Lakeview actress sings, dances her way into audience's heart

In her latest role, Lakeview actress Britain Gebhardt has enjoyed taking on a part vastly different from who she actually is, but has had her work cut our for her building a complex character with not much to go on.

Gebhardt is one of the Kit Kat Girls in Cowardly Scarecrow Theatre Company’s production of Cabaret. Her character, along with four other performers of various genders, are the singers and dancers who work in the cabaret of Cabaret – the Kit Kat Klub.

“The text does not offer much information about the Kit Kat Girls, so creating a solid backstory and specific intentions can be a bit challenging,” she said.

But the cast’s dedication to character development and the intimacy of the production are why audiences will love this version of Cabaret, Gebhardt said.

“Cabaret has many themes and messages that our audiences still need to hear,” she said. “You will be up close and see Cabaret in a new light.”

Set in 1931 at the seedy Kit Kat Klub in Berlin, Cabaret explores the dark, heady, and tumultuous life of Berlin’s natives and expatriates as Germany slowly yields to the emerging Third Reich. Among the stories that unfold during the musical is that of the young American writer Cliff Bradshaw and his relationship with English cabaret performer Sally Bowles.

Chicago audiences may be familiar with Gebhardt from her work on Kokandy Productions’ Head Over Heels, which just closed, and Chicago Theatre Workshop's Disaster.

When not on stage, Gebhardt enjoys hanging out in her neighborhood of Lakeview and getting out and about in the city at large to sample “all the fun events Chicago has to offer.”

Catch Gebhardt onstage in Cowardly ScarecrowTheatre Company’s production of the Sam Mendes version of Cabaret, running Oct. 5-25, 2019, at Chief O’Neill’s Pub in Chicago's Avondale neighborhood. More information is available at www.cowardlyscarecrow.com.