The Citizen, 1998-09-23, Page 27Life is...
... a Cabaret at London's Grand Theatre. The multi-award winning musical, based on the
play by John van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood, opened Sept. 18 and runs
through to Oct. 10. Pictured are: Jeff Hyslop as Emcee with the Kit Kat Club girls, from left:
Cara Leslie, Jane Johanson (crouching) , Megan Francis and Tracy Flye. Directed by
Michael Shamata, the play also stars Laurie Paton, Nicola Lipman, and Bruce Davies.
(Elisabeth Feryn photo)
Theatre review
`Cabaret', eye-opening
C I TO4
KEB
TWIN CINEMA
SURROUND SOUND STEREO
1.1STOWEI. 291-3070
Atwood Lions
Bingo
every Thursday
Doors open 6:30 p.m.
Starts at 7:00 p.m.
Jackpot $1,000.
on 54 calls
Pot of Gold $1,000.
on 51 calls
Loonie Bin
/7- Friday
HOUSE V. J.
Saturday, October 3
The Best Shania Tribute in North America!
SHANIA TWIN
(formerly Shania in Me)
5. at the Door
Huy 8 West. Clinton
482-1234
An invitation is extended
to all graduates, parents
and friends.
Graduates & Award
Winners should be at the
school by 7:30 p.m.
Thursday,
Sept. 24,
1998
8:00 p.m.
Tickets Only
$18.00.
Call the Box
Office
357-4082
Howick Mutual Insurance Company and the Wingham .„„
TOWN critaitg
HALL 1, EAT 'RE
go.0078‘
presents... DUANE STEELE
roudly Supported {ry
MIDDLETON'S Of Wingham cirri ,c Sponsored by
Minn 92t1 Bell
Tickets available at Brian's valu-mart, Ernie King Music, Wingham & Goclerich
Welcome
To Commencement Exercises
at
Central Huron Secondary School
Friday, September 25 at 8:00 pm
FRI. & SAT. 7 & 9:15 PM
SUN. - THURS. 8 PM
"THE FUNNIEST MOVIE OF THE DECADE:' ..•• Ti,,, Reid, MTV RADIO
"Bawdy, outrageous and very funny.
Pushes the envelope like
you've never seen before."
Kill Diehl. ABC RADIO NETWORK
LONG DISTANCE? CALL 1-800-265-3438 FOR TOLL FREE MOVIE INFO
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1998. PAGE 27.
E ntertainment Steele at Heritage
In just one year, Duane Steele
has exploded on the Canadian
country music scene and is set to
explode onto the Wingham Town
Hall Heritage Theatre stage
Thursday, Sept. 24 for one show
only at 8 p.m.
On stage, Steele is already a
darling of the fans and has opened
for Trisha Yearwood, Lorrie
Morgan, Sammy Kershaw and
Little Texas. Juno nominations
include Country Male Vocalist of
the Year and Best new Solo artist.
The most recent CCMA awards
were very exciting for Steele and
his band. The Back Up Band of the
Year went to Steele's band and the
All Star Band Award Was
presented to Wendell Ferguson, a
member of Steele's band. He has
graced Wingham's Heritage
Theatre stage before.
Steele was nominated for Best
Male Vocalist and was a part of the
IN a
ra
1.1
a
a
ra
al
Huron Carol, an award winning
fundraising tour which won the
1998 Country Event of the Year.
STARTS FRIDAY
CINEMA 1 7 & 9:15 P.M.
ROUNDERS
MATT DAMON AA
CINEMA 2 7 & 9 P.M.
KNOCK OFF
JEAN CLAUDE VANDAMME
AA
ra
MI
ra
a a a
a a
a
al
INI
By Keith Roulston
Citizen publisher
Cabaret, which opened Friday
night at the Grand Theatre in Lon-
don, is one of those musicals famil-
iar because its music has been
heard on radio and television for
nearly 30 years, but unknown to
many people unless they've seen a
production or the movie version
that came out in 1972. For such
people, seeing the play after hear-
ing the light and happy music, may
be an eye-opening experience.
The play is about desperately
seeking pleasure while ignoring the
pain around you and as such, may
be a perfect choice for a 1990s
playbill, despite the fact it is set in
1930 Berlin as Hitler came to
power. The story is based on a
novella I.Am a Camera by Christo-
pher Isherwood and tells the story
of Clifford Bradshaw a young
American writer who falls in love
with Sally Bowles, an English
entertainer in the Kit Kat Klub, a
decadent spot where people come
to seek pleasure and shut out the
world outside.
When Cliff and Sally try to make
a new life for themselves away
from the club, they are trapped by
the poverty and unemployment of
the city. Cliff takes easy money
being a courier to smuggle money
into the country, until he learns the
money is going to the Nazis. Sally
eventually goes back to singing in
the club despite pleadings from
Cliff to escape from the city with
him.
Around them the Nazi tide is
gathering but people try to ignore
it. Cliff's landlady, Fraulein
Schneider, finds happiness with a
boarder, Herr Schultz, but plans for
their wedding are called off when
she is warned by a Nazi organizer
about the dire consequences of
marrying a Jew.
Cliff goes to the club to beg Sally
to come back but is beaten up by
Nazi brownshirts. And so by the
time Sally sings the title song
Cabaret near the end of the play,
instead of being the joyous anthem
to having fun that we've come to
know from 'recordings, there's a
bitter irony as Sally knows she's
choosing the pretend world inside
the club over real life with Cliff.
And so it is throughout the play
as Jeff Hyslop as the Emcee tries to
instill a sense of frivolity into the
atmosphere but there's always a
slightly ironic tinge no matter how
cheerful the songs. Moments that
seem like sheer fun, like a number
with Hyslop professing love for a
large dancing gorilla (played by a
Continued on page 28