Members of the McCallum choir are often presented with classical and other typical choral pieces to perform, but one annual show really strives to branch out by bringing more variation to the performance pieces. This show would be Cabaret, which held its opening night last Thursday.

Under the direction of first year choir teacher Nathan Thompson, choir students performed four shows on consecutive nights. The themse of 2023 Cabaret was “A Musical!” To embody the theme, all songs were from popular musicals. 

We are proud to present our collection of photos taken at Cabaret as this week’s Tuesday Top 10.

FROM THE TRAVIS COUNTY JAIL: Seniors Marshall Clifton, Danielle Todd-Harris and August Krosta perform “Cell Block Tango” from Chicago. “Cell Block Tango” is the behind-bars ballad of six women accused of killing their significant others. After singing “Cell Block Tango” with choir friends, Krosta felt inspired to bring the song to Cabaret auditions.

“Last year me and a couple of my friends would reenact it because we do a bunch of karaoke stuff in choir,” Krosta said. “I wanted to get all of them together because I thought it’d be really fun. We didn’t actually think that we’d be able to get in but kind of just wanted to put it all together and see what [would] happen, but [Thompson] really liked the idea.”

Krosta said “Cell Block Tango” stood out in the set list because of its distinct mood and because the characters murder people while singing.

“The mood was different than a lot of the other numbers,” Krosta said. “It just had a different energy because we’re killing people on stage. My character actually didn’t kill anyone on stage, but it was fun watching everyone else do it. Because the looks on people’s faces are like, ‘What in the world is going on right now?’” 

Junior Sam Kruck was one of the three male dancers “killed” during the performance. During a choreographed fall on the third night, he accidentally broke a chair. 

Kruck said faking his death was an “interesting” experience. 

“I’ve never had to do it before, but I think I’m an expert on it now,” Kruck said.

Kruck’s second scene was a ballet number that occurred during Krosta’s French monologue. Krosta worked with a French teacher to learn the lines describing the male character’s disappearance. 

Krosta said the highlight of performing “Cell Block Tango” was the audience’s enthusiastic reaction.

“As we finished they [the audience] started like screaming,” Krosta said. “It was super cool to have everyone cheer like that.”

Caption by Ingrid Smith. Photo by Josie Mullan.

DARING DUO: While many spent weeks or maybe months choosing, learning and practicing their solos, duets or group numbers for Cabaret, seniors Alex Thomason and Claire Baumgardner were slightly more spontaneous. 

“Claire came up to me five minutes before we were supposed to audition and asked if I wanted to do a duet,” Thomason said, “so then we just thought of a song.” 

Despite the last-minute plan, Thomason says she wasn’t too nervous for her audition. 

“Me and Claire have sang together before, and we practiced the song before going in [to the audition], so I thought we would do well,” Thomason said. 

A month later, Thomason and Baumgardner debuted a half self-composed work, consisting of two part harmonies and Thomason playing along on a ukulele. 

“Claire had actually made up the harmonies before the audition and later we went online and found some we liked,” Thomason said.

While coming up with harmonies prior to an audition was certainly risky, Thomason says that being in choir since fourth grade prepared her to handle the tight timeline.

“I definitely think being in choir helped,” Thomason said. “We have an ear that helps us spot what sounds good together.”

As for the ukulele, Thomason’s middle school music class helped with that. 

“I had previously learned the song,” Thomason said. “When she asked about doing a duet, it came to my mind that I could play along with the song.” 

While normally Thomason says performing would make her nervous, taking the stage with Baumgardner eliminated most of her stress. 

“I think my favorite thing was singing with Claire,” Thomason said. “Normally I get nervous doing solos and small groups, but it was really fun just singing together and hearing our voices blend well together.”

Caption by Naomi D-Capua. Photo by Callen Romell.

SENIOR SOLO: Senior Naomi Di-Capua sings “Losing my Mind” from the musical Follies during a solo performance. Because she is not planning to pursue music in college, Di-Capua felt the need to go all out and audition for a solo. Out of over 60 auditions for solos, duets and small groups, only 17 made it into the show, Di-Capua’s among them. 

“It was really rewarding to know that I made it past auditions,” Di-Capua said.

Auditioning was just the first step for Di-Capua, though. She still had to perform in front of a large audience—for multiple nights—which came with its own difficulties. 

“Just getting up on stage and performing was a huge accomplishment for me because I have struggled with performance anxiety for a while,” she said, “so walking away from it I’m just really proud I was able to overcome something that I had previously struggled with.” 

Di-Capua’s struggle with stage fright wasn’t the only problem she encountered; she also had to alter her song of choice to fit her vocal range. The song, typically sung by altos, was not going to work for her as a soprano. To combat this issue, she had to sing the song in a completely different key. 

