By: Zoë Espiritu
The yearly Kent Place Cabaret occurred on Friday, October 13, at 7:30 p.m. All funds raised went to the Susan G. Komen Foundation in submitting for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We ended up raising over $3,000! There were incredible performances with a brilliant repertoire, showcasing the skills of Kent Place's chorale. It was a unique and exciting opportunity for many that brought so much joy to the audience of friends, family, siblings, and faculty alike. All sorts of song genres thoroughly entertained everyone.
I interviewed a few of the soloist/groups who performed at Cabaret, and here are what they said:
What was your inspiration behind the song you chose? 🎤
Andrea (‘24) - I was a HUGE Mamma Mia fan when I was younger (I still am to this day), and I’ve always loved “Thank You for the Music.” I chose this song after reflecting about my senior year and my last Cabaret; I feel so grateful for the Kent Place music department and for my fellow singers, and I wanted to thank them for the music they have brought to my life. This was my first time performing a solo song at Kent Place, and I believe it was a meaningful way to end my final Cabaret.
Logan (‘24) - Lorelei and I chose “Anything You Can Do” from Annie Get Your Gun! We have wanted to do a duet for a long time, and this song encapsulated our energy the best!
Colette (‘25’) - Megan, Zoë, and I decided on "Three Friends," as it stuck with me for a few reasons: it was entertaining, it was funny, it had an equal division of parts, and the harmonies were well within all of our ranges. The difficulty level was reasonable, considering we only had a few weeks until Cabaret.
Isabella (‘25) - Originally, I was planning to perform “City of Stars” (La La Land)” for Cabaret, but I decided to do “Good Morning Baltimore” (Hairspray) after I heard a girl at my camp sing it. It was such a sunshiny song filled with so much life, and I instantly knew I wanted to sing it. I love this song in the movie too--Nikki Blonsky sings it with so much joy!
Corynne (‘25) - I chose “Journey to the Past” (Anastasia). I originally wanted to do In My Dreams (Anastasia), but I immensely enjoyed Journey to the Past due to its dynamics and emotional buildup.
Ceci (‘26) - Mia Ramos and I performed “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” The song came up on Mia and I's playlist when we worked together over the summer, and we wanted to perform it somewhere!
Allison (‘26) - Sophie, Madeline, and I picked "Ho Hey" because we wanted a song that would be both fun to sing and something almost everyone could enjoy!
Emily (‘27) - I picked the song “When He Sees Me” (Waitress) because I have always loved the musical, and this was always one of my favorite songs from the show. It’s a funny song and I thought it would be fun to perform!
Tara (‘27) - I chose “A Million Dreams” (The Greatest Showman) because I saw Cabaret as a chance to show my growth as a singer. Singing this at Cabaret was a great way to reveal the things I should be proud of from my years of studying my voice, and the things I still have to work on.
What was your favorite act from Cabaret? 🎭
Andrea (‘24) - Ah, I don’t know!! Everyone sang so beautifully!!!
Logan (‘24) - My favorite act has to have been Andrea's performance of “Thank You for the Music (ABBA).” It was such a perfect way to end the show and I'll admit I cried a bit.
Colette (‘25) - I don't think I can decide on a favorite act from this year's Cabaret! However, one thing I enjoyed was the variety. When you think of a Cabaret, you often think of all Broadway music that is upbeat and entertaining. What made our Cabaret so awesome was how we had a whole spectrum of performances: old, traditional style Broadway, modern Broadway, folk music, pop music, sad music - you name it, we had it.
Isabella (‘25) - Everyone at Cabaret was spectacular and so inspiring. I liked Logan and Lorelei's duet, “Anything You Can Do,” as it was funny and involved a lot of acting. It was really fun performing my song as well :)
Corynne (‘25) - My favorite act was Andrea singing “Thank You for the Music.”
Ceci (‘26) - I loved Corynne’s performance of “Journey to the Past!”
