“Cabaret" at the Timber Lake Playhouse -- July 3 through 12.
Friday, July 3, through Sunday, July 12
Timber Lake Playhouse, 8215 Black Oak Road, Mt. Carroll IL
One of American theatre's most exciting, acclaimed, and tune-filled entertainments receives a Timber Lake Playhouse staging during the July 3 through 12 Mt. Carroll run of Cabaret, the legendary Kander & Ebb musical that earned a combined 12 Tony Awards for Broadway's 1966 original and 1998 revival, and that was adapted into a 1972 film classic that received eight Oscars including Best Actress for Liza Minnelli and Best Director for Bob Fosse.
Cabaret takes place from 1929 to 1930, a time in which Berlin, in the midst of a post-World War I economic depression, is transitioning from a center of underground, avant-garde cultural epicenter to the beginnings of Hitler’s totalitarian regime and the rise of the Nazi Party. Into this world enters Clifford Bradshaw, a struggling American writer looking for inspiration for his next novel. On his first night in Berlin, Cliff wanders into the Kit Kat Klub, a seedy nightclub overseen by the strange, omniscient and gender-bending Master of Ceremonies, “the Emcee.” Here, Cliff meets Sally Bowles, a vivacious, talented cabaret performer, and an utterly lost soul. Sally and Cliff begin a relationship, which blossoms unexpectedly into a dream-like romance. As time passes, however, the situation in Berlin changes from exciting and vital to ominous and violent, with Ernst, Cliff’s first German friend, turning out to be an up-and-coming member of the Nazi Party, and Herr Schultz, a fellow boarder at Fraulein Schneider’s guest house, is the victim of an Anti-Semitic hate crime.
With the 1966 Broadway production running for 1,166 performances and its Tony wins including Best Musical and Best Featured Actor for Joel Grey (who would win a Supporting Actor Oscar for recreating his stage performance), Cabaret's hit songs include “Willkomen,” “Money,” “Maybe This Time,” "Don't Tell Mama," "Two Ladies," and Sally Bowles' torch-song rendition of the title number. Among the musical's many notable revivals, a 1987 Broadway production, which also starred Grey, received four Tony nominations including for Best Revival of a Musical. The show returned to New York in 1998, its 10 Tony nods resulting in four wins: for Best Revival, Best Actress in a Musical (Natasha Richardson), Best Actor in a Musical (Alan Cumming), and Best Featured Actor on a Musical (Ron Rifkin). A 2014 Broadway revival received Tony nominations for featured performers Danny Burstein and Linda Emond. And most recently, Cabaret's 2021 West End revival scored seven Laurence Olivier Awards including for Oscar-winning stars Jessie Buckley and Eddie Redmayne, the production then transferring to New York in 2024 and earning nine Tony nominations, winning for the musical's scenic design.
Cabaret runs at the Mt. Carroll theatre July 3 through 12, with performances at 2 and/or 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. Admission is $36-64, and more information and tickets are available by calling (815)244-2035 and visiting TimberLakePlayhouse.org.
