have to sell tickets and advertise dinner as a draw.” With its givens—modest physical trappings, lofty artistic ideals that occasionally demand the impossible, breakneck rehearsal periods and a company of YSD students working tirelessly in and out of their disciplines—there have been many memorable performances and many exceptional summers. “It’s a bit like throwing paint at a wall—in the best possible way,” says Mickey Theis ’14. “Since the shows often rehearse very quickly, it grants an artist the opportunity to create with abandon and without over-thinking or being too precious with the work at hand.” Summer Cabaret also fosters an espirit du corps among its artists that brings to mind that famous line Mickey Rooney says to Judy Garland in Babes in Arms: “Let’s put on a show, right here in the barn!” As Ethan Heard ’13 recalls, “The length of the runs—usually 10 days—allowed the company to bond in a deeper way than is possible during the school year, when each Cabaret production plays only from Thursday to Sunday. We made the Billiards Room in 217 Park Street into a comfortable green room with a couch, yoga mats, and space to stretch. We were all responsible for changing over the sets between shows, and some of us worked in the kitchen on off-nights—everything and everybody was very hands-on, so we developed a special ownership of the productions.” Indeed, the original ethos that surrounded the Yale Summer Cabaret in its early days is alive and well today. On this 40th anniversary, alumni chests swell with pride in celebrating the accomplishments of 40 companies, 380 actors, 222 shows, and more than 1,500 performances. It is the grit, the wit, the stamina, the invention, the daring and the thrill of the work that keeps Summer Cabaret cool. Don Lowy ’76 is a marketing and communications consultant. Arthur Nacht ’06 is the principal of Nacht Theatre Consulting, LLC.
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01 Charles Andrew Davis ’76 and Joyce Fideor ’77 singing “Deep Purple” in The 1940s Radio Hour. Photo by Karen Marshall. 02 The Importance of Being Earnest, 1976. left to right Alma Cuervo ’76, Marcell Rosenblatt ’76, Laurence Gewirtz ’77, Christine Estabrook ’76, Andrew Davis ’76, Joel Polis ’76, and Joyce Fideor ’77. Photo by Karen Marshall. 03 left to right Barry Press ’77, William Roberts ’78, Mark Linn-Baker ’79, YC ’76, and Richard Bey ’76 in the 1977 Summer Cabaret production of Seven Keys to Baldpate. Photo by Karen Marshall. 04 Max Gordon Moore ’11 and Austin Durant ’10 in The Mystery of Irma Vepp by Charles Ludlam, directed by Michael Walkup ’06, 2009. Photo by Eric Pearson ’09.
05 left to right Vivian Keh ’98, Matthew Austin Jones ’99, Preston Lane ’96, and Joshua Grubb Robinson ’98 in the world premiere of Curtis Wade MacIntyre’s ’98 Bad Intentions, 1997.
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