The latter half of Cab’s 2022-2023 season is a GO! Classes have only just begun, and we’re already bringing you a funky fresh new production to feast your winter break-rested eyes and ears on. Our Spring Special Project for this year puts the SPECIAL in special project, haha. It’s an exciting change of pace that we haven’t seen the likes of at Cab in recent years. Get this— our Spring Special Project, “Diary of a Simpy Kid”, is an ORIGINAL musical with a book, music, and lyrics written entirely by Rutgers students Michael Trujillo and Anthony Graceffo, both of whom also co-directed the product ..read more

Everyone’s favorite coffeehouse-slash-open mic extravaganza is back and open mic-ier than ever! I’m gonna be real, Café Cab is special to me for a lot of reasons. It was the very first Cab event that I ever went to last Fall. It’s also the one time in the semester where anyone can sign up to perform anything they want, no stressful audition or grueling callback process required. Does that mean that I signed up? No way, but a lot of really talented people did! Overall, it’s just a super fun, low-stakes night of cheering on your friends as they take the stage (and/or being cheered on by YOUR fr ..read more

It’s the most wonderful time of the semester.  Every Rutgers student is filled with the holiday spirit, and good cheer is in the air. There is peace on earth and good will toward man. I’m talking, of course, about the funniest show of Cabaret’s season, Rutgers Night Live! (The theme has nothing to do with Christmas, but the warmth that RNL brings to all of our hearts is totally comparable to the warmth of the holidays). RNLXXIII: The Plot Thickens features a stacked cast of some of the silliest people on campus. Though the cast is slightly smaller than it’s been in recent RNLs, the goofi ..read more

A year ago, in September of 2021, Cabaret Theatre made its triumphant return to in-person theatrical productions with the back-to-school revue, Reaching Out, the first show to have been physically performed within the Cab space since the rise of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (his name is the novel Coronavirus). For this reason, the 2021-2022 season at Cabaret Theatre was no doubt a gift to the students involved— it gave them a sense of normalcy and a return to form with full-fledged productions, sets, costumes, audiences and all. Now, after a full year of getting back to our roots, it’s time to re ..read more

Reader, I know you’ve never written a play. Look, there’s no shame in that! I’ve never written a play either. I hear it’s pretty hard to do. In fact, that’s what makes the annual Original Play Festival such a powerful anomaly among the rest of Cabaret’s traditional season. Because every year, a handful of talented Cabbies do what only we theatrical plebians dream of and write full one-act plays to be produced entirely by students. No source material, no adaptations– Pure, original, student-made content. And it’s pretty freaking magical. “OPF was the first Rutgers theatre program that really dr ..read more

Dear The Academy, I am writing today to inform you of a critical error made in your recent release of the 94th Annual Academy Awards list of nominees. First of all, Lady Gaga was robbed after how hard she WORKED that press tour. But most pressingly, you have nominated the wrong Tick, Tick… BOOM! The new Netflix film adaptation of this beloved musical is a contender in the next Oscar pool. And, yes, I’ve seen the film. It’s very cute. Quaint, even. However, does it hold a candle to the sheer magic currently taking place on Suydam street this very weekend? I think not. I dare say that this hear ..read more

Gather round, children. It’s story time. Long ago, in the years when people thought handwashing was just a suggestion, the RU comedy scene was dominated by the titans of their industry: Rutgers Night Live! These funny folk worked tirelessly for two whole weeks each semester to put up what SNL does in five days. The shows were something of a legend at Cabaret. With the friendly face of a fellow classmate hosting the show, live performances from local DIY bands, and comedy either so funny or so cringey you leave laughing no matter the context, it was a recipe for success. Rutgers Night Live ..read more

Knock knock? Anyone there? Hello? I awaken with a jolt, bound to the waterlogged chaise of room 427 and illuminated only by the dim light of a laptop’s blank screen. What month is it? What year is it? And whoever tied me up in the basement of Cabaret could have just shot me a text. My eyes shift into focus on the page. Fear sets in my chest as I realize my greatest wish has finally come true: I am the new social media chair of Cabaret Theatre. Be careful what you wish for, folks. The powers that be have determined my fate, naming me next in a lineage of talented comedy writers desperately d ..read more

Marquee by Paige Jarusiewicz Hello dear blog readers, how were your Thanksgiving breaks? Hopefully, you enjoyed some safe time with your family. Welcome back to that horrid time between Thanksgiving weekend and winter break. Quite terrible, right? Well, you know what I say, “there’s nothing that a cedar balsam candle and a night of theatre can’t fix”. And even though this is obviously a Cabaret Theater blog, there are many opportunities to engulf yourself in student theatre this week to take a break from preparing for finals. But, I’ll tell you a little more about that later when we wrap thin ..read more

Marquee design by Paige Jarusiewicz I can’t help but think that this past week will go down in American history forever. And attached to this permanent memory will be the image of me watching the news while simultaneously editing clips on my roommate’s iPad of my Cabaret friends talking about their OPF experience. I thought it was time for a vlog post over a blog post. The Original Play Festival is Cabaret’s opportunity to bring in student-written pieces to be directed and put on by other students and is always something I look forward to each semester. This time around we’re calling it RetrO ..read more