What makes a Cabaret a Cabaret? Is it drinks and music, or is it spending time with a performer who invites you into his world? Mark Nadler tells us a story about his world and the dark past of cabaret in Weimar Germany.
What happens when the two experiences combine, the intimate
setting around food and drink, and an audience watching a performance from the
distance of a stage? That was the challenge facing Mark Nadler in his recent
show I’m A Stranger Here Myself at the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia—how to make the audience
sitting in a large theater space feel that they are a part of the show as well
as observers of it—and with no food or drink to distract or engage us.
What draws us into the cabaret or nightclub instead of a traditional
show is precisely that intimacy. We want a nice dinner out with friends and don’t
want to have to go to the theater afterwards, or we want to hear a particular
singer, or the club is known for the kind of musicians who perform there, and
we’ll go no matter what.