Photo by Wendy Stephan Manciagli
Castle Craig Players in Meriden are taking packed audiences back to 1930’s Berlin in a stirring production of ‘Cabaret’ through August 7, 2016. The musical was directed keenly by Ian Galligan, with excellent musical direction by Andrew Gadwah and unique choreography by Tessa Grunwald. ‘Cabaret’ features a book by Joe Masteroff that was based on a play called ‘I Am A Camera’ by John Van Druten and ‘Goodbye To Berlin’ by Christopher Isherwood. The iconic music was written by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb.
I realized as I became engrossed in the story of Cliff and Sally Bowles that I have never watched the movie version of ‘Cabaret’ to the end. I learned a lot from the page in the program that featured (more than) “a few words from the director.” Mr. Galligan notes that he finds it ironic that Castle Craig is currently producing the classic American musical that he describes as a “cautionary tale... given the volatile political climate we are living in.” He calls this piece “truly moving, yet also unexpectedly disturbing” and appreciates the way “it leads you down a path that is alluring, and then you find yourself in an unexpected place.”
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Mr. Galligan will be reprising his role of the disgruntled Macy’s elf in the hilarious one-man show ‘The Santaland Diaries’ that will return to CCP by popular demand in December and I hope to catch it this year. Also on tap for the upcoming season are ‘Blithe Spirit’ in October, ‘The Curse of the Hopeless Diamond’ in February, ‘The Marvelous Wonderettes’ in May and ‘Monty Python’s Spamalot’ in late July through August, 2017.
