THE HUNGER ARTISTS THEATRE COMPANY
PRESENTS A NEW LOOK AT KANDER & EBB’S
TONY-WINNING MUSICAL CABARET
July 25 through August 31, 2008

FULLERTON, CA – The Hunger Artists Theatre Company is proud to present a new look at a classic musical for the fifth show of its 2008 season. Director and Musical Director Jeremy Gable’s production of John Kander & Fred Ebb’s Cabaret will run from July 25th through August 31st.

Cabaret takes place in Berlin at the start of the 1930’s.  As an American writer makes his first trip to Germany, he finds himself in a local hot spot known as the Kit Kat Klub.  As he begins an affair with the club’s star performer, an Englishwoman by the name of Sally Bowles, it seems that life is truly a cabaret. But as Germany’s economic situation worsens, and the Nazi Party begins to rise in power, the problems surrounding them become harder to ignore.

Gable will be presenting Cabaret as a show-within-a-show.  When the audience walks into the theatre, they will be transported into the Kit Kat Klub, circa 1933, to attend the final performance of the theatre’s production of Cabaret before the theater closes the next day. Each performer in the show will double as a Kit Kat Klub dancer, and the show’s theatricality will be embraced, with dressing room and prop table in audience’s view, and the entire set being suggested with tables and chairs.

The show features company member Anthony Galleran, last seen in the Hunger Artists production of Company in April, and Lauren Kushin, last seen in May’s Top Girls, and will feature the Hunger Artists debuts of Paul Anderson, Natalie Brooks, Candice Clasby, Sherry Domerego, Laura Landry, Amanda Marzo, Topher Mauerhan, Brynne McManimie, Max Orbita and Dennis Tong.

Brey Barrett is the production’s Stage Manager.  Michael Lopez makes his Hunger debut as choreographer.  Christina L. Munich serves as Lighting Designer.  Heidi Newell will be the Costume Designer. Mario Raven and Treve Misemer will provide accompaniment on piano and drums, respectively.  Natasha Enoch and Biancha Crawford serve as Assistant Stage Managers.

Cabaret was written in 1966, and was based on John Van Druten’s play I Am A Camera, which in turn was based on the stories of Christopher Isherwood, including the novel Mr. Norris Changes Trains and a collection of short stories entitled Goodbye to Berlin. Hal Prince, who was to direct the show, commissioned the little-known composers John Kander and Fred Ebb to write the songs.  The production ran for over 1,100 performances, won eight Tony’s - including Best Director, Best Composer & Lyricist and Best Musical – and began Kander & Ebb’s career as one of Broadway’s most revered composing teams.  A revival in 1998, directed by Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes, ran for over 2,300 performances and won four Tony’s, including Best Revival Of A Musical.
“Cabaret is that rare musical that is able to blend pure entertainment and complex emotions amidst a changing political scene,” Gable said of the show. “We are a society that tends to run away from its problems rather than facing them, distracting ourselves with whatever minutiae can be condensed into 30-second fragments.
“Because of that, not only are current world affairs being ignored, but problems in our economy - such as rising gas prices - and in our society - such as the steady decline in theater funding and arts programs – are being accepted without question.  Much like the performers of the Kit Kat Klub have to realize that their party is ending, we have to realize that there is a definite need for change.  So they, like us, do their part by presenting this show as a call to action.”
Jeremy Gable is the Artistic Director of the Hunger Artists Theatre Company. He previously directed the Orange County premieres of Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis and Bryony Lavery’s Frozen, the world premiere of Scott Keister’s musical Attack of the Giant Nuts and the West Coast premiere of Jakob Holder’s one-act “Sumatra Mandheling” for last fall’s Beyond Convention festival.  For the Hunger Artists, he has also written adaptations of Woyzeck and Marat.Sade and penned the comedies The Flying Spaghetti Monster Holiday Pageant and its sequel Flying Spaghetti Monster: The Holy Mug of Grog, which will premiere this December.  This is his debut as Musical Director.
Performances of Cabaret will take place on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 7 pm, with a special performance on Thursday, August 28th at 8 pm. General admission tickets are $20; senior and students (with valid ID) may purchase tickets for $18. Tickets for the Thursday performance are $5. Patrons may purchase tickets online by visiting our website (www.hungerartists.com). To reserve tickets by phone, please call 714.680.6803.