Cabaret, winner of 12 Tony awards including Best Musical and Best Revival, is bringing its energy and famous songs to the Whatley Center for the Performing Arts at Northeast Texas Community College on Monday, March 8 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $30 for adults and $10 for students. Reservations are recommended by calling the Whatley Center box office at 903-434-8181.

“Cabaret is one of those classic musicals that has continued to wow audiences over the years. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring a production of this caliber to the Whatley Center,” Carolyn Franks, Director of the Whatley Center, said.

“Welcome to the Cabaret” sings the Emcee of the Kit Kat Club through painted lips, as the people of Berlin 1929 join him. Whatever your troubles, you will forget them at the Cabaret. Sally Bowles, a little middle-class lass from Chelsea, London, is working as a singer at Berlin’s Kit-Kat Club and trying her best to live the thrillingly decadent life which the city is supposed to offer. Into her orbit comes Cliff Bradshaw, a young American writer, and Sally soon moves in to join him in his room in the boarding house run by Fraulein Schneider.

Their fellow lodgers include the cheerful whore, Fraulein Kost, and the gentle, graying fruiterer Herr Schultz. As the clouds gather, Sally, now pregnant by Cliff, is still determined to show the world what a good time she is having and she will not or cannot hear the noises of Nazism around her. But the others can.

Songs include It Couldn’t Please Me More, Wilkommen, Cabaret, Don’t Tell Mama and Two Ladies. After 21 previews, the original Broadway production, directed by Harold Prince and choreographed by Ron Field, opened on November 20, 1966 at the Broadhurst Theatre, eventually transferring first to the Imperial and then the Broadway before finally completing its 1,165-performance run. The first Broadway revival, again directed by Prince and choreographed by Field, opened on October 22, 1987 at the Imperial Theatre, eventually transferring to the Minskoff to complete its 261-performance run. Joel Grey received star billing as the Emcee, with Alyson Reed as Sally and Gregg Edelman as Cliff.

Best known is the 1972 flim; Cabaret was produced as an American musical film directed by Bob Fosse and starring Liza Minnelli in her career role as Sally, Michael York as Cliff and Joel Grey returning to his role as Emcee. Cabaret was nominated for 10 Academy Awards in 1973, and nearly performed a clean sweep, winning 8, including Best Director (Bob Fosse), Best Actress (Liza Minnelli), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Joel Grey), and winning for Cinematography, Editing, Music, Art Direction (Rolf Zehetbauer, Hans Jürgen Kiebach, Herbert Strabel) and Sound (losing Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay to The Godfather). It won 7 BAFTA awards, including Best Film, Best Direction and Best Actress, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy).

Also coming soon to the Whatley Center is Tonic Sol-fa, a popular four-man a cappella vocal group, on March 27 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for this show, part of the 2010 Family Series, are only $15 for adults and $5 for students. Although they are simply four voices and a tambourine, Tonic Sol-fa has spent the past decade on the road carving their niche as the nation’s top vocal group. The New York Times describes Tonic Sol-fa’s sound as “A vocal kaleidoscope…unique to the human voice.” For more information about this show visit www.tonicsolfa.com.

To learn more about the Whatley Center, visit www.ntcc.edu/whatley or call 903-434-8181.