{"id":31806,"date":"2019-02-08T03:59:24","date_gmt":"2019-02-08T11:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=31806"},"modified":"2019-02-07T13:48:26","modified_gmt":"2019-02-07T21:48:26","slug":"welcome-to-cabaret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2019\/02\/08\/welcome-to-cabaret\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to Cabaret!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dylan Floyde as Cliff Bradshaw and Erin Palm as Sally Bowles in Cabaret<\/em>, presented by Studio 58. (photo by David Cooper)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI honestly couldn\u2019t think of a more important show to do right now, with such a divided political climate. The past is as important as ever, we must not let it fade. We need stories like these,\u201d Erin Palm told the Jewish Independent<\/em> about Cabaret<\/em>, which opened at Studio 58 (Langara College) last week and runs until Feb. 24.<\/p>\n

The musical is set in Berlin in 1929, as the Nazis begin their ascent to power in Germany. Palm plays the role of Kit Kat Klub headliner Sally Bowles, the British singer with whom American writer Cliff Bradshaw falls in love.<\/p>\n

\u201cSally is such a complex character. I\u2019d say the most important thing as an actor is honouring her, and acknowledging that she and the other characters in Cabaret<\/em> are based on the real experiences of Christopher Isherwood, back in Weimar Berlin,\u201d said Palm. \u201cThe biggest challenge for me is to know her apathy. It\u2019s painful and tragic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have, hopefully, given her autonomy throughout her journey. I am not a fan of judging the characters I play so, to combat that, I focus on how she is brave, independent and whimsical. She uses humour and imagination as a tool to get through her own challenges and I think that\u2019s where the fun comes in. Really, she\u2019s searching for freedom, and I love playing with that as an actor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Palm is in her third and final year at Studio 58. \u201cI became a student the summer after I finished playing Fruma Sarah in Fiddler on the Roof<\/em> with RCMT [Royal City Musical Theatre] and traveling to Toronto to do the National Voice Intensive. It was a big decision to go back to school, but I know the legacy of Studio 58 is that it turns out fine actors. I wanted to give myself the best opportunity to grow and gain new tools.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fellow Jewish community member Josh Epstein makes his directing debut with this production. A multiple-award-winning actor and filmmaker, he was a student at Studio 58, where he played the role of Joey in Pal Joey<\/em>. \u201cI also met my creative partner, Kyle Rideout, while there and we named our company Motion 58 in honour of Studio 58,\u201d said Epstein. (He and Rideout recently sold a feature film pitch to Paramount with the Transformers<\/em> producers, di Bonaventura Pictures, said Epstein, \u201cand we have a variety of film and TV projects at various stages of development.\u201d)<\/p>\n

About returning to Studio 58 for Cabaret<\/em>, Epstein said, \u201cI\u2019ve been talking to Kathryn Shaw [Studio 58 artistic director] for a couple of years about returning to direct something, as I now felt ready, and Cabaret<\/em> was my first and only choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Epstein said he has a few favourite scenes, ones \u201cthat bring tears to my eyes, but none more than a late scene between Herr Schultz and Fraulein Schneider, the older couple that has sweetly fallen in love. None of the characters truly knows what\u2019s coming. Herr Schultz still sees himself as a German and firmly believes he won\u2019t lose anything. It\u2019s heartbreaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another returning Jewish community member for this production is lighting designer Itai Erdal.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudio 58 is one of my favourite places to work,\u201d he told the Independent<\/em>. \u201cI keep coming back because I love the staff and I love the energy of the young students and because I\u2019ve done some of my best work there. I find it to be a great working environment, which often allows for some real magic to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Erdal is enjoying lighting Cabaret<\/em>, which has much darkness in it story-wise, as well as being set in a nightclub.<\/p>\n

\u201cLighting musicals is always tricky but it\u2019s really wonderful to light a musical like Cabaret<\/em>, just because of that darkness you refer to,\u201d he said. \u201cSo many musicals are very lighthearted and it is so refreshing to do a musical about something that matters so much. It\u2019s also some of the best music ever written for theatre, so it\u2019s a joy to light these iconic songs and support these brilliant young actors as they tackle those songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given that Cabaret<\/em> is such a well-known musical, Epstein said, \u201cI\u2019m definitely encouraging the team to tell the story that\u2019s written, first and foremost, but any staging or performance that\u2019s been done before, I\u2019m not that interested in repeating. We\u2019re creating something that is unique to Studio 58, their intimate space, and it will be aggressive, fun and stimulating.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very excited for the fresh performances of Sally and the Emcee in our production,\u201d he added. \u201cI think we\u2019ve found a Sally (Erin Palm) that doesn\u2019t feel sorry for herself, that has strength and power and makes active decisions rather than accepting her lot in life. Our Emcee is female and, after watching how Paige Fraser has done it so far, I would never want it any other way. For one, she dances and sings better than most of the men who have played the role before onstage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve also played with the musical numbers,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2018Mein Herr\u2019 is gonna rip the roof off the theatre and I think we\u2019ve reinvented the pineapple song [\u2018It Couldn\u2019t Please Me More\u2019].\u201d<\/p>\n

Epstein recommends that audience members arrive early. \u201cThere\u2019s a burlesque show you won\u2019t want to miss,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The production\u2019s promotional material, which advises that the show is suitable for ages 16+, comes with the warning, \u201cPossible nudity, probable vulgarity and other behaviour your momma won\u2019t approve of!\u201d<\/p>\n

For tickets, visit langara.ca\/studio-58\/current-season<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dylan Floyde as Cliff Bradshaw and Erin Palm as Sally Bowles in Cabaret, presented by Studio 58. (photo by David Cooper) \u201cI honestly couldn\u2019t think of a more important show to do right now, with such a divided political climate. The past is as important as ever, we must not let it fade. We need […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31807,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[785],"tags":[729,5588,5349,535,6296,3527],"class_list":["post-31806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-arts","tag-cabaret","tag-erin-palm","tag-itai-erdal","tag-josh-epstein","tag-musical-theatre","tag-studio-58"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}