By Shelby L Lorah-Schlotterbeck

With the relentless ascent of the Nazi party in 1930s, a place of decadent celebration set against growing terror invited a life of prestige dance and painted lips. The seedy and notorious Kit Kat Club welcomed any open mind, requiring fetish, glamour, and high style.

This world will be recreated this weekend as the Hagerstown Community College drama department presents its first production of the musical “Cabaret.”

“Cabaret” was adapted from the 1945 book The Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood and the 1951 play I Am a Camera, which was derived from the same book. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions.

“I chose Cabaret because, as a dancer, I wanted to do a show that had a lot of high-energy dance numbers, but also one with a deeper message,” said Alyssa Foley Little, director of “Cabaret,” states.

The total cast of the production is 20, with seven main actors.

“The cast fit perfectly into place, so casting was not hard,” she continues with an excited smile, “Everyone has a lot of talent, there is no weak link in the group,” Little said.

Sally Bowles, played by Zoë D’heedene, is a headstrong headlining singer at the Kit Kat Club.

D’heedene,  describes Sally as “A women who does not want to accept that the world is changing; she just wants to have fun.”

Twins Bobby and Victor, played by Daniel Roberts and Charles Vitug, are the self-described “horn dogs” of the Kit Kat Boys.

Roberts and Vitug say that playing twins is much different from playing a solo character.

“You do not have to develop so much of your own character, because we can rely on each other for bringing something to the table and put it together,” said Roberts.

For interested audience members, this show runs April 19- 20 at 8 p.m., and closing the April 21 with a matinée at 2:30 p.m.. Tickets are free for Hagerstown Community College students and staff, and $10 for the public.