It’s been four years since the president of the Find Your Light nonprofit theater organization has been on the main stage.
The show that brought him back: “Cabaret.”
“I came back because I have the spark again,” said Brandon Harrington, who plays the character Emcee. “I have the passion to jump into the vulnerable art of getting into a character and working with a team in a different way.”
Find Your Light’s production of “Cabaret” runs this weekend only at Mountain View High School, located at 3500 Mountain Lion Drive. There are shows at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. throughout the weekend; tickets are available online, https://www.findyourlightnoco.com/product-page/cabaret-tickets and at the door for $20.
Cabaret, set in Germany as Nazis rose to power, follows the story of Cliff Bradshaw, an American writer seeking inspiration who meets charismatic club singer Sally Bowles at the Kit Kat Club, and the two quickly fall in love, Harrington said.
“She gets kicked out of the club, so she lives with him. They get pregnant. A lot goes down,” Harrington said. “Cliff befriends a German and does some illegal activity that he is not aware of, and the friendship is broken.”
Love is not to be had, Harrington added.
The entire production came together in just six weeks, Harrington said. “Cabaret” is one of 12 shows the theater organization puts on each year, he added.
“We couldn’t do it without the dedicated volunteers,” Harrington said.
The cast is also what makes the show unique from other versions of “Cabaret,” Harrington said, adding that even if someone in the audience is a die hard fan, there will be surprises.
“We are very good at celebrating the unique qualities of each actor,” Harrington said. “We don’t want (actors) to do it like it tells you to do … We want (actors) to put (their) stamp on it.”
Harrington said the show also incorporates glitzy costumes that Find Your Light’s costume designer created herself, making them different from other productions of “Cabaret.”
“The set, the concept of the costumes, the unique qualities of each actor will take it to a different level,” Harrington said.
Cast and backstage crew member Paxton Sundquist-Siegl said he was especially excited to be part of the production given the parallels the show has to real life today.
“Nazis would take people off the street, rounding up people off the street, simply because of the fact that they were Jewish,” Sundquist-Siegl said. “Similar to what’s happening right now with ICE taking people off the streets … who don’t look like white people …”
He plays a Kit Kat Club performer in a gorilla costume wearing a dress, he said, saying he sings a heart-wrenching political song about how society views the gorilla as grotesque because she is Jewish.
“If you could see her though my eyes, she wouldn’t look Jewish at all,” Harrington said, quoting the song “If You Could See Her” in the German accent of his character Emcee.
Sundquist-Siegl also said that he believes that with the rise of artificial intelligence that live performers and art are losing their value, and added that supporting and platforming the arts signals to artists that their work continues to hold value.
“One of the most human things that people can do is art. Ever since the dawn of time, people have painted on caves, people have told stories,” Sundquist-Siegl said. “It’s all human. If we don’t have humans doing it, then we are losing a part of our humanity.”
Find your Light is currently fundraising for a permanent theater building through its capital campaign, Harrington said, adding that it is more difficult to put on shows without a permanent space. With “Cabaret,” Harrington said he’s had to work the production around the school’s schedule, which isn’t optimal.
Information about Find Your Light, including showtimes, audition dates, and how to donate to the campaign are available online, https://www.findyourlightnoco.com/home.