“The song is typically sung by older, alto-y, musical-theater singers, which is definitely not me,” Di-Capua said. “So honestly the hardest part of the whole process was transposing it into a higher key while maintaining the warmth of the piece.”

Caption by JoJo Barnard. Photo by Francesca Dietz.

MEAN GIRLS TAKE ON CABARET: Senior Jaella Brush performs “Meet the Plastics,” a piece from the musical Mean Girls.

Brush went into cabaret with a mission in mind.

“Going into cabaret I was excited to be more involved in the production and to show people that choir’s not just about singing classic choral music,” Brush said.

The trio Brush performed in was a long-awaited partnership. 

“I was thrilled to get to work with and perform with two of my best friends,” Brush said. “We’ve always known we wanted to do a trio song together our senior year, so it was exciting to finally make it happen.”

Brush gave this Cabaret her all because it was her last one. She wound up very happy with the performance.

“I definitely committed to Cabaret,” Brush said. “I put in a lot of time and effort into the show. This being my final Cabaret, I wanted to make it count, and I think the performances went as well as one could hope for.”

While some elements of the performance were very well-rehearsed, others could have used some more work.

“I think it could have been better if I had spent a little more time on the vocals, as silly as that seems,” Brush said. “There was so much energy put into the choreography and theatrics of it all that sometimes the vocal energy was lost.”

Other challenges this trip faced was picking out a song they felt was fitting.

“Choosing the song was a tough process for me and my friends,” Brush said. “We knew we wanted to do a trio song together, but it was hard to find a song that matched our energy and dynamic as a group. We settled on Mean Girls because it’s such a fun [musical], and the whole idea of us portraying the iconic trio was exciting to explore. Plus, everyone loves Mean Girls.”

Everyone in the group was good with choreography, so it was relatively quick process to put the performance together.

“Practice for ‘Meet the Plastics’ specifically didn’t take too long,” Brush said. “We all are pretty good about getting the job done when it comes to choreography because we helped choreograph five numbers in the show. We probably spent a total of three to four hours choreographing and rehearsing.”

While Cabaret may have its down moments, Brush had a good experience overall.

“Even through the stress and pressure of being so involved in the show, I had a good time participating in Cabaret this year,” Brush said. “Getting to spend time working with some of my favorite people to put on this show was really sweet.”

Caption by Shila Gill. Photo by Callen Romell.

SOLO ON CENTER STAGE: Immediately following the opening act of Cabaret this past weekend, junior Helena Loomis took center stage with her solo of “The Girls of Summer” by Sondheim. Loomis is in her third year in choir and first year in chamber. 

Going into Cabaret, Loomis wasn’t overly optimistic about the show because the past few had been directed by a different person, while this show was staged by new choir director Nathan Thompson. 

“It had been [Malcolm] Nelson for so long, and I was kind of worried, but [Mr. Thompson] definitely met the expectations and went above and beyond,” Loomis said.

While rehearsing for the show she had a more weighty performance in her solo and then a light-hearted number performing “Fabulous” with the rest of the chamber choir.

“I was a little nervous because I was on the big stage all alone [during my solo],” Loomis said. “I took it slow and I got opinions from other people so it was great. I loved my Jimmy Choo flip-flops in ‘Fabulous.’ Those were awesome.”

As for the future, Loomis knows that there are big shoes to fill next year and hopes to do her part to help make it another successful show.

“I thought the choreographers we had this year were really good and quite a few of them are graduating,” Loomis said. “Maybe next year I can help out with that because I hope I’ve picked up some stuff.”

Caption by Callen Romell. Photo by Emmy Penders.

THURSDAY KNIGHT SPOTLIGHT: After months of preparation, tweaking the show to get it ready for the audience, Cabaret opened its weekend run on Thursday with the first of its four shows. 

Junior Sadie Swinney says that each year Cabaret offers choir students a chance to enchant the audience for a night and transport them through the musical tour the choir hosts. 

“I’ve gained a lot of skills in terms of auditioning and performing live,” Swinney said. “I’ve also learned how to blend in a group setting and improve along with my peers.”

Each year Cabaret has a different theme, and the show’s acts tie into it. This year the theme is music from movies, TV, and Broadway, which struck a chord with Swinney. 

“My favorite part of the show was singing my duet,” Swinney said. “We chose ‘When She Loved Me’ from Toy Story 2, each student choosing their own song made the experience personalized.”

An essential part of Cabaret takes place before students take the stage when students with solos and duets select their music and connect it to the theme through their costumes, their stage presence or their singing.

“Cabaret is a fun way to showcase a wide range of genres we sing in the choir,” Swinney said. 

Caption by Chloe Lewcock. Photo by Emmy Penders.

