The Silhouette Players – more known for their wonderful musicals – will be presenting a evening of entertainment and fun at Cabaret Night on April 23, 2016 at 8PM at Slayton House – 10400 Cross Fox Lane, in Columbia, MD.
I had the opportunity to ask Silhouette Stages’ President Debbie Mobley some questions about this upcoming performance.
Susan: How long has Silhouette Stages been doing a Cabaret Night?
Debbie: Silhouette Stages introduced Cabaret Nights at least a decade ago as a fun way to provide performers with an opportunity to showcase their talents even if they are not currently in a full scale production. We’ve changed the way we’ve organized the shows over the years, but the bottom line is that we now sell out nearly every Cabaret Night and the talent we’ve been able to attract has gotten better and better.
Why did you decide to do a Cabaret Night?
For $10 a ticket we provide audience members with and virtual buffet of local performers, many of whom are currently in shows. This promotes shows Silhouette Stages is doing and also provides a cooperative way to help our fellow theater groups. We are proud to promote Community Theatre, show off the incredible amount of local talent in this area, and also provide a fun, inexpensive evening of entertainment. Dessert is included in the price of the ticket.
Who will be performing and how did you choose these performers? Are they people from your productions?
Our performers fill out applications on line and we select from those applications. There are no formal auditions but we may make phone calls to find out more about those who have applied. Ultimately, we try to build a show with a variety of performance pieces while also paying attention to those who might be in upcoming productions that would benefit from some extra advertising. Performers and groups are from all over the area. And yes, we most certainly include vignettes from Silhouette productions! This time, we are proud to bring you some snippets from our upcoming show, Next to Normal, which runs for only two weekends: May 13th, 14th, 15th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd. It won 3 Tony Awards including Best Musical Score. It also won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize. It’s a deeply moving rock musical that takes audiences into the minds and hearts of a “normal” family struggling to make it through just another day. Our cast is crazy good! Also included this time will be the cast from Laurel Mill Playhouse’s production of Assassins, The Miracle Players’ cast of The King and I, and more.
How will the music be provided?
We hire an accompanist and also have talented people working sound where a performer prefers recorded accompaniment over a live pianist. We like to go with what works for the performing artist.
Is there a theme for this year’s cabaret?
We’ve toyed with the idea of themes, and you may see that in the future, but up until this point we have tried to offer a true variety show. We try to regularly swap up emcees to keep it fresh so you never really quite what you’re going to get! We’ve even had Supergirl and Wonder Woman co-emcee at our Cabaret nights.
Is it only singing, or will you have dancers, comics, magicians, acrobats or other types of acts?
We’ve had all kinds of acts: dance troupes, monologues, scenes from plays, a cappella groups, singers. We’ve even had belly dancers!
Does the audience sit at tables?
Our room is set up in true cabaret style with audience members seated around tables. We offer adult beverages and healthy snacks for purchase but the cheesecake is always free.
Where, when, and what time will the Cabaret Night be presented?
Our next Cabaret night is on Saturday, April 23rd at 8 PM at Slayton House in Columbia, MD. For those who don’t know, it’s a neat little space in Wilde Lake off Cross Fox Lake right next to the Swim Center.
For our 2016/2017 season we have three Cabaret nights planned: September 24, 2016, February 4, 2017, and April 29, 2017.
How can someone buy tickets?
Tickets are on sale now.
Performed at the Slayton House:
10400 Cross Fox Lane, in Columbia, MD 21044
The tickets, again, are $10 and can be purchased by going to our web site. I strongly recommend advance purchase if you really want to guarantee your seat. We generally sell out. Seating is on a first come, first served basis so you might want to get there early to get your pick of the plum tables.
Don’t worry; all seats are pretty darn good! If we are not sold out by performance time, we have tickets available at the door. We have to close online sales several hours in advance of the show in order to allow our volunteers who man the tickets to also work the desk at the theater. It’s always worth showing up to see if seats are still available, but the only real way to be sure you’ll get in is to purchase your tickets in advance.
