HHS Theater held their second annual Cabaret Night on Saturday, April 13. The theme for this year’s show was “Once Upon A Time,” meaning all performances must have originated from either a fairytale or literary work.
Producer and co-director Michelle O’Brien stated in the program, “Cabaret Night offers our students the opportunity to choose a piece . . . to act, recite, play, sing, or dance to, and where the students take the responsibility to learn their piece mainly on their own, with support from our team.” The “team” consists of O’Brien, as well as Yosh Yentsch (co-director, set & lighting designer, and stage manager), Kaitlin Obielecki (vocal director), Paige Rippon (choreographer), among others.
Many of the performances were backed by live instruments, with Kristen Gaus on the piano, Brandon Kisner on guitar, and HHS senior Colton Schauble on the drums.
The show boasted a talented cast of 18 students from across the High School. Most chose to sing a song as either a solo or duet, but there were also two instrumental pieces: “My Lady White,” performed by Ethan Walker on the marimba, and “Merry Go Round of Life,” a piano piece performed by Lydia Sheu. Eva Rabago also performed a non-singing act, reciting the poem “The Guest House” by J. Rumi.
Matilda’s “When I Grow Up” was the show’s opener, performed by 16 singing members of the production. Continuing with the Matilda Theme, Adele Hosenfield sang her rendition of “Naughty,” another hit from the 2010 musical. 11 other singers contributed to the first act, including Ryan Hosenfield, singing Les Miserables’ “Who Am I,” and Julia Aluquin who performed an amazing version of “Astonishing” from Little Women.
The first act was finished off with a beautiful performance of “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory by HHS’ Jazz Band, featuring Matthias Van de Louw.
Act two opened with a trio — Ryan Hosenfield, Julia Aluquin, and Kay Morrison — singing “Who I’d Be” from Shrek. Also singing in the second act was Elaine Blacker, who performed “A New Life” from Jekyll and Hyde — a fan favorite, according to Julia Aluquin — and Kay Morrison, singing “Almost There” from The Princess and the Frog.
The show concluded with another full group performance, this time of “Defying Gravity” from Wicked – Senior, Elaine Blacker’s favorite number from the show.
Cabaret Night was the final HHS Theater production for the 2023-24 season, following “Clue” and “Seussical,” the fall play and winter musical, respectively, so director Michelle O’Brien honored the six graduating theater seniors — Elaine Blacker, Claire Dalto, Pen Ellsworth, Ryan Hosenfield, Matthias Van de Louw, and Ethan Walker — by giving each one a rose.
One of the most shocking parts of the night, however, came after all of the performers left the stage and took their place in the audience. In a video played throughout the auditorium, the shows for the 2024-25 theater season, including the fall play, winter musical, and spring Cabaret, were announced. The fall play will be “Alice in Wonderland,” the musical “Mean Girls: High School Version,” and the Cabaret theme will be “Villians.”
There were hints pointing towards each of these shows within the Cabaret performances. Clove Leonard sang “Mad Matter,” which came from Wonderland — a musical based off of the play “Alice in Wonderland.” The Wicked hit “Popular” was sung by Sammy Stark, which hinted at “Mean Girls,” with the pink dress Stark wore, as well as the general theme of the song. Finally, Miki Postupak sang one of Disney’s best villain songs, “Friends On the Other Side” from The Princess and the Frog, which alluded to the third annual Cabaret theme.
If the talent present at the Cabaret night was anything to go by, it’s sure to be a great season for Hershey High School’s theater department next year.
