Coronado High School senior Angela Ahern may be playing a German entertainer in Cabaret, but she’s a Coronado girl through and through. She was even one of the last babies born at the Coronado Hospital.
The acting bug caught her early and she began acting at age 7. She joined the Coronado School of the Arts (CoSA) as a freshman. Next year she’s off to Boston University to study mechanical engineering. For her last CoSA role she’s playing the Master of Ceremonies at the Kit Kat Klub, a part usually played by a man.
“I don’t know of any other productions with this gender swap,” she said. “I gave the role some gender fluidity, which is awesome and fun. Then I added more of a female seductress to it, making it a tad more daring and a little unstable. I wanted my MC to stand apart. I wanted to make it my own.
Find out what's happening in Coronadofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The MC is the character that transports audience members to a nightclub in Berlin in the 1920s and assures them that, whatever their troubles, they will forget them at the club. Here in this fascinating time and place, the audience joins Cliff Bradshaw, a young, impoverished American writer; Sally Bowles, a pretty English girl; Ernst Ludwig, a shady Berliner; and other memorable characters as they stand on the edge of impending trouble.
“I like that in this politically challenged time, it shows how if you de-humanize an entire population, that’s when genocide is allowed to occur,” she explained. “These characters are not meant to be relatable. They’re outlandish and that’s what makes it fun.”
Find out what's happening in Coronadofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Also adding to the fun is the catchy score by Kander and Ebb, which includes “Wilkommen,” “Don’t Tell Mama,” “Cabaret” and “Tomorrow Belongs to Me.”
“It’s an amazing score, great choreography and it’s visually stunning,” she said of the production. “It’s also a conversation piece that will open people’s minds. That’s why they have to come.”
Cabaret will be presented at the Coronado Performing Arts Center at 650 D Ave. Friday, May 5; and Saturday, May 6. Tickets range in price from $6 to $18 and are available at cabaretcosa.eventbrite.com. Be advised that the show contains adult themes.