Allison (‘26) - All the acts were well-prepared and beautifully sung. One that stuck out to me was Logan and Lorelei's "Anything You Can Do," - I loved how expressive they were!
Emily (‘27) - One of my favorite acts from the performances from the show was Logan and Lorelei’s performance of “Anything You Can Do” which they both sang amazingly! They were both so funny and couldn’t have done it better.
Tara (‘27) - My favorite act was "Thank You for the Music," performed by Andrea. The song made me cry because I truly felt as though I could connect to it and it embodied the spirit of Cabaret so perfectly.
What was your process while preparing for your act? 🎶
Andrea (‘24) - To prepare, I practiced with Mr. Ginsberg, sang with my mom in the car, and practiced while doing my skincare routine (lol).
Logan (‘24) - We recorded our song with the two of us singing to get the lyrics and tune accurately! We both listened to the official cast recordings of Annie Get Your Gun.
Colette (‘25) - Preparing for this year's Cabaret was more complex and involved lots of planning ahead. We had to make some cuts to the song, including a few rewrites of lyrics. Most of our practicing and polishing was done on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday before Cabaret when we hit our stride and started feeling comfortable putting all the moving parts together.
Isabella (‘25) - I just practiced singing it again and again, and I got more confident with this song with each attempt. I added my own little twists to the song, such as falling at one part. My favorite part was coming up with gestures to match the music, as it's very much a song with acting involved.
Corynne (‘25) - I practiced with Mr. Ginsberg a few times to make sure I sounded good with his accompaniment. I even did it in front of his listening to music class once or twice.
Ceci (‘26) - Mia and I rehearsed a lot and made separate tracks to get our harmonies down!
Allison (‘26) - Sophie, Madeline, and I used any free blocks we had together, the end of KP Singer time, and many comment-writing days rehearsing in the practice rooms. Mr. Ginsberg helped us figure out harmonies but after that, it was all about practice.
Emily (‘27) - I already knew the song pretty well, but I did work on it a lot so that it could be my best performance. I practiced with Mr. Ginsburg during some of my study halls, and at my house when I had free time.
Tara (‘27) - To prepare, I met with Mr. Ginsberg weekly, and we would spend over half an hour working out the personal touches I wanted to add to the song. I worked on the stamina I needed to sing a five-and-a-half-minute song!
Can you describe how performing on stage in front of family and friends felt? 🎙️
Andrea (‘24) - It felt very full circle and honestly very emotional. I didn’t expect to get choked up, but the song was so parallel to my own life that I just couldn’t help it. As a whole, I felt reminiscent, optimistic, and so very thankful.
Logan (‘24) - It was nerve wracking but really fun! I'd do another performance if given the chance.
Colette (‘25) - "Three Friends" is a fun song to perform, but it was even more fun performing it with two of my very good friends, adding poses and choreography to the mix. It did fly by; it was shortened due to the changes, but once I was up there, I was so in the zone with Zoë and Megan that it was over before I realized it!
Isabella (‘25) - My nerves definitely shot up! However, I always try to remember a quote: "Singing should always be fun," which I try to remember every time I sing! I had a lot of fun and enjoyed performing this song, and one of my favorite parts of this song was singing after I fake-fainted!
Corynne (‘25) - It felt cool to show people what I have been working on!
Ceci (‘26) - Mia and I were both nervous and awkward, but we had a lot of fun!!
Allison (‘26) - Performing in front of others will never not be terrifying, but because I was singing with my friends, I felt confident and comfortable. I'm happy we decided to perform in Cabaret!
Emily (‘27) - I loved the experience of performing in front of my family and friends because I had put a lot of practice into it, and I was so glad they got to see me achieve it. I’ve always loved singing and performing for people so this was an experience I enjoyed!
Tara (‘27) - Cabaret was a very different performing experience than I have had. I wanted to make my song feel personal to everyone in the crowd. I let the song’s emotion fill me up and in doing so, I hoped that the audience would be able to feel how much I meant every word I sang.