Spotlight: GREAT Theatre Adds Matinees For 'Cabaret' Shows

WAITE PARK (WJON News) -- The local version of the Kit Kat Club is proving to be a popular draw. GREAT Theatre has announced the addition of two more performances for its upcoming production of Cabaret.

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Executive Director Lacey Schirmers says several of their shows have sold out, with very limited seats remaining for others. They've added matinees on Saturday, February 28th, and Saturday, March 7th to bring the total number of performances up to 14.

The musical will be at the Helgeson Learning Lab in Waite Park, which has 140 seats.

It's in the round, meaning there is seating on all four sides. The stage is right in the center. The first row of seats is tables, so it feels like the audience is immersed in and part of the Kit Kat Club.

Schirmers says this is the first time GREAT has produced Cabaret. The show opens on Thursday, February 19th, and runs through Sunday, March 8th. Tickets are $39 for adults. They are not selling any student tickets.

Disney's Frozen will be on the Paramount Theater stage from April 17th through May 3rd. Schirmers says the anticipation is high, with it being by far their biggest production of the season.

Absolutely, it will probably be our largest-scale production of the season. There's a lot of magic in it. We'll have fun with the set design, the costume design, and all of the effects.

Schirmers says they had a record number of people, about 170 actors, audition for a role in the show. She says because it's rare for community theater to get to do the show, they pulled in a lot of people from the Twin Cities metro area who tried out for the musical.

It is a Disney show, so just the royalties and rights alone cost GREAT over $50,000, not including any of the sets or costumes. Tickets for Frozen are on sale now.

Schirmers says they have decided to pause the final production of the season, "Anon(ymous)" due to safety concerns, because it is a refugee story on people of color.