The Drury University Theatre and Dance Department will present the final production of their 2020-21 season, the annual “Broadway Cabaret,” Wednesday April 28 through Sunday May 1st at 7:30pm each evening in Wilhoit Theatre on the Drury campus. Director Josh Inmon stopped by KSMU’s “Arts News” to discuss the production.
Inmon said there will be no online stream of this show—these will be exclusively live-in-person performances. “We are presenting about 20 different musical numbers, and the way that we the secure rights for those is individually for each number.” The right for performing organizations to video-record and/or stream these songs is up to each individual publisher. “So it made more sense just to present it live. And, you know, we’re excited about that—we’re excited about the possibility.” (This is a COVID-era sentiment expressed by virtually anybody in the performing arts one might choose to ask!) “We’ve done a couple of streaming things this year,” Inmon continued, “but it’s really the first time we have presented ourselves in front of a live audience in two years!”
In these “Broadway Cabaret” productions, they “cover the gamut” of shows and styles, said Josh Inmon. “We cover everything from classic musical-theatre Golden Age, like ‘South Pacific.’ We go from there all the way to contemporary works: ‘Amélie;’ we do some stuff from ‘Avenue Q;’ from ‘Songs For A New World.’ If you like musical theater at all, this is certainly going to be a treat.”
Inmon has a student cast of 12 for this show, in addition to the production’s Music Director and piano accompanist, Beth Falukos, who is onstage during the performance. He said the student performers “have a big part” in selecting repertoire for the Broadway Cabaret. “It’s songs that they want to sing, that they enjoy singing. And it’s really fun, especially this year, for us to be able to step on stage to present an evening of fun musical theater.”
As with most things on campus this year, the show will look and feel a bit different: masks and social distancing will be required of audience members, who temperatures wlll be taken before the enter the facility.
Tickets range from $3.00 to $14.00, and are available Monday through Friday from 1:00 to 5:00pm at the Wilhoit Theatre Box Office inside the Breech School of Business building on the Drury campus. The box office phone number is (417) 873-7255. Tickets can also be ordered online at https://www.drury.edu/theatre.
Director Josh Inmon says the performers are “really geared up” for the production. “We went onstage last week for the first time, out of the rehearsal studio. And it just felt so great to be on that Wilhoit stage. We’re ready for an audience, for sure.”
