Meet Director of Bay View's 'Cabaret'

Thirty years ago this weekend, Bay View Academy debuted its first spring musical review -- which has grown into the annual “Manhattan at the Bay” fundraiser for the Riverside school.

For director Christine Kavanaugh, who has lived in Barrington for 36 years, that 30-minute show also marked the birth of her second son. 

“He came six weeks early, about a week before the show,” Kavanaugh said. “They let me bring him with me.” 

There are numerous other memories of all those shows over the year for Kavanaugh – almost way too many to mention.

And who knew? she mused on Wednesday afternoon on the eve of the start of “Tradition: A Tribute to Cabaret 30,” that she would still be directing this show three decades later. 

“There are certain sections of shows and certain people that I remember the most,” she said. “And I have been surrounded by so many talented people who have been so generous with their time and talent.”

Specifically, those people include Diane Gualtieri, her musical director for three decades, and Arlene Vacchelli, her costume designer for the past 25 years, and Cindy LoSasso, her choreographer, and Karen Mellor, his percussionist.

“I couldn’t do it without them,” Kavanaugh said. “And, of course, it’s the kids who make it happen every year. I am always amazed by them. They never cease to amaze me.” 

She also gives a lot of credit to her family.

“My family has never had an April vacation,” she said.

That’s when rehearsals dominate her life and the lives of the cast and technical crew that always number from 125 to 175 students each year.

Kavanaugh said putting on a show of this size and importance to the school – it’s the major fundraiser now, probably started way before 30 years ago.

Her parents were entertainers, she said, and she used to produce a show when she was a child in a garage every Friday afternoon at 3 in the summer, she said. 

“This has really been my life,” she said. “There is not a day in my life that I have not been surrounded by great music. There have been very few days that I have not felt good about being where I am. I can’t imagine doing anything else.” 

Oh, there have been some ups and downs in her life, such as surviving a diagnosis of stage 4 cancer about 10 years ago. It required dozens of chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

“The school allowed me to just produce the cabaret that year,” she said. “I didn’t teach.” 

Kavanaugh also had to make a decision about pursuing a career as an opera singer when she was in her 20s.

“I think I was always a better director than a performer,” she said. “I’ve been better at showing students what they can be.”

The mezzosoprano also said her early roles were not starring ones, and she would not have liked a life on the road.

“I love to be home,” Kavanaugh said. “This is an extension of home for me.”

Kavanaugh has one concern about this weekend’s show, which includes parts of seven different Broadways plays.

“I think it’s a great show, there is a lot in it,” she said. “But it’s longer. I hope it’s not too long.”

And believe it or not, despite being exhausted, she sad, she is already thinking about next year’s show. 

“That always starts about now,” she said. “I’ve got a few ideas."