by Leah Budson
“Home for the holidays” takes on a new meaning in Cabaret Troupe’s “Reasons to Run.”
The show, which goes up Thursday, Jan. 10 through Saturday, Jan. 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium, explores the sense of security of being home and the risks and potential benefits of leaving it, according to junior Juliet Roll, a director of Cabaret Troupe with sophomore Peter Diamond.
An annual Theatre Ink production, Cabaret Troupe’s performance is a contemporary musical theatre cabaret, consisting entirely of music written in the last decade.
The theme of this year’s show is relevant to teenagers’ lives, according to Roll. “A lot of contemporary music theatre centers around young people who are moving on to new and exciting things in their lives, like leaving home,” she said. “These things require them to take risks.”
During her time as a director, Roll said “I’ve loved getting to further explore contemporary musical theatre.”
Roll explained the challenge involved in finding musical theatre pieces written in the last decade: “We used some songs from composers we already knew and liked, but we also did a lot of YouTube surfing and found new music from composers we’d never heard of,” she said. “Because the composers are new and relatively unknown, most of the songs are only available in the form of recorded concerts.”
Junior Danny Thibeault, a member of Cabaret Troupe, explained benefits of the show including more recent music. “Because the show is all contemporary music, I get to hear a lot of good music that I did not know before,” he said.
One song Roll said she is especially excited for is “The Ballad of Sara Berry” from “35MM” by Ryan Scott Oliver, a piece about a girl going to extremes to become prom queen. The song features senior Lexi Dissanayake. “The song is creepy and intense with crazy vocals, which makes it a really fun number,” Roll said.
A second piece she is looking forward to is “The I Love You Song” from “Spelling Bee,”  sung by seniors Sam McCall and Anna Nemetz and sophomore Aiden O’Neal with “an incredibly beautiful three-part harmony,” according to Roll.
O’Neal, who also performed in Cabaret Troupe last year, said that she really enjoys participating in the show “because I love the people in it, as well as the style of music it showcases.”
Her favorite piece in the production is the closing number: “Traffic Island Song” by Sam Carner and Derek Gregor, which the entire cast will perform. “I like it because the harmonies are incredible, and the tune is infectious,” she said. “Everyone in the show really likes it too, so it always has a lot of energy behind it.”
“I am excited for the whole show to come together and to see it as a finished product,” said O’Neal. “I think the best part of any process is seeing all of your work pay off.”