When Vika Stubblebine was a freshman at UCLA, she attended Act III Theatre Ensemble’s fall quarter opening “Cabaret” night. Spurred by the desire to meet new people, she decided to join the performance group.
Now beginning her third year as a musical theater student, Stubblebine is the coordinator of the event and said she hopes that people entering UCLA will attend tonight’s cabaret-themed “New Year/New You: Songs You Wish You Knew,” and feel the same way she did.
“I wanted to meet people from the department, so I thought this would be a cool way to do it. I produced in high school and I’ve been involved in that way so I wanted to continue that,” Stubblebine said.
Act III Theatre Ensemble’s first “Cabaret” of the school year will be in Kerckhoff Grand Salon and will include students performing music from a variety of productions as well as original pieces.
Jennifer Fingal, artistic and managing director of Act III and a fourth-year theater student, said past “Cabaret” performances have included students playing roles they would not usually perform in a main stage production. Fingal also said they have done backward Broadway performances where students would take on roles that aren’t socially accepted.
“We have girls performing guys’ songs. They also played roles they would never be able to play due to embarassing reasons,” Fingal said.
Students who attend the performance will get the opportunity to learn more about Act III and the productions the group plans to put on throughout the year, including its main stage performances, “24 Hour Musical” and “Bruins Care.”
“The first “˜Cabaret’ is more of a hybrid, as it’s the opening, so it’ll be a lot of us talking about what we’re all about and what events are happening and how people can get involved,” Fingal said. “Also, the theme revolves around new composers and people, so the performers will be singing songs by recent composers or their own original work.”
Compared to other productions that Act III puts on throughout the year, “Cabaret” is seen as more of an informal and casual type of performance. Students rehearse on their own time and come together in an open mic setting to entertain and socialize with new and returning students.
“It’s very self-driven. We are just getting started for the year, so the performers chose their own (songs) to perform and they just have to get their music to the pianists,” Fingal said.
Kaitlin Huwe, a third-year theater student, will be performing an original song that she began writing over the summer called “Sleep Where You Sleep.”
“It’s about this romance that’s always back and forth, unclear and sort of hard to read,” Huwe said.
While Huwe said the name of the song and its lyrics could stir up a lot of ideas about what they could mean, the song is actually a hopelessly romantic song inspired by her life and past relationships.
“It basically means I want to be on the same page with you. I want to be a part of your dreams and life,” Huwe said. “It’s a call to a love or possible love to connect with me. It’s a bit tragic.”
Huwe, who has performed at past events, said that each time she performs, she builds more confidence in the spotlight. She said that although it was easy to feel intimidated by other artists during her freshman and sophomore years, she has built the confidence to just let go and perform.
“Now I’ve come to this maturity, … it’s that point where you know that we’re all so different that it’s impossible to compare yourself to somebody else,” Huwe said. “I’ve just sort of let go of comparing myself. … It’s a cabaret and it’s a time to share.”