Dodge (Ragtime) directs and choreographs the Tony Award-winning musical that plays Cincinnati through Nov. 16. This production played the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis earlier this season.
Dodge's vision for Cabaret includes casting African American performer Graham in the central role of the mysterious Emcee. "Yes, our story is centered on the German-Jewish-Nazi conflict, but the person who invites the audience into this story; the one who breaks the fourth wall and comments on the action; the one who satirizes the plight of Sally Bowles and her unlikely suitor, Cliff; the one who portends to know the outcome, is the Emcee," she said in a statement. "What an exciting opportunity to add another layer to this story in a way that makes it even more provocative in its telling in the year 2013."
Graham, who was recently seen Off-Broadway in Hit the Wall and in the Broadway production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, leads a cast that includes Liz Pearce (Sense & Sensibility) as Sally Bowles and Hunter Ryan Herdlicka (A Little Night Music) as Cliff.
The cast of Cabaret also includes Blake Ellis as Ernst, Michael Marotta as Herr Schultz, Mary Gordon Murray as Fraulein Schneider, Dana Winkle as Fraulein Kost, and Bradley Benjamin, Blake Clendenin, Carl Draper, Timothy Hughes, Jolina Javier, Dennis Kenney, Sean Maddox and Angelica Richie.
Cabaret has set design by Michael Schweikardt, costume design by Angela Wendt, lighting design by John Lasiter and sound design by Acme Sound Partners. Cabaret features a book by Joe Masteroff, based on the John Van Druten play "I Am a Camera" and the original stories by Christopher Isherwood. John Kander and Fred Ebb penned the Tony-Award winning score to the musical that features such hits as "Willkommen," "So What," "Don't Tell Mama" and the title song.
For tickets phone (513) 421-3888 or visit cincyplay.com.