Risqué 'Cabaret'

Stockton Theatre Project ends season with musical
AARON DAVIS
Special to The Record
Published Thursday, Jul 27, 2006

"Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome, in cabaret, au cabaret, to cabaret!"

From the opening greeting, it's obvious that all are welcome when the curtains swing open on the classic musical "Cabaret." But, after two very different Broadway revivals in 19 years, the question is, which take on "Cabaret" awaits audiences when the show opens tonight at Atherton Auditorium?

Director Jim Coleman fancies a middle ground.

"We're doing the 1987 version," Coleman said. "In 1998, they came out with a different take on it. It was very steamy and grungy, the real in-your-face version."

"(Ours) is a little less risqué, but it's still not for the faint of heart," said Derek Isetti, who portrays the master of ceremonies. "For Stockton audiences, it still gets the message across without slapping them in the face."

"Cabaret" is the third and final production of this summer's Stockton Theatre Project, a collaboration among Stockton Civic Theatre, San Joaquin Delta College and the American Blues Theatre Company. Coleman said he's optimistic about the project's future as it finishes its second season.

"This year, we learned there are some more things we need to learn," joked Coleman, Stockton Civic Theatre's producing director. "It's always a growing process.

"But it's very viable," he added. "It's something people really want, and I'm just thrilled. It's really helped all the arts organizations in town."

"Cabaret" marks a return of sorts for Isetti. A Stockton native and 1992 St. Mary's High School graduate, he's back in town to study speech pathology at University of the Pacific. Isetti understudied the master of ceremonies role on Broadway while living in New York.

"My life is sort of coming full circle," Isetti said. "I worked with Jim (Coleman) on the East Coast and (musical director) Paul Kimball was my first musical director in high school, and this is the one show I was able to do in New York. It's kind of surreal."

Written by Fred Ebb and John Kander, and set in Berlin in the years between the world wars, "Cabaret" is a multiple Tony Award-winner that has seen more than 4,000 Broadway performances since opening in 1966. The 1972 film adaptation won Liza Minnelli an Oscar.

On the surface, it might seem a bit risky taking on such an oft-performed show. Coleman had no qualms about that.

"There's something about these shows; there's a reason they're done a lot," he said. "There are some shows that merit redoing a lot and some where there's a reason you do them only every 40 years.

"It's set in a specific period of time but it's very meaningful even today with the war in Iraq," Coleman added. "There's not a wasted word, there's no flab. I love something that you can come away from feeling like you've had an experience other than tapping your foot."