The parallels between Cabaret's 1930s Nollendorfplatz, Berlin and present day Castro, San Francisco, are undeniable. Both promise a haven for the queers and weirdos who might have to hide their true colors in their daily life - largely by way of providing a light escape, or a series of semi-engaged distractions, for the marginalized, whether that's through satirical arts and performance, alcohol, drugs, casual intimate encounters, or music that somehow never seems to stop playing. "So - life is disappointing? Forget it!" demands Cabaret's bewitching Emcee, embodied here by long standing Rhino player and collaborator Rudy Guerrero.
Theatre Rhinoceros, then, embodies the fictional, infamous Kit Kat Club - a hole in the wall full of immediately living, queer art and artists hungry for bigger stages, somehow surviving year after year as budgets tighten, institutional leaderships transition, and live theatres continue to disappear from the local landscape. If we are to survive, as queer artists embracing ourselves and our history, how complicit can we be? Must we be?
Cabaret starts November 21st, is directed by John Fisher with music direction by Armando Fox and choreography by Adin Walker, and stars an ensemble of nine Bay Area actors and three live musicians. This production is made possible by support from honorary producer Lawrence Dillon, as well as the San Francisco Arts Commission, Grants for the Arts, Horizons Foundation, The Geller-Sullivan Trust, The Bob Ross Foundation, Tom Horn, Ira Kurlander and Andy Guest, and the donors and supporters of Theatre Rhinoceros.
The parallels between Cabaret's 1930s Nollendorfplatz, Berlin and present day Castro, San Francisco, are undeniable. Both promise a haven for the queers and weirdos who might have to hide their true colors in their daily life - largely by way of providing a light escape, or a series of semi-engaged distractions, for the marginalized, whether that's through satirical arts and performance, alcohol, drugs, casual intimate encounters, or music that somehow never seems to stop playing. "So - life is disappointing? Forget it!" demands Cabaret's bewitching Emcee, embodied here by long standing Rhino player and collaborator Rudy Guerrero.
Theatre Rhinoceros, then, embodies the fictional, infamous Kit Kat Club - a hole in the wall full of immediately living, queer art and artists hungry for bigger stages, somehow surviving year after year as budgets tighten, institutional leaderships transition, and live theatres continue to disappear from the local landscape. If we are to survive, as queer artists embracing ourselves and our history, how complicit can we be? Must we be?
Cabaret starts November 21st, is directed by John Fisher with music direction by Armando Fox and choreography by Adin Walker, and stars an ensemble of nine Bay Area actors and three live musicians. This production is made possible by support from honorary producer Lawrence Dillon, as well as the San Francisco Arts Commission, Grants for the Arts, Horizons Foundation, The Geller-Sullivan Trust, The Bob Ross Foundation, Tom Horn, Ira Kurlander and Andy Guest, and the donors and supporters of Theatre Rhinoceros.
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