On Saturday, April 21, Kutztown University’s Actors Creating Theatre, also known as ACT, put on their annual Spring Cabaret in Schaeffer’s Little Theatre. The theme was Sing Alongs and included songs such as “Dancing Queen”, “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, and countless showtunes.
Overall, the show was a great display of students coming together and expressing themselves through song. One student portrayed utter frustration and angst through her vocals in the song “Rent” from the hit musical of the same title. A group of seven women showed off their musical theater chops by performing the song “She’s In Love” from the Broadway version of The Little Mermaid. Dressed for the part in mermaid leggings, the women belted their hearts out about Ariel’s newfound love. Another group of students brought out their Guitar Hero instruments to rock out to Blink-182’s “All the Small Things”, their angst oozing out into the hearts of every audience member.
However, there were a few instances throughout the Cabaret that struck a wrong note.
Literally.
It seemed as though a handful of selections for the Cabaret were out of the vocal range of the students assigned to perform the song. Women who were clearly altos had to hit soprano notes in some songs, while other songs called for notes so low barely any woman (even an alto 2) could possibly hit it without creating a vocal fry.
When the entire group came together to sing, the harmonies were spot on. There were a few people who made their voices heard over the rest of the group, but only in a few selections. However, in smaller groups, there were more inconsistencies with harmonies and the volume at which each person would sing. The lack of cohesion amongst the group could have been better solved with a bit more help from the music director.
The choreography also fell a bit flat for me, personally, but that may just be because of my background in dance. There were some awkward pauses in the movements of certain songs as well as moves that were over-the-top cheesy. (As in, the actions of the dance matched exactly what the actions in the songs were saying.)
With a bit more direction from the creative team, ACT’s Cabaret could have been polished just a little bit more. With that being said, the students who were in charge of and performed in the Cabaret did a phenomenal job. The way in which everyone on and off stage supported one another and visibly had such a fun time putting on the show was what made sitting in the audience worthwhile.