FIVE QUESTIONS
'Cabaret' glitters again for director

Brad Goda Andrew Sakaguchi, left, in the role of the Emcee, dances with the Gorilla, played by Elizabeth Harrison, in Manoa Valley Theatre's production of the 1960s musical "Cabaret," directed by John Rampage. 'CABARET' A musical by Joe Masteroff, John Kander and Fred Ebb, produced by Manoa Valley Theatre 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 4 p.m. Sundays, through March 27 (also, extended run March 30-April 3) Manoa Valley Theatre $30 general, $25 seniors and military, $15 those 25 and younger ($5 more in each category for the extended run; not available online) 988-6131, manoavalleytheatre.com

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Manoa Valley Theatre's "Cabaret" revival, which opened Wednesday night, is Rampage's sixth brush with the Tony Award-winning musical, but the first without him onstage as the Emcee.

"When I told my cast I did the show for the first time when I was 18 — and that was 32 years ago — I don't know if it was harder for me, or them, to believe," said Rampage, the artistic director at "rival" Diamond Head Theatre who's on loan to MVT.

"My first was in Chicago, and it was a two-year run; the second was a six-month tour in Omaha, Nebraska, and I came to Hawai'i when that closed in 1975."

In 1988, he appeared in a Leeward Community College production, his third; a Mainland tour that wound up in Ocean City, Md., in 1989, was his fourth. The fifth was Diamond Head's 1995 rendering.

"At that time, I said I will never do the show again," he chuckled. "But I've since learned never to say never."

Rampage's next at DHT will be "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," for which he begins auditioning April 1.

We asked him Five Questions:

Why aren't you in this one?

"I think I've gotten everything out of the role possible, having done it so many times. I have such respect for this show; I wanted to pass on the torch. And I can't think of a better candidate than Andrew (Andrew Sakaguchi, the Emcee)."

So which script are you using?

"It's really a hybrid. We started with the first revival script, from 1987, when it was brought back to Broadway with Joel Grey as the Emcee. In the original, he was considered a supporting actor; but he won the Tony Award and an Academy Award (in the movie version that starred Liza Minnelli) and he'd become a major star. We (Dwight Martin, MVT's producing director) tried to get the 1998 revival, which is called the Sam Mendes (he directed, with Alan Cumming as the Emcee) version, and through a Broadway connection, we almost had the rights — but there was a stipulation that ... (the source) would have to direct. So we did a change of style; we're bold, but not quite in-your-face as the last version."

What about the Emcee excites you?

"He has evolved and developed — from secondary, to a main character. He's a deeper part of the story. And it's a very unique role, in that you have to be a triple threat. Equal parts singer, actor and dancer. And Andrew, who was in the last production we did together at Diamond Head Theatre, has developed into a triple threat. He's a director, dancer, choreographer. This is his first time as the Emcee; and I knew I had to share the part with him, not necessarily to copy, but to take the part and make it his. I haven't regretted it one nanosecond."

Why do you keep returning to "Cabaret"?

"The wonderful thing about this show, and the reason I keep coming back to it, is that it works no matter what format you use — big, '60s musical, or contemporary, hard-hitting show. The product has not aged; considering the original in 1967, it's still as contemporary now as ever. Many other old musicals haven't aged as well."

Why isn't DHT doing "Cabaret"?

"Interestingly, we all work on our seasons at the same time; at Diamond Head, we seriously considered doing 'Cabaret.' But Manoa was two weeks ahead of us and got it first. Besides, the show works better at Manoa; they are doing it with cabaret seating, which we can't do at Diamond Head. I've always had a good working relationship with Manoa, and they, with us. You learn so much by going to another theater, and bring back what works to your theater."

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, 525-8067 or fax 525-8055.

Revisiting World War II metaphysically From left, Dave Schaeffer is Niels Bohr, Frankie Enos is Margrethe Bohr and Richard MacPherson is Werner Heisenberg in "Copenhagen," a production of The Actors' Group, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Yellow Brick Studio in Kaka'ako. The Tony Award-winning play, written by Michael Frayn, takes place in September 1941, at the height of Germany's advance into Russia. The German physicist Werner Heisenberg, under surveillance by the Gestapo, travels to Copenhagen to meet his friend and mentor, physicist Niels Bohr. The play considers the possible reasons for the meeting in a tale of friendship, danger, the devastation of war and the development of the atomic bomb as Heisenberg, Bohr and Bohr's wife Margrethe appear in the afterlife to relive their personal tragedies. The play repeats at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and at 4 p.m. Sundays through April 17. Tickets are $10. 722-6941.