Sophomore Beatriz Lozach knew she had something to prove going into the dress rehearsal of Cabaret. Her second year as a part of the show, yet first one performing a solo, Lozach had to make her mark.

“Last year, freshmen weren’t allowed to audition for solos, or even for groups,” Lozach said, “But this year, we all went through a round of auditions, and miracle of miracles, I got one!”

Performing her solo “Flowers” from Hadestown and choreographing “S.O.S.”, a group number, in only her second year being part of the production, Lozach felt as though she had finally been allowed to make her mark. This feat wasn’t possible before this year, aided in part by the entrance of Nathan Thompson, the new choir teacher. Lozach cites the introduction of new leadership and increased communication as a main reason of Cabaret’s success.

“He’s really warm hearted, open minded, he’ll take into account the perspectives of students,” Lozach said, “Considering it was his first time, he did exceptionally well.”

Though she was nervous for her time in the spotlight, Lozach reminded herself that she and all the other performers were on stage because they deserved it. Not only did she show her love for the program, she put in the work to make her contributions successful.

“You just have to trust your choir director, trust that okay, I’m up here for a reason,” Lozach said, “It’s given me an incredible opportunity to ameliorate specific aspects of my musicianship and really delve into why I love music.”

Caption by Helen Martin. Photo by Emmy Penders.

CABARET IS THE WORD: Senior member of tenor bass choir Ansel Harlan burns up the quarter mile — or the stage — during his solo, a mashup of “Greased Lightnin’” and “Grease” from the musical Grease. While Harlan is a Cabaret veteran, he noted that this year was unique because it was choir director Nathan Thompson’s first time directing the show, which made it more “community-driven” than in years past. For Harlan, this meant both choreographing and making the backing track for his mashup.

“It was stressful mainly because I was doing my own solo, but I wouldn’t have changed it for anything else,” Harlan said. “Because I decided to do a mashup of ‘Greased Lightnin’’ and ‘Grease,’ it required special soundtracks and choreography. I ended up making it partially in iMovie, which was very professional.”

Harlan’s choice of solo was inspired by his longtime love of Grease as well as his intent to give the audience something to groove to. 

“When I was choosing, I was like, ‘What would make the audience bop their head?’” Harlan said. 

The nerves Harlan felt about showcasing a mashup of his own creation became a feeling of success after each performance. 

“The first one was the most scary because I had never done it before,” Harlan said. “But once I got into the groove the next couple nights, it was definitely relieving to be like, ‘We nailed that. We did it.’ It’s possible to do a song mashup. It’s possible to make your own [song] without having it sound bad.”

Though the show may have been different this year, Harlan looks forward to its future iterations. In Harlan’s eyes, Cabaret is the time, the place and the motion.

“I loved being able to work with such amazing seniors, especially on my last Cabaret performance,” Harlan said. “It’s definitely something that I hope gets carried over into next year. I hope it still continues to make people want to go and see choir or join choir.”

Caption by Lanie Sepehri. Photo by Francesca Dietz.

Sophomore varsity choir member Iris LaRue sings “What Is This Feeling” from Wicked as part of her duet with sophomore Sami Spear on the opening night of Cabaret. LaRue and her partner deliberated between the Wicked piece and a song from High School Musical but landed on the Broadway piece after LaRue recently saw the musical live. 

“We ultimately went with the Wicked one because we thought it would be really fun to do,” LaRue said.

LaRue enjoyed the opportunity to create original choreography for the piece, though the execution took some work.

“It was challenging to work with the wired mics,” LaRue said. “Shoes would get tangled and prevent us from doing all of the music.”

To LaRue, the presence of Nathan Thompson as the new choir director and a varied length of the show made this year’s Cabaret distinct.

“The show was a lot shorter than last year which I think was better for the audience,” LaRue said.

Caption by Francie Wilhelm. Photo by Nate Williams. 

CAN’T STOP SINGING: Seniors Adele Boerner and Adrian Recar perform a duet of “Can’t Stop Singing” from Teen Beach Movie.

According to Recar, they chose this song as a duet because Boerner had just recently watched Teen Beach Movie. 

“[Adele] originally gave the movie three out of five stars and said she would not watch it again,” Recar said. “But she changed her mind and she wants to watch it again now.”

To Recar this was a special song to sing with Boerner because he got to sing a song with a long time friend.

“It was really exciting, [since] I have known Adele since first grade, so it was a great way to have our last Cabaret together,” she said. 

Caption by Gaby Esquivel. Photo by Emmy Penders.

Senior Naomi Pearson works in the sound booth during the show. Photo by Francescsa Dietz.

More coverage on choir:

Thompson puts his stamp on 'Cabaret'

McCallum shows off award-winning Fine Arts Academy programs to prospective Knights

Cabaret 2022 succeeds in bringing the 'Light'