Story Photos
 Photo by Greg Ebersole Sharon Cole, front, and fellow dancers rehearse the conga number for Cabaret. From left in front, Kimber Vitus, Marsha Haas and Jackie Evans perfect their moves. |
Let's dance: After hiatus, raucous Cabaret returns
Thursday, October 25, 2007 7:29 AM PDT
By Tom Paulu
Printable version
E-mail this articleFirst, we'll answer the question many veteran Cabaret viewers must have on their minds.
Kurt Anagnostou, an attorney, Longview City Council member and experienced Cabaret participant, will not appear in drag for this week's performances.
He will, however, portray one of a chorus of Elvises.
Anagnostou has worn dresses in several previous presentations, and a former Longview mayor whose name begins with Mark "was in a grass skirt and coconut bra!" recalled Susan Lewis, who's dancing in the current show.
Such are unforgettable moments that create a frenzy of excitement among Cabaret cast members and tons of fun for the audience, too.
The party-plenty show with singing, dancing and comedy skits is back after a three-year hiatus, opening tonight with the first of four performances.
Cabaret was first held here in 1949. In recent years, the Longview Junior Service League staged the labor-intensive show every other year. The last event, held in 2004, raised a healthy $15,000 for charity, but Service League members were overwhelmed by the thousands of hours of preparation work.
After they decided not to stage Cabaret a year ago, the much-larger Longview Pioneer Lions agreed to join forces with the Service League and bring the show back. The Lions Club is about six times as big as the 30-member Service League.
Based in Philadelphia and New York, Donegan spends about six months each year in communities around the country doing shows like Cabaret. "I'm booked solid until 2010," he said.
(Service League member Jackie Evans was in New York a few years ago and spotted Donegan on the street. "I recognized him by his hip swivel," she said, having watched his posterior during countless rehearsals over the years.)
Cabaret-style shows are remnants of Americana, when communities devised their own entertainment before the age of radio and TV. Donegan's work keeping the historic art form alive will be the subject of an upcoming documentary by a film crew from Wenatchee that's following him around the country and spent several days in Longview.
Donegan arrived on Oct. 1, with show numbers in mind. Plenty of hoofers and songsters signed up to participate, he said. "They didn't do if for three years so people were really hungry for it," and anyone who wants a part gets one.
He will also direct the 10-member band that provides music.
The cast numbers around 110. "More than half our cast is brand new," Lewis said.
About 25 men will be on stage. "We didn't have to beg this time" to get males interested in dancing, Donegan said.
Lewis was bitten by the Cabaret bug during the 2000 show. "By the end of that run they had to drag me off the stage," she said. "I think a lot of it is doing something you hadn't done before and thought you couldn't."
Anagnostou said he was coaxed into participating in his first Cabaret. "The first time you do it, it's so much fun and it's for charity," he said. "You get addicted to it."
This is Cabaret No. 7 for the city councilman. In addition to appearing as one of the Elvii, he's in several dance numbers.
Donegan said he localizes the show as much as possible. "The opening number is all about being in the Longview Cabaret. The audience really loves that kind of stuff."
For several weeks, female members of the kick line and conga dance numbers have spent their mornings rehearsing. The dancers, with an average age a bit past 40, bust plenty of moves.
One morning, Donegan never missed a beat as he lead them through shakes, hip shimmies and just-so hand movements.
"Take that booty-licious right to the audience!" he called out. "Serve up that booty-licious!"
The program will also include can-can, tap and country western.
"There will be a lot of surprises," Donegan promised. "A lot of them will be planned, a lot of them not."
But in Cabaret, it's not crucial that every booty goes bump at the same time.
According to Lewis, Donegan pushes the cast during rehearsals, "but opening night he'll say, 'if you make a mistake it's OK. That's what adds the charm.' "
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