The Iona Players performed “Cabaret” in Murphy Auditorium once Friday night and twice on Saturday, according to the Iona Players Instagram page.  

This is the players second production this year, the first being “Into the Woods” in October of 2022. The production had a large dance ensemble and dealt with heavier subjects—like antisemitism— in comparison to their other productions, according to Student Director Marina Pan. 

“Many of our previous shows were ones with happy endings, and while this one was not by far, it was extremely impactful I think to audience members,” Pan said. 

Pan said the production has themes of romance and contrasting themes of racism, which was challenging material for the cast at times.  

“Many really had no idea what the show was about or how dark it was when we started at our read through.” Pan said. “Once they learned, many of our cast members did a deep dive into the people of the time and the time period itself.” 

Audience member and college junior Samuel Glynn also recognized the heavier themes present in the play.  

 “It’s certainly much different in terms of tone and content,” Glynn said. “As far as I’m aware in the past few years nothing has come close to it in that regard.” 

Some of the bigger roles, like the Emcee and the protagonist Sally Bowles, were played by senior Angelyce Gerald and freshman Isabella Ruggiero. College junior Gavin Scali played the production’s Nazi, Ernst Ludwig, and said “Cabaret” allowed him to discover his talent of acting and create life-long friends.  

“The controversial character of Ernst Ludwig was also not a light-hearted role in the slightest and was definitely challenging to portray at first,” Scali said. “However, I am happy to have taken on this challenge and am more than grateful to have worked with such a creative and talented group of people.” 

The Iona Players will put on a production of “Rent, another play dealing with heavy subject matter such as drug abuse, in the 2023 fall semester. The Performing Arts department is hoping to push students’ talents and artistic abilities by putting on shows that address controversial subjects, Pan said.