A joint production of the Tony Award-winning musical “Cabaret” opened Thursday night at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana.
The Illinois Theatre, Dance at Illinois, and Lyric Theatre @ Illinois programs are combining to put on this production in celebration of Krannert Center’s 50th anniversary.
Illinois Newsroom’s Brian Moline spoke with Cabaret director Latrelle Bright and music director Julie Gunn about the show. Gunn said there’s a reason that “Cabaret” continues to be performed more than 50 years after its Broadway premiere.
“It’s really a brilliant piece of theater,” Gunn said, “from the theater point of view, and from the music point of view, and also from the dancing point of view.”
Bright said it was also groundbreaking, changing some of the expectations for the “book musical.”
“It was breaking some rules and some boundaries,” Bright said, “and as we’ve been able to break more rules and boundaries over time, the piece has transformed into probably something more akin to what Harold Prince might have wanted it to be back in 1966.”
Brian Moline talks about “Cabaret” with Latrelle Bright and Julie Gunn.