Over spring break, I traveled to New York and had the opportunity to see “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club” and “Othello” on Broadway. Apart from seeing the shows I paid for, I also had some pretty exclusive experiences.
On Monday, I saw “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club”–a classic musical that has run more than ten times since originally opening in 1966. Beyond the creepy, funny facade of a cabaret, it is a significant meaningful show that comments on the Nazi Party’s to power.
From the moment one of the characters is revealed to be wearing a swastika on his arm, the seedy cabaret vibe becomes overshadowed by the quite dark plot of the musical. This production features a new ending to the show that hadn’t yet been done. In the original run, the set featured a mirror spanning the whole stage in the background, which at the end left the audience looking at themselves to ponder the meaning of the show. Later in the 1998 Broadway production Alan Cumming ended the show wearing striped clothes similar to the uniforms prisoners of Nazi concentration camps wore sporting a yellow Star of David and a pink triangle–a badge of shame to distinguish the LGBT community. However, in this revival, the cast all ends up wearing similarly toned beige suits–representing how the Nazi party took over and made people lose their individuality.
The musical focuses on how many people didn’t care what was going on in the world because it simply didn’t impact them. Sally Bowles, one of the lead characters, says the infamous line, “It’s only politics, and what’s that got to do with us?”
In between the mature themes of this show, I mustered the courage during intermission to try to speak with the sound operator. After sneaking by an usher to the booth, I briefly met the A1 (Head Sound Operator) and before I held up the start of act II, she invited me to come back and talk to her after the show. After the end I went up to her and ended up speaking with her for twenty minutes, getting to know what technical theater work is like on Broadway. She shared her expertise with me and even showed me the equipment backstage. Yet, somehow, being able to see backstage of a Broadway musical was not the highlight of my trip.
The following night I went to see Othello, starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhall. I was eight rows away from them, and it was surreal–the acting was top-notch, and the diction was incredible. My Mom always says she has no idea what is going on in Shakespeare’s plays but this cast made it very understandable. As a sound designer, I noticed how the microphones were only there for reinforcement; it barely sounded like the actors were wearing them. Unfortunately, the show has received some tough reviews from Shakespeare experts.
On my walk home to the hotel I passed by the stagedoor of Glengarry Glen Ross, starring Kieran Culkin, Bob Odenkirk and Bill Burr. I waited for about twenty minutes and met two of my favorite actors, even securing a photo with Odenkirk and a signature on my hand from Culkin. “Better Call Saul” is my favorite show, and I have a picture of Saul Goodman for my wallpaper, so I was in a state of shock the rest of the night after meeting the famous actor.
