“The actors are also the musicians in this production of 'Cabaret,'” actor Kendal Hartse said. “Instead of having an orchestra pit the way a lot of musicals do, the ensemble is the orchestra pit. So when I am not singing and dancing ... I am playing violin. ... It’s been really exciting to start to grow as a musician as well as an actor.”

Hartse will play Texas, a member of the Kit Kat Klub. Hartse has played Sally Bowles in past performances and is an understudy in two other roles.

The musical is set in Berlin in 1930 as the Nazis are rising to power. It is based on the nightlife scene at the Kit Kat Klub and follows the young American writer Cliff Bradshaw and his relationship with Cabaret performer Sally Bowles.

Hartse has been been performing since she was 4 years old. She was in her first musical at the age of 8 and had her first professional job during the summer she turned 15. Now 30 years old, she has been performing with this company for a month.

“What is really fun about it is we all have sort of our own personalities and our own little back stories, and our directors really encouraged us to really delve into our own personal histories and the relationships that we have in the context of the show,” Hartse said.

Hartse said her job as an actor is to empathize with people. She said she hopes people will feel that empathy when they come see "Cabaret."

“The way we learn to empathize with people who aren’t like us is by watching their stories,” Hartse said.

Marketing and communications intern for the Wharton Center Emily Seigneurie is a marketing junior at MSU. She said she started working at the Wharton Center her freshman year as an usher.

Seigneurie said theater and shows like "Cabaret" play an important role in our society.

“Theater is an important part of culture because it kind of gives you more of an open mind and it allows you to connect with the world around you through an art form,” Seigneurie said.

Advertising sophomore Jimmy McCormick said he has been performing in theater since the sixth grade and says he thinks "Cabaret" is an appropriate musical for people to see.

“I am very into musical theater and 'Cabaret' is a very thought-provoking musical, which very much appeals to me,” McCormick said. “It has a lot of social issues in it that I think are very relevant no matter the time period.”