risque With "Cabaret"

Gemma Breithaupt Stars as Sally Bowles in the Kander and Ebb Musical

Contact:
Darren Johnson
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081

The Southampton Players, a popular troupe of community and Southampton College actors, are known for taking risks onstage - and the payoffs have been great, as shows regularly sell out. But now the troupe is taking on its most challenging - and risqué - subject yet. The setting: a seamy burlesque club in Nazi Germany. Starring Players favorite Gemma Breithaupt as Sally Bowles, the acclaimed Kander and Ebb musical "Cabaret" will be staged June 15-17 and 22-24 in Southampton College's Avram Theater at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12/$8 students and seniors, call (631) 287-8480.

Click on the picture to see scenes from the show!

Based on the play "I Am a Camera" (which was in turn based on Christopher Isherwood's autobiographical "Berlin Stories"), Harold Prince's "Cabaret" opened on Broadway in 1966. Much different than the stage version, the 1972 Bob Fosse film won eight Oscars and starred Liza Minnelli as Sally Bowles. In 1998, a London revival made its way to Broadway, winning four Tonys.

Southampton Players Director Michael Disher, however, chose the 1987 Harold Prince revival that had a short life on Broadway. "The movie strayed from the serious message the original play intended," Disher said. "The version we're doing contains the strongest message. Also, I like taking risks."

Set in 1930s Berlin, "Cabaret" microcosmically represents the effects of the Nazis' rise to power. The setting is primarily in the boarding house of Fraulein Schneider, while the world of the Kit Kat Klub, the Kit Kat Girls and Boys, and the EmCee (Robert Meehan) provide a running musical commentary - a mixture of comedy, satire, hedonism and truth. "Cabaret" provides a few names and faces to the millions impacted by Nazi politics.

The music of "Cabaret" ranges from up-tempo pieces, including the raucous opener "Willkommen" and the unforgettable "Cabaret," to lesser-known, yet hauntingly beautiful ballads, including "Tomorrow Belongs to Me." The choreography encompasses the seductively naughty, the humorously innocent and everything in between.

Gemma, who graduated from Southampton College in May, is a showstopper for the burgeoning troupe. This version of Cabaret was chosen specifically with her in mind. "She has an immense talent and commands the stage - and she's just at the beginning of what I hope is a wonderful career," said Disher. Breithaupt's roles have ranged from sultry showgirl Miss Adelaide in "Guys & Dolls" to the feisty lounge singer Reno Sweeney in "Anything Goes" to British blonde bombshell Bowles in this production.

Disher said today's prosperous, peaceful times call for this version of "Cabaret" to be staged. "It's a cautionary tale," he said. "When we are in the midst of such prosperous and good times, we should appreciate that with the knowledge that it may not last forever."