Hit Broadway musical this weekend at Lopez High School

“Cabaret,” the 1966 hit Broadway musical that spawned a 1972 film and numerous subsequent productions, comes to the Lopez High School stage this weekend.

Set in 1931 Berlin as the Nazis are rising to power, “Cabaret” focuses on nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub and revolves around the 19-year-old English cabaret performer Sally Bowles and her relationship with the young American writer Cliff Bradshaw. It is the third major musical production at Lopez for theater director Gloria V. Benavides.

“’Cabaret’ is kind of our theater department’s pinnacle moment,” Benavides said. “It’s taken us 2½ years to get to where we are now. ‘Chicago’ was a big hit last year. We made a little money and we’ve reinvested that back into our show. This is our largest-scale production to date.”

Many of the performers in the show have worked together since their sophomore year, Benavides said. “The company has matured; the theater department has come of age.”

Selene Aguilera plays Sally Bowles and Edward Naranjo plays Cliff Bradshaw, while Jaime Menchaca is the emcee for the evening and a major presence.

Benavides said the audience probably will recognize the plot and the players from the movie, which starred Liza Minelli as Sally Bowles and Joel Gray as the emcee.

“It’s heavy stuff,” she said of the performance level required, but added, “I am confident in my students’ preparation.”

Benavides said the cast for the musical totals about 40 kids, but that doesn’t count the students in the orchestra, the technical team, art crew and sound and video crews. Practically the whole school is involved in some way, she said.

Lopez Principal Dahlia Aguilar said she has caught a few rehearsals of “Cabaret,” which she characterized as “out of the ordinary for a high school production. People are not going to be disappointed.”

Lopez, the Brownsville Independent School District’s magnet school for the fine arts, is using “Cabaret” as a showcase and a recruiting tool of sorts for the programs the school has to offer, Aguilera said.

Performances are at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with a matinee at 4 p.m. on Sunday at the Lopez High School auditorium, 3205 South Dakota Ave. Tickets are $8.