Purely accidental : the stories of Kander and Ebb
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Abstract
Cabaret is a form of performance art in which the performer creates the evening's entertainment. It is unlike a musical in that it does not focus on a single story line or narrative. Instead, a thread of personal anecdotes is woven through the chosen material to connect songs and make a coherent and entertaining performance. It is a free form of art, where the performer can choose to include any music in her show. A song can be changed to mean whatever it is the artist chooses, altered to better suit the artist's performance. The only rule in cabaret is that there are no rules. In this cabaret, I focus on the works of an infamous Broadway duo: composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb. I use some of their lesser-known material to narrate my personal transition from high school to college, and the shift in values that takes place during a big life change. Included in the submitted materials is a DVD video and a program from my performance, a typed version of the patter for the show (the bits of monologue between songs), copies of the sheet music I selected and arranged, and preliminary research notes to show the creative process of putting together a cabaret.