Synopsis & Schedule

At the dawn of the 1930s in Berlin, the Nazi party quietly grows stronger. The audience is introduced to a seedy cabaret known as the Kit Kat Klub (the song "Willkommen"), a place of decadent celebration set against the backdrop of growing Nazi terror. Arriving by train is Clifford Bradshaw, a young American writer coming to Berlin in the hopes of finding inspiration for his new novel. He meets Ernst Ludwig, a German who offers Cliff work and recommends a boardinghouse. At the boardinghouse, Fraulein Schneider offers Cliff a room for one hundred marks; he can only pay fifty. After a brief debate, she relents and lets Cliff live there for fifty marks. Fraulein Schneider observes that she has learned to take whatever life offers (the song "So What?").

As Cliff visits the Kit Kat Klub, the Master of Ceremonies, or Emcee, introduces a British singer, Sally Bowles, who performs a racy, flirtatious number (the song "Don't Tell Mama"). Afterward, she asks Cliff to recite poetry for her; he recites "Casey at the Bat." Cliff offers to take Sally home, but she says that her boyfriend Max, the club's owner, is too jealous. Sally then performs her final number at the Kit Kat Club aided by the female ensemble (the song "Mein Herr"). The cabaret ensemble then performs a song and dance, calling each other on inter-table phones and inviting each other for dances and drinks (the song "The Telephone Song").

The next day, Cliff has just finished giving Ernst an English lesson when Sally arrives. Max has fired her and thrown her out, and now she has no place to live - so she asks him if she can live in his room. At first he resists, but she convinces him (and Fraulein Schneider) to take her in (the song "Perfectly Marvelous"). The Emcee and two female companions sing a song ("Two Ladies") that comments on Cliff and Sally's unusual living conditions. Herr Schultz, an elderly Jewish fruit-shop owner who lives in her boardinghouse, has given Fraulein Schneider a pineapple as a gift ("It Couldn't Please Me More"). However, in the Kit Kat Klub, a young waiter begins singing a song that begins as a patriotic anthem to the Fatherland but slowly descends into a darker, Nazi inspired march song ("Tomorrow Belongs to Me") initially a cappella, but soon accompanied by the rest of the customers and the band.

Months later, Cliff and Sally are still living together and have fallen in love. Cliff knows that he is in a "dream," but he enjoys living with Sally too much to come to his senses (the song "Why Should I Wake Up?"). Sally reveals that she is pregnant, but she does not know the father and reluctantly decides to get an abortion. Cliff reminds her that it could be his child, and seems to convince her to have the baby. Ernst then enters and offers Cliff a job - picking up a suitcase in Paris and delivering it to his "client" in Berlin - easy money. The Emcee comments on this.

Meanwhile, Fraulein Schneider has caught one of her boarders, Fraulein Kost, bringing sailors into her room. Fraulein Schneider forbids her from doing it again, but Fraulein Kost threatens to leave. She also mentions that she has seen Fraulein Schneider with Herr Schultz in her room. Herr Schultz saves Fraulein Schneider's reputation by telling Fraulein Kost that he and Fraulein Schneider are to be married in three weeks. After Kost leaves, Fraulein Schneider thanks Herr Schultz for lying to Kost. Schultz, however, says that he was serious, and proposes to Fraulein Schneider (the song "Married").

At Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz's engagement party, Cliff arrives and delivers the suitcase to Ernst. A "tipsy" Herr Schultz sings "Meeskite" (Meeskite, he explains, is Yiddish for ugly or funny-looking) a song with a moral ("Anyone responsible for loveliness, large or small/Is not a meeskite at all"). Afterward, looking for revenge on Fraulein Schneider, Fraulein Kost tells Ernst, who now sports a Nazi armband, that Schultz is Jewish. Ernst warns Fraulein Schneider that marrying him may not be wise.

Then the plot thickens.

To find out more - including the ending - come see the show!

January 10-29, 2012

• Tuesday, January 10 at 7:30pm
• Wednesday, January 11 at 2:00pm & 7:30pm
• Thursday, January 12 at 7:30pm
• Friday, January 13 at 7:30pm
• Saturday, January 14 at 2:00pm & 8:00pm
• Sunday, January 15 at 2:00pm
• Tuesday, January 17 at 7:30pm
• Wednesday, January 18 at 2:00pm & 7:30pm
• Thursday, January 19 at 7:30pm
• Friday, January 20 at 7:30pm
• Saturday, January 21 at 2:00pm & 8:00pm
• Sunday, January 22 at 2:00pm
• Tuesday, January 24 at 7:30pm
• Wednesday, January 25 at 2:00pm & 7:30pm
• Thursday, January 26 at 7:30pm
• Friday, January 27 at 7:30pm
• Saturday, January 28 at 2:00pm & 8:00pm
• Sunday, January 29 at 2:00pm