This fall I am involved in one of LC’s theater department’s musicals: Cabaret.
I became involved by applying for a job through the LC website workday. There are several paid positions for backstage crew including run crew, tech crew, and wardrobe tech. I am a wardrobe tech. The role of a wardrobe tech is to organize the costumes and any costume changes, set up dressing rooms, check-in costumes at the beginning and end of the night, and then help with anything else that needs in the show. For this show, I am the wardrobe tech for one specific character who has 10 different costume changes throughout the performance: the Master of Ceremonies.
Cabaret is a satirical piece about pre-WWII Berlin. The story follows a novelist from Pennsylvania. He meets a girl working in a night club called the Kit Kat Klub (Yes, that is KKK. Why? Who knows!). She shows up at his door later that night and asks to move in with him. The show continues to follow their lives and the lives of the other tenants living in their building as they struggle with the changing political climate in Germany. The show often returns to the Kit Kat Klub to perform songs that are a commentary on the social issues surrounding the lives of the tenants.
Because of Covid, this performance is taking place a bit differently. It is still a live performance and there will still be a small in-person audience. The show will also be live-streamed. This means the tech for the show is insanely complicated. There are two spaces in which the show takes place. The main stage and the BlackBox.
On the main stage, there are two sets of three plexiglass cells where the actors can take off their masks and sing. For the most part, the actors never leave these boxes or move much at all. The run crew backstage hands them any props they need through the curtain. The actors in the boxes are all tenets of the same apartment building. That is except for one stand-alone box in the middle, where the MC is kept. I say box, but it looks more like a big octagonal pillar. This box also has wheels so the actor can move around the stage as he acts.
Then there is the BlackBox. This is where the Kit Kat Klub dancers are. They wear masks and tape lines on the floor to assist the dancers in socially distancing from each other. They can be displayed on the screen at the same time as the people on the main stage so we are able to put the MC there with them. The masks they are wearing are really something to behold. They are made out of things like lacy underwear, thongs, and bra cups.
To make this work, the cameras, lights, and sounds are essential. All the cues need to be executed all at the same time in both locations. Needless to say, tech rehearsals have been hectic, but I think what we are doing is going to be an impressive example of what can still be achieved safely in the time of Covid.
If you are interested in seeing the show the listing can be found here: https://college.lclark.edu/live/news/44233-cabaret-1998-version. Tickets are free and you can email beeny@lclark.edu for reservations.