Cabaret

Otis Sallid, Director and Choreographer
Matt Stern, Music Director and Conductor
Jeff Adelberg, Lighting Designer
Ryan Park, Costume Designer
Jenna McFarland Lord, Scenic Designer
J.Collin Priddy-Barnum, Sound Designer
Rachel Padula Shufelt, Hair/Make-up Designer
Erin Kearney, Stage Manager

Neil Donohoe, Dean of Theater/Producer
Sarah Ford, Associate Producer
Patsy Collins Bandes, Interim Chair of Theater
Don Curioso, Production Manager
Harrison Pearse Burke, Assistant Production Manager
Andrew T. Chandler, Technical Director
Jesse Washburn, Assistant Technical Director
Audrey Kimball, Mainstage Lead Technician
Tori Sweetser, Lighting Supervisor
Evey Connerty-Martin, Production Electrician
Rebecca Shannon Butler, Costume Shop Manager
Amanda Feeley, Assistant Costume Shop Manager
Jill Costello, Assistant Costume Designer
J. Collin Priddy-Barnum, A1/Sound Supervisor
Alec Long, Props Manager
Emily Fargo White, Wardrobe Manager
Jonathan Rooney, Stage Supervisor
Christopher Caggiano, Dramaturg
Candice Brown, Voice and Speech Coach

Using Cabaret to Illuminate the Past—and the Present

Cabaret is a musical rich in cultural, social, political, and historical context, and Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s dramaturgy team has worked hard to supply the cast of Cabaret with the information necessary to create a fully nuanced, informed, and richly detailed production.

Cabaret is set in the early 1930s in the Germany of the Weimar Republic, so research on the political and economic milieu during the rise of the Nazi Party is essential. But we’re also looking at what was happening in the U.S. during the time in which Cabaret was created: the turbulent 1960s, including civil rights protests, numerous high-profile assassinations, and the horrors of the Vietnam War.

In our research, we worked to uncover parallels between themes in Cabaret and the present day, comparing politics, culture, and economics. The director of the original Broadway production, Harold Prince, wanted to use Cabaret as an opportunity to warn audiences that what happened in 1930s Germany could all too easily happen in the U.S. We hope our current production serves a similar purpose.

—Christopher Caggiano, Associate Professor of Theater

Boston Conservatory at Berklee student Aaron Patterson (B.F.A. '21, musical theater), who plays the Emcee in the Conservatory’s sold-out Center Stage production of Cabaret, talks about digging deeply into his character’s backstory and working with guest director and choreographer Otis Sallid. Click here to read more about Cabaret.