Drury Lane director shares long history with 'Cabaret'

Jim Corti, who is currently directing and choreographing the revival of "Cabaret" at Drury Lane Oak Brook, has a long history with that musical.

"I was playing the emcee in a production of 'Cabaret' at Marriott Lincolnshire (now the Marriott Theatre) in 1987 when I got a phone call from New York," Corti says. The call came from the producers of the 1987 Broadway revival of the musical. They were looking for an actor to take over for Joel Grey as the emcee in that production when the show began to tour the country.

Corti landed the part and spent the better part of the next year in the national tour. "Jim Kander and Fred Ebb added new material," Corti says, "and Hal Prince did the staging."

More than two decades and many, many shows later (including a recent tour with "Urinetown"), Corti's fondness for that tour - and for the show - is still audible in his voice.

"It was kind of a wild ride," Corti says. "There is something about the way the show is built; you don't do the show, the show does you."

It didn't hurt that as a dancer, Corti studied with a teacher who taught Fosse-style dancing. And the famed choreographer/director Bob Fosse directed the original 1966 production (as well as the movie) and is still linked tightly to the spirit of the show.

Corti also worked directly for Fosse in "Dancin'" in the '80s.

Corti's deep connection to Fosse was evident in Drury Lane's well-received revival last season of another show associated with Bob Fosse, "Sweet Charity." Corti directed that show and succeeded in evoking Fosse's spirit while making it his own.

Corti's connection to "Cabaret" runs deeper than his affinity for Fosse. Or his fond memories for a show he appeared in when he was younger. Talk to him for a few minutes and it's clear that he has become obsessed (in a good way) with the musical, the era it describes (Germany in the late '20s and early '30s) and with the book the show is based on, Christopher Isherwood's autobiographical "Berlin Stories."

"I have been doing so much research," Corti says. "There was this incredible energy in Berlin at this time. In some ways it was a beautiful place. But it was also a frightening time. People were actually starving to death. And the inflation. Something like 160 million marks equaled one dollar."

"There was political unrest in the streets," Corti says. "There were soldiers in the streets. There was a lot of denial. Which was why so many people went to the cabarets. I want to communicate that energy and climate in my production."

The play begins in 1929, four years before Hitler came to power. But Corti doesn't see it as a political play. Rather, he views "Berlin Stories" as "an affectionate memoir."

"Berlin was a beautiful place," Corti says. "That's why Isherwood went to Berlin and why he wrote about it. I want to create on stage a beautiful world. Berlin was a beautiful place that met with a horrific tragedy. I want to show that, too."

• Cabaret runs through Oct. 11 at Drury Lane Oak Brook, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace. For tickets, call (630) 530-0111 or visit ticketmaster.com.