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Life is a Cabaret for Queer as Folk star who steps into iconic musical role

Like a best selling novel or a hit song, some musicals are enduring and hold up well beyond the period in which they were created. Such is the destiny of Cabaret. The Broadway show became a hit in 1966 (and an Oscar-winning movie starring Liza Minnelli six years later). Set in the late 1920s as the Third Reich gains power in Germany, Cabaret has enjoyed numerous revivals over the decades with its latest inception landing at the Hobby Center tonight through Sunday (March 27).

Randy Harrison stars as The Emcee — a role that earned Joel Grey an Oscar and helped make Tony-Award-winning actor Alan Cumming (currently Eli Gold in The Good Wife) a star. “I have enormous respect for both performers,” says Harrison. “I grew up watching Joel Grey's Emcee in the film version of Cabaret and I saw Alan Cumming do this production twice. It's an honor to step into a role so many incredible performs have embodied. “

Set in a sleazy Berlin nightclub, the musical tells the story of a young performer’s budding romance with an American writer as the Nazis rise to power.

Harrison explains what keeps the show relevant. “It asks one of the most important questions of the 20th century, namely how did a civilized society allow the genocide of 11 million people? It's relevant whenever bigotry and hatred enter political discourse.”

Harrison, who spent five years playing Justin Taylor on TV hit Queer as Folk has been a hot commodity on the theater circuit since the show ended in 2005.

“The biggest joy about being on stage is that as the actor you are the final mediator between the story and the audience…in film and television, the actor does their job and many other artists sculpt their performance and put together the story out of the raw material the actor has given,” Harrison explains. “It's much more empowering to be on stage. “

He says playing the Emcee has provided him with some unique opportunities as an actor. “This is the first role I've had a chance to improvise portions and also directly interact with the audience. It's been incredibly liberating.“

Harrison passionately summarized Cabaret’s appeal as stemming from its many layers. “It's simultaneously a wonderfully entertaining, glitzy fun musical and a smart sophisticated challenging show. I feel like very few pieces of theater strike that balance as perfectly as Cabaret.”

You can enter the world of the Cabaret Kit Kat Klub at The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts from March 22 through 27.

The Kit Kat Club Band is an instrumental part of Cabaret.

Photo by Joan Marcus

The Kit Kat Club Band is an instrumental part of Cabaret.

theater

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Musical theater veteran joins prominent Houston company

Courtesy of Stages

Stages has named Valerie Rachelle as its new associate artist director.

A Houston theater company is adding an accomplished artist to its ranks. Stages announced that Valerie Rachelle will be the company’s new associate artistic director beginning in January 2026.

For more than a decade, Rachelle has been artistic director of the Oregon Cabaret Theatre in Ashland, Oregon, where she oversaw artistic vision and operations. That theater specializes in musical theater performances offered in a cabaret setting.

Rachelle comes to Houston with a career spanning nearly 30 years as a director and choreographer. She has extensive experience in developing new musicals and plays for regional theaters and opera companies across the United States, including the Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, and Sierra Repertory Theatre. She was appointed to her position at Stages following a nationwide search.

“I’m beyond thankful for this opportunity to join this incredible company, and I’m excited to be a part of a creative entity that has a strong mission and vision as Stages,” Rachelle said in a statement.

In her role with Stages, she will support artistic director Derek Charles Livingston with season planning and casting; liaise with artists, press, and staff; and coordinate day-to-day operations for the artistic department. She will also assist with crafting educational materials, direct and choreograph productions, and serve as the primary liaison with theatrical unions.

“We are thrilled to welcome Valerie to Stages in this role,” said Livingston. “I have seen her work as a director and director choreographer — she's excellent. Those skills combined with her experience as a theatre artistic director and manager only further fortify Stages' commitment to artistic excellence and community engagement.”

Born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, Rachelle began her career as a dancer and apprentice ballerina with the Eugene Ballet Company before earning her BFA in acting from California Institute of the Arts. She received her MFA in Directing from the University of California, Irvine. She has held teaching and directing positions at numerous institutions, including the University of Southern California, Southern Oregon University, Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, and others. She has also served as a mentor through Statera Arts, an organization dedicated to gender equity in the arts.

Rachelle teaches musical theater, auditioning, and singing at Southern Oregon University when she isn’t on the road as a freelance director and choreographer. She’s also a classically trained singer and toured the world with her parents and their illusionist show as a child.

“Joining the team that has a long-standing reputation of excellence in theater is an honor,” Rachelle added.

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