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'Cabaret' delivers a dose of decadence

A director and choreographer with Broadway experience will bring the musical to Largo.

By TERRI BRYCE REEVES, Times Correspondent
Published November 2, 2007

Chrissy Dobrowski rehearses her role as Sally Bowles during a number with the Kit Kat Girls called Don't Tell Mama. "This is a dream role for me," said Dobrowski, 25, about the role that launched Liza Minnelli to fame in the movie version of Cabaret.
	[Eight O'Clock Theatre]

ADVERTISEMENT [Eight O'Clock Theatre] Helga (Katie Lizana), Heidi (Morgan Dixon), the Emcee (James Grenelle) and Inga (Lauren Clark) sing the song Willkommen in preparation for tonight's opening of the suggestive musical that won 12 Tony Awards and was made into a movie. [Eight O'Clock Theatre] James Grenelle, as the Emcee, performs the song Willkommen during the rehearsal. "I go from happy to creepy by the end. My character gets darker and darker," says Grenelle. The transition is a commentary on life in Nazi Germany.

LARGO - Welcome to the world of painted lips, false eyelashes, rouge-red cheeks and fishnet stockings.

And we're not just talking about the women.

"Powder and paint make a girl look like what she ain't," said Bowen Barrs, 43, of Clearwater, who was busy backstage adjusting his foam inserts for his drag queen character. "I'm lucky. I get to pick the size of my curves."

The Eight O'Clock Theatre is presenting the delightfully decadent Cabaret. The musical, winner of 12 Tony Awards, opens tonight and runs Thursdays through Sundays until Nov. 18 at the Largo Cultural Center.

For the uninitiated, the setting is the naughty, bawdy Kit Kat Klub, where "life is beautiful. The girls are beautiful. Even the orchestra is beautiful," declares the Emcee, a.k.a. James Grenelle, 28, of Palm Harbor.

But as Grenelle's character grows increasingly sinister, the audience realizes that life in pre-World War II Germany is not so happy and carefree. Characters struggle with social and political questions of the time, including Nazism, anti-Semitism, abortion, bisexuality and homosexuality.

"It's the most difficult role I've ever played," Grenelle said after a dress rehearsal requiring heavy makeup and numerous costume changes. "I go from happy to creepy by the end. My character gets darker and darker."

Gary Smith, 55, of Largo plays Herr Schultz, who is involved in a late-life love affair.

"It's much more musical theater than musical comedy," he said. "It has a serious plot."

Still, Cabaret remains strangely uplifting through its parade of energetic numbers, which include Willkommen, Don't Tell Mama, The Money Song and Cabaret. A seven-piece orchestra perches above the set and is visible throughout the show.

The production is directed and choreographed by the team of Rocco Morabito and Ronnie DeMarco. Their previous efforts for Eight O'Clock Theatre include Chicago and A Chorus Line.

Morabito, a native of New York City, was stylist to many Broadway greats including Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera before moving to Safety Harbor. His Broadway connections also include John Kander, the composer for Cabaret, and Fred Ebb, who wrote the lyrics and is now deceased.

"I met them in the early 1970s," Morabito said. "Fred and I talked about Cabaret. He would try the music out on me. If I cried, he kept the lyrics.

"Once I was going through a major breakup and he put me on the floor. So he kept that."

Morabito said he still keeps up with Kander, phoning him with questions about the play.

DeMarco brings years of experience to the stage floor, having taught dance on Broadway for many years.

He warns that the choreography in Cabaret is "very raunchy and very suggestive. This isn't something to bring the kids to see."

Chrissy Dobrowski, 25, of Palm Harbor plays Sally Bowles, a singer in the club. The role catapulted Liza Minnelli to fame in the movie version.

"I didn't watch the movie deliberately," said Dobrowski, who has been perfecting an English accent for the part. "I didn't want to copy her. I wanted to bring my own spark to the part. This is a dream role for me."

'Cabaret'

What: The Tony Award-winning musical is presented by Eight O'Clock Theatre. This is an adult-oriented musical not suitable for children.

Where: The Largo Cultural Center, 105 Central Park Drive.

When: Tonight through Nov. 18. Curtain time is 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.

Tickets:$26 for adults, $16 for students and $23.50 for groups of 10 or more. For tickets, call the box office at 727 587-6793 or visit ticketmaster.com or largoarts.com.

[Last modified November 1, 2007, 23:11:49]