On Stage
Cabaret – Watching the Season’s First Show Come Together

From the moment we announced that we’d be kicking off the 07-08 Season with another big musical, Cabaret, there has been a buzz all over the building as the bits and pieces of making this show happen have come together. Chris Coleman and the Artistic department spent weeks researching the different versions of Cabaret that had been done and deciding which one was best for Portland. Rick Lewis, Music Director for West Side Story and now for Cabaret, made a suggestion to Chris that he ought to consider Storm Large as Sally Bowles. Chris had lunch or dinner with Storm several times to warm her up to the notion. People spoke in hushed tones at the water cooler… “can he actually convince her to do it?” Wade McCollum expressed interest in returning to PCS from his adventures in New York and elsewhere for the show, but later ran into a potential conflict with another gig. More hushed tones around the office: “the show just wouldn’t be the same without Wade.”

Most of the creative team for West Side Story was re-assembled, including Choreographer Joel Ferrell, Set Designer G.W. Mercier, Costume Designer Jeff Cone and Sound Designer Casi Pacilio, as well as Assistant Choreographer/ Dance Captain Amy Palomino, who also plays a Kit Kat Girl in the show.

Next thing you know, we’ve finished our first (and very successful) season in the Gerding Theater at the Armory, put on another great new works festival (JAW 2007) and it’s nearly time for Cabaret rehearsals to begin. Posters were ordered, single ticket brochure copy was finalized, contracts on everything from actor travel to performance photography were signed.

Then actors arrived for the first rehearsal Meet and Greet, a tradition we all enjoy several times a year, when the director, designers and actors are introduced to each other and the entire staff of Portland Center Stage, and Chris Coleman leads us all through the contextual elements of the next show. Watching Wade and Storm step through the door that morning, one could almost hear a collective sigh. It was the first real assurance for many of us that this partnership of Portland performance giants was actually coming to pass.

What’s more, the rest of the cast, including six from greater Portland and others from New York and Los Angeles, were all incredibly powerful personalities with a real passion for the show they were about to participate in. Pilar Millhollen actually grew up in Portland and Cabaret is an opportunity for her first visit back as an adult. Scott Sachs (who many of you will remember) is thrilled to be back again, just 12 months after a record-breaking West Side Story that even knocked The Wall Street Journal’s socks off.

These days, on the other side of the wall from the rehearsal hall, I can hear an ecstatic cast blast through songs like “Don’t Tell Mama,” “Perfectly Marvelous,” and “Money” all through the day and the buzz has become more like an artistic avalanche, barreling down a mountain with a will of its own. Every day the way the actors interact on their way out of rehearsal is a little different, a little more like family.

Meanwhile, tickets have gone on sale and have summarily flown out the door, with some dates already completely sold out. In fact, sales have been so brisk that we've extended the run for two additional weeks. This really is a unique production, possibly one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. It certainly is for everyone involved in creating it and we believe it will be for you and everyone who participates in the audience as well. Welcome to the cabaret!

Wade McCollum and Storm Large in Cabaret. Photo by Owen Carey.