To close out the Adelphi Performing Arts Center’s celebratory 10th anniversary season, the students of the Department of Theatre bring you a rare cabaret production written by Jonathan Larson ’81, creator of the Tony Award-winning musical RENT, and Nicholas Petron, chair of the Department of Theatre, in which Sam Spade and Nick and Nora Charles meet in 1940s Chicago to solve a murder.
Performances will take place from May 3-6 in the Black Box Theatre in the Adelphi PAC, 1 South Ave. in Garden City.
As a student at Adelphi, Larson had the idea to create a cabaret-style show with a single plot line running through it – though most cabarets feature a selection of unrelated songs and sketches.
Nick Petron agreed to the idea, and inspired by the 1940s film noir style, the two created a whodunnit cabaret show in just nine days, with Larson composing music and Petron writing book and lyrics.
The show took shape through rehearsals with the cast, and at a time they were uncertain that they had a show at all: the night before it opened, Petron asked the students, “do we even have a show?”
He was met with a resounding affirmation from the cast. “I wasn’t sure we had a show at all,” Petron recalls. “But Jonathan knew.”
Cabaret Theatre – alternately titled The Steak Tartare Caper or Behind Every Moan is a Woman – has only been performed one other time since its original production during a scholarship celebration on the Adelphi campus. Don’t miss this celebratory performance!
The Adelphi PAC is one of Long Island’s premier cultural arts venues for entertainment of all kinds. Tickets are currently on sale for $20 with discounts available to seniors, students and alumni.
Information is available online at pac.adelphi.edu or at the Lucia and Steven N. Fischer Box Office at 516.877.4000 or boxoffice@adelphi.edu. Regular box office hours are Tuesday through Friday from 1:00-6:00 p.m. The box office is also open two hours before most scheduled performances.
