When the Open Circle Theater went under, I wondered where the players would end up. If I understand things correctly, The Schoolyard is made up of some of those folk. That’s what the guy who recommended them to me said, anyways. Anywhoo, they had a Kickstarter for their next show, I pitched in, and Saturday night was my turn as VIP, for my reward. In typical style, I had a completely different show in my head, having not fully read the project description, but still ended up entertained.
Cabaret is a classic musical of love in Berlin, before the war. They had the Re-Bar set up with a tiny stage in the center of the room, and the audience surrounding all four sides. My seat was at a table on the venue’s actual stage (along with two other sets of VIPs), a old-style-looking phone on my table, and one of the other VIP tables. I should have realized what that meant, but when the male lead came and sat down at my table during the phone-club scene, and started small-talking with me, I was unprepared for improvisation, and just had to smile and look pretty =p
The cast did a great job, the german landlady was played extremely well, as were all parts. The live band providing the musical background did a good job as well, with the intermission costume-change a subtle clue to the impending inevitable tragedy of the second act.
The audience was an interesting mix. One guy in the front row looked like he was in love with the stage, a sort of dumbstruck smile on his face almost the entire time, especially in contrast to his date, who looked mostly bored the whole evening. Another front rower, something must have gone wrong during intermission, as he came back with a scowl that never left his face.
Not a bad way to spend a saturday night.