I designed the scenery for the musical Cabaret while in my final year at San Jose State University. It won the regional award for The American Theater Festival in 1985, and was on display at the Kennedy Center when I traveled to Washington DC to represent Northern California at the festival. I put all the book scenes of the musical on the stage of the cabaret with cabaret patrons watching – to reinforce the idea that life is indeed a cabaret.

The bar on the left pivoted out and became the train car at the outset of the show complete with luggage rack above. It worked well in a spot and leaves Cliff downstage in the midst of the Kit Kat Klub when the train scene ends. Between the turntable, the patrons, and the choreography, the show flowed quite cinematically.