Annual Kabaret funds theater scholarships
Preparations are under way in the Black Box Theatre at Lone Star College-Kingwood for the 2015 Kingwood Kabaret.
The sixth annual performance will be at 7:30 p.m. May 28-30 in the Lone Star College-Kingwood Performing Arts Center and is a scholarship fundraiser for the college’s theater department.
A grand piano surrounded by 17 tables will set the stage for the two-hour show, which is set amid a 1930s cabaret-style atmosphere.
This year’s Kabaret is set to the theme of “Naughty, Naughty” and will feature many jazz standards and Broadway show tunes from a variety of artists.
Seventeen performers will participate in the show, including three students, three faculty members, six alumni and five community members.
Vocalists will perform songs alongside professor Jay Whatley, associate professor of music at LSC-Kingwood, who will be the pianist for the evening.
Eric C. Skiles, artistic director of theater at the college, said he wants the full list of songs to be a surprise for the audience.
“I’m encouraging my singers to be very formal in their interpretation of what the theme means to them,” said Skiles, who is the production director of the event.
“We’ll probably get some of the jazz numbers that are a little bit risqué, but nothing too bad,” Skiles said.
The Kabaret, which traditionally is held at the end of
May, has been an annual event for the theater department since 2007, Skiles said.
Skiles said that each year, the event brings in between $3,000 and $3,500 toward the general theater scholarship fund, which provides three students $1,000 a semester to be involved with the department.
Skiles said the performance is geared toward those ages 13 and older and is open to community members.
With only 76 seats available for each performance, the Kabaret has consistently been a sell-out event, Skiles said.
Last year, the department added a third performance to accommodate more patrons.
Skiles said that this year, organizers are offering a new online process where people can go to purchase tickets in advance.
“This is new, we tried it with one of our shows in April and it worked really well, so we just went along and pushed it forward,” Skiles said.
“Before that we simply took reservations and would actually run everyone’s credit card at the door. It wasn’t a bad process, but this is a little safer for them, a little more convenient — you show up at the doors and get right into the venue.”
New lighting
This year the department is also incorporating LED lights into the performance, which allows for the production crew to choose from thousands of colors with the push of a button, Skiles said.
The audience and performance areas will still be lit using standard theatrical lighting. However, there will be some special effect lighting created with new LED technology.
Skiles said the LED technology is energy efficient, as the bulbs last much longer and there is little heat put off by the lights.
Kalliope Vlahos, technical director and designer for the theater department at LSC-Kingwood, designed the lighting for the performance over the course of two weeks, focusing special attention to the aspects of texture and saturated coloring to set the mood for fun music.
During the performance, vocalists sit, stand and move around the piano, often interacting with the audience, who at times will get up and dance as well.
Vlahos teaches theater and lighting and sound design classes at the college and said lighting serves an important function in the overall production.
“When it comes to lighting, it’s all about setting the mood of the piece so that the audience can join in on the world of the performers,” Vlahos said.
“There’s also the realm of making sure the audience can see the performers from every angle.”
In addition to the vocal entertainment, guests will be served beverages and desert, including cupcakes from Gigi’s Cupcakes in Kingwood.
Skiles, who also works as a professor of theater and humanities at the college, will also perform in the show, singing two selections, one of which is from the 1987 Broadway play, “Into the Woods”, by Stephen Sondheim.
Skiles said the vocalists don’t really dress as the characters, they simply act out and perform the songs.
Instead of wearing costumes, performers will dress in cocktail attire under the color scheme of red, black and white.
“If we left the cabaret, we’d all be able to go out to a fancy restaurant,” Skiles said. “We’re all dressed up in long dresses and vests and the ladies generally do very classy hair and makeup.”
Tickets to the Kingwood Kabaret are $20 per person and reservations are required.
To purchase tickets online, visit www.lonestar.edu/seasons. For more information, call 281-3121532.