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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; If you&#8217;re planning to visit the seedy, decadent Kit Kat Klub of 1930s Berlin &#8212; which you can find at the Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre during the next three weekends &#8212; be prepared to interact with the cast.</p><p>Especially if you pay five extra Deutsche marks &#8212; er, dollars &#8212; for a premium seat on the stage.</p><p>&#8220;The Kit Kat Boys will serve (the guests in the special seats) complimentary wine before the show,&#8221; said Lori Colacito, who is commuting from Easton to direct the show. &#8220;They&#8217;re gonna be up close and personal.&#8221;</p><p>These night club performers, both &#8220;boys&#8221; and &#8220;girls,&#8221; are they flirtatious?</p><p>&#8220;Absolutely,&#8221; Colacito said. &#8220;Some of the dance numbers are amusing. Most of them are provocative.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s some classic jazz and a touch of (Bob) Fosse,&#8221; said choreographer Maureen Hozempa, of Dallas. &#8220;And the dance styles reflect the characters&#8217; personalities.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s an underground type of night club,&#8221; Colacito said, describing the ambience technical directors Mike Wawrzynek and Eyanna Gruver have created. &#8220;Any citizens of Berlin might have come here; probably the wealthy would have come to get that sense of slumming.&#8221;</p><p>But while the citizens of Berlin were being entertained by sexy song and dance at the Kit Kat Klub, the Nazi party was growing in strength and preparing to get rid of anyone who didn&#8217;t meet their &#8220;ideal&#8221; standards. They might not like your ethnic background. Or your religion. Or your sexual orientation. Or maybe your friendships.</p><p>If you displeased them in any of those ways, a brick might crash through your window, or someone might beat you up.</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s one character in the play &#8212; Cliff, an American &#8212; who seems to be the only person who knows what&#8217;s going on. He seems to be the voice of reason,&#8221; Colacito said.</p><p>Cliff seems to sense that the taunts and broken glass of pre-World War II Germany are about to escalate into something much worse. &#8220;He seems to speak for the audience,&#8221; Colacito said, pointing out that audience members know about the Holocaust, and the millions murdered, and will want to take action if they see any signs of that kind of hatred today.</p><p>&#8220;One character talks about the ramifications of being silent,&#8221; Colacito said. &#8220;These aren&#8217;t the exact lines, but it&#8217;s something like, &#8216;If you&#8217;re not against it, you might as well be for it.&#8217;&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The character of Cliff, a visiting American, sees problems in Nazi Germany that night club performer Sally prefers to ignore in the Kander and Ebb musical &#8216;Cabaret.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_cabaretcropped1.jpg</photo0><caption0>The character of Cliff, a visiting American, sees problems in Nazi Germany that night club performer Sally prefers to ignore in the Kander and Ebb musical &#8216;Cabaret.&#8217; </caption0><photoCredit0>Courtesy of Stagedoor Photography </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_cabaret.cropped3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The cast and crew of &#8216;Cabaret&#8217; has worked hard to create the atmosphere of a seedy night club from 1930s Berlin. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_cabaret.cropped3.jpg</photo1><caption1>The cast and crew of &#8216;Cabaret&#8217; has worked hard to create the atmosphere of a seedy night club from 1930s Berlin. </caption1><photoCredit1>Courtesy of Stagedoor Photography </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_cabaretcropped2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">&#8216;It&#8217;s a stripped-down performance,&#8217; director Lori Colacito said. &#8216;A stripped-down set, and stripped-down costumes.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_cabaretcropped2.jpg</photo2><caption2>&#8216;It&#8217;s a stripped-down performance,&#8217; director Lori Colacito said. &#8216;A stripped-down set, and stripped-down costumes.&#8217; </caption2><photoCredit2>Courtesy of Stagedoor Photography </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> &#8216;Cabaret&#8217;</p><p><strong>When: </strong>Through Sept. 24 with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre, 537 N. Main St., Wilkes-Barre</p><p><strong>Tickets:</strong> $20 for orchestra seating; $25 for premium seating onstage</p><p><strong>Box office:</strong> 570-823-1875.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre presents stripped-down production ‘Cabaret’