FLORENCE– The Ritz Theatre’s SummerStock at the Ritz program will present
Cabaret this July, produced by the Tennessee Valley Art Association, and licensed by Concord
Theatricals. Cabaret will run Friday, July 12th, Saturday, July 13th, Friday, July 19th, and
Saturday, July 20th at 7:00PM with a matinee showing on Sunday, July 21st at 2:00PM. All
performances of Cabaret will be held at Norton Auditorium on the campus of the University of
North Alabama.
SummerStock at the Ritz is an educational program of the TVAA. For decades the Ritz has been
the venue for SummerStock. This year, the Historic Ritz Theatre is getting ready for a makeover.
Norton Auditorium has graciously extended a helping hand hosting as the Ritz receives some
much needed repairs.
Cabaret, music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Joe Masteroff, is based on a
play written by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood. In a Berlin nightclub, as
the 1920’s draw to a close, a garish Master of Ceremonies welcomes the audience and assures
them they will forget all their troubles at the Cabaret. With the Emcee’s bawdy songs as wry
commentary, Cabaret explores the dark, heady, and tumultuous life of Berlin’s natives and
expatriates as Germany slowly yields to the emerging Third Reich. Cliff, a young American
writer newly arrived in Berlin, is immediately taken with English singer Sally Bowles.
Meanwhile, Fräulein Schneider, proprietor of Cliff and Sally’s boarding house, tentatively begins
a romance with Herr Schultz, a mild-mannered fruit seller who happens to be Jewish. Musical
numbers include “Willkommen,” “Cabaret,” “Don’t Tell Mama” and “Two Ladies.”
“Cabaret is a story of survival,” says artistic director Suzanne Reese-Mills. “Depicting life in
Berlin during the rise of the Nazi party, Kander and Ebb’s musical based on the
semi-autobiographical writing of Christopher Isherwood shows us that there are three choices of
action when the world starts crumbling around us: rise up and fight, turn away in fear, or throw a
big party. The Emcee and the Kit Kat Girls and Boys are throwing a party at the end of the
world, and everyone is invited.”
The creative team for Cabaret includes Suzanne Reese-Mills as artistic director, Andrew Mills as
music director, Gary O. Fuqua, Jr. as assistant director, and Adaley Simpson as choreographer.
Tickets for Cabaret can be purchased at tennesseevalleyarts.org, or by calling 256.383.0533.
Standard tickets for the orchestra section are $25, and VIP tickets including a Cabaret koozie
and two beverages of your choice for 21+ are $40. The Kit Kat Club ticket option includes a
Cabaret koozie, choice of two beverages, and a seat at the Kit Kat Club, positioned down front
in Norton near all the action. These seats are for 21+ only and are $50. Student ticket seating is
in the mezzanine of Norton, and tickets are $15 each.
CAST
Emcee – Preston Cox
Sally – Carolina Mooring
Cliff – Bryson Bishop
Herr Schultz – Gary O. Fuqua, Jr.
Frau Schneider – Hannah Ross
Fraulein Kost – Shelby Waggoner
Ernst – Elijah Racz
Rosie – Adaley Simpson
Lulu – Sydney Hunzicker
Frenchie – Bryanna Tucker
Texas – Maggie Clark
Fritzie – Maggie Stewart
Helga – Natalie Thrasher
Bobby – Matt Jones
Victor – James Graham
Herman – LaDarius Prince
Hans – Adrial Garner
The Tennessee Valley Art Association is comprised of the Tennessee Valley Museum of Art in
Tuscumbia, AL and the Ritz Theatre in Sheffield, AL.
Media Release/Riel Fuqua/Administrative Assistant | Tennessee Valley Art Association
