MTC is dreaming big with its first show of the season, sending a message of hope and perseverance to audiences.
The Musical Theatre Club is kicking off its 2025-2026 season with its annual Cabaret showcase, directed by junior music therapy major Kaleb Dobbins and sophomore music composition major Nai Brewer. This year’s theme is “Shoot for the Stars: A Showstopping Cabaret,” featuring a variety of songs from musical theatre characters who dared to dream.
“I really want everyone to walk away with a piece of, like, anything that you dream has to start with you, here, first,” Dobbins said.
True to its title, this year’s Cabaret is certainly a showstopper. With songs from hit musicals like “The Greatest Showman,” “Newsies” and “Footloose,” audience members will definitely be singing along in their seats.
“Shoot for the Stars” is also a dance-heavy showcase. Choreographers Stephanie McCandless and Theresa Whitaker have choreographed the show to be just as visually interesting as it is musically captivating. “King of New York” from the Disney musical “Newsies” is just one of the numbers that lets the actors show off their dance moves.
“‘King of New York’ is my favorite number because I really love all the dancing in it,” said Abbey Mohr, a sophomore communication disorders major. “I’ve always wanted to be in ‘Newsies,’ so kind of getting to be able to do that on a smaller scale—it’s so much fun to get to dance in that one.”
However, the production has not been without challenges. With only a month of rehearsals, the cast has had to learn about eight weeks’ worth of material—lines, lyrics, choreography, blocking and quick changes—in only five weeks. But even with such a tight time crunch, Dobbins said everyone on the team was willing to step up and put in their all to finish the show on time.
What is especially rewarding for Dobbins is not just getting to see his vision come to life, but also seeing the cast members come out of their shells and become the dreamers they are portraying.
“It’s literally one of the best casts of Cabaret that I’ve ever been a part of, energy-wise,” Dobbins said.
What makes this year’s Cabaret a little different from past years is how broad the theme is. The past two Cabarets have had fairly narrow themes — Dobbin’s freshman year production featured the nostalgic tunes of Disney, while his sophomore year production took on a more sinister tone in honor of Halloween. This year, MTC was able to pull songs from all different directions.
“The board has really allowed us to take a different direction to more broader things,” Dobbins said. “So we’re not shoehorned into a specific niche.”
For Mohr, the message of “Shoot for the Stars” is so compelling because she sees it reflected in every one of her castmates.
“I know a lot of people have come into this club, and this is their first time doing the show here,” Mohr said. “So kind of being able to see them all put faith in themselves and execute that has kind of led to the theme of the show, which is ‘dream it, believe it.’”
Dobbins hopes that the message will also get through to audiences. In such uncertain times, he said, it is important not to lose hope.
“It was really important to me to tell everybody that it’s okay to dream, and it’s okay to have high hopes,” he said. “It might not happen today, but you still never stop working. It is definitely something that you can achieve.”
“Shoot for the Stars: A Showstopping Cabaret” will show on Friday, Oct. 3, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 4, at 5:30 p.m. in the LSU Digital Media Center. Admission is free.
