Photo: Kyle Head
A local version of a theatre production will sparkle on-stage in multiple cities as a touring show for the first time.
The Grand Theatre announced Monday a cross-country tour of its production of “Cabaret” in 2020-21.
“[This is] big news for us,” said artistic director Dennis Garnhum, who directed the production.
“I just love the fact that the Grand Theatre will be [going] across the country.”
Cabaret was part of the Grand Theatre’s 2018-19 season.
The show closed after a record-setting six-week run that included three extensions, making it the longest-running show in the history of the McManus Stage.
The story revolves around the love tale between an American writer and an English cabaret performer in 1931 Berlin as the Nazis were rising to power.
The Grand Theatre’s production transformed the McManus into the seedy cabaret that the story takes place in.
Audience members were made to feel as if they were inside the Kit Kat Klub as cast members acted, sang, played instruments and even served customers.
Garnhum says the stage will be removed at all stops on the Grand Theatre’s tour to create a similar atmosphere.
“Some [locations] are ripping out their seats, some are taking it into their studio theatres, so part of our organizing was figuring out if we could actually fit because it is very unusual.”
Full casting announcements for the tour will be released in the next few months.
The tour’s first out of six stops was announced Monday.
Albert Theatre Projects in Calgary announced its 2020-21 season on Monday, which includes Cabaret from April 14 to May 2, 2020, in the Martha Cohen Theatre.
The other five have yet to be announced.
Londoners hoping to catch a glimpse of Cabaret can look forward to its month-long return run on the newly-named Auburn Stage in March-April 2021.
Cabaret is based on John Van Druten’s 1951 play “I Am a Camera”, which was adapted from the novel “Goodbye to Berlin” by Christopher Isherwood.
Music is by John Kander, lyrics are by Fred Ebb, and the book is by Joe Masteroff.
