Nicholls State University - La Pirogue Yearbook (Thibodaux, LA)

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Cast lv'IasterotCeremonies A ARichardBarrios Sally Bowles A Cliff Bradshaw HerrSchuItz Fraulein Schneider Fraulein Kost A Ernst Ludwig A Customs Officer Kit Kat Girls Heidi A Kristina A Mouzie Bette Inga Helga Telephone girl A A Telephone girl Telephone girl A Waiter Waiter Waiter Waiter A A Sailor Sailor Director I Music director Choreographer Set Design A A Technical Director A Julie Hebert ATody Bernard Randy Cheramie Ann Arable A Anne Galjour Timothy LeCompte Jace Bergeron Regina Champagne Kathy Pertuit Kendra Eschete Holly Brown Marlon Knight Beth LaBarbera A A A Susan Brown Peggy Matherne Joanie Starkenburg Albert Bennett Van Boudreaux A A Terry Ortis A Gary Scallan Mark Marcel Richard Smith Dr. Mel Berry A A A Paul Mathis Angela Hammerli A A A AGreg Mullins Novella Smith Sell-outs lead to Monday show . - V T ' T ber to whisper Fruit, a rarity in 1931 Germany, surprises Fraulein Huddled during the ODGVWTQ Ul-lm , , , Scheider tAnn Arabiej, a gift from Herr Schultz's welcome, the waiters and Kit Kat girls join the fRandy Chefamey Master ot Ceremonies. 78 'Cabaret'

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yards were combed for usable chairs. tables and other items needed for the nightclub. While Novella Smith was guiding the behind-the-scenes crew to completion, the actors were attending as many classes at night as they did during the day. Those with singing roles had appoint- ments with Paul Mathis in the choral rooms of Talbot Theater. The Kit Kat girls, Begina Champagne, Kathy Pertuit, Kendra Eschete, Holly Brown, lvlarian Knight and Beth LaBarbera, met nightly 'with dance instructor Angela Hammerli in the warm- up-room. Along with the dancing girls of the cab- aret, Hammerli had another number with Peggy Matherne, Susan Brown, Joanie Starkenburg, Albert Bennett, Van Bou- dreaux and Jace Bergeron as the tele- phone couples. As the evenings passed, the stage gradually became a nightclub and the company ot workers began to see prog- ress. Problems still cropped up as to where to locate a 12-piece orchestra on stage without being in the way. We tried putting them behind the walls, but that muffled the music and we put them near the front of the stage but the actors couldn't be heard, Dr. Berry said describing the problem. Finally one morning when l woke up it . .I i i x it li ' i l l f l l l l il l X i i ki' -' l 1, - .l Describing the advantages of three- sing Two Ladies with the master of somes living together, Kit Kat girls ceremonies tDickie Barriost Susan Brown and Peggy lvlatherne all seemed clear, he continued. We put them in their original spot on the right corner of the stage, he said. Going into the last week, all the sepa- rate jobs and workers began combining their work together. The construction crew took over the stage, hauling out bright red chairs and background canvas walls, turning the stage into, well, into a cabaret. Sheets of paper covered the walls of the dressing rooms listing each scene, the actors and what props were needed. As the lights dimmed to black, the orchestra began a drum roll and a grin- ning, white-faced master of ceremonies led the way to a story of a Germany shortly before the rise of the Third Beich. Eyeing the new boarder. Cliff Bradshaw, Fraulein Kost tAnne Galiourl struck a chord of comedy with her attempts to hide her involvement in the world's oldest profession l'

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An American writer, a tree-spirited singer and a host of other characters pre- sented a story of people trapped by time into tragedy. For the audience, it was a different type of musical. In the opening number, VVilkommen, German for welcome, the waiters walked down stage from the back of the theater, surprising the audience. Several male spectators were also sur- prised when the Kit Kat girls ran into the aisles to sit in their laps. The master of ceremonies had to aban- don his plan of walking into the audience the first night when the bright lights and darkness at the end of the stage pre- vented him from seeing the ramp, A misguided step would have meant a fall of almost eight feet onto a concrete floor. t . - s' -.- - ' ' . ' 41, , ' K 5:0 - . , , .. Grinning, sinister and white-faced, Dickie Barrios was the master of ceremonies. Bandaged from his beating at the hands of the Cab- aret waiters, Cliff CTody Bernardj gives Sally CJulie Hebertj the option of joining him in leaving Berlin. She doesn't. Before the second night's perform- ance, a member of the stage crew out- lined the ramp in glow-in-the-dark pink tape. Since enough tape was available, it was used to trim the entire stage and orchestra area. The four-night run played to standing room audiences each night, of both stu- dents and local community residents. After each performance, friends and relatives crowded into the dressing room area to congratulate, hug and claim their own performer. For the stage, lighting and sound crews, it was the perfect blend of what the audience saw onstage and what had to be done backstage to make it possible. Because of the enormous turnout for the four-night run, Dr. Berry decided to hold a fifth performance, something rarely done by the Nicholls Players. ln the end, the cast party was the finale for the students involved. After the canvas walls and tables and chairs had been stored away, the cos- tumes hung up and various props clut- tered into corners, only an empty stage and dressing which doubled as a class- room were left. Students going to class in the rooms used to prepare the play found various messages scribbled on the blackboards. Messages written by members of the Cabaret cast and crew to each other using their stage names, Down in a corner of the board, amid the insane and ridiculous remarks made to the cast was a simple message. Thank you all, it read, for helping out. 'Cabaret 79