Broadway Cabaret, performed on Jan. 15 and 16, was an interesting show with a compilation of snippets from actual Broadway acts put together by vocal teacher Rob Blaney, starring the “Jane Eyre” musical cast and crew.

This show was put on to raise funds for the musical, “Jane Eyre”, and shows the audience a sneak peak of the cast in this upcoming musical. Additional Broadway Cabaret cast members were students from South Lake Middle School, who were included so they could get familiar with the campus.

Blaney arranged what was performed in the Broadway Cabaret ten years ago with his friend, Michael Shackelford. It consisted of three main sections, and the whole performance was approximately fifty-four minutes, with eighty-four musical theater songs. In addition, it was set up in a style where the end of one song was the beginning of the second song.

Broadway star Ivan Rutherford, who lives in Irvine, also performed in Broadway Cabaret along with the students. The final scene of the performance shows the powerful teamwork between Rutherford and the students as they all performed together to create an engrossing closing scene.

“He’s been interacting with the students and is going to talk to them about what it takes to get on Broadway,” Blaney said.

Blaney, junior Nhi Nguyen and senior Andy Mitchell did a great job in accompanying the singers to complement their performance as well; they played tirelessly and continued without taking a break.

Through this experience, Blaney and drama adviser Cassandra Gaona wanted to excite the audience about “Jane Eyre” and just have an enjoyable time performing.

Two students had to step out of the show, as they had other factors that led them to make this decision.

“Sometimes students have to help their families by doing work or have school, so they have to think of their priorities. So for this reason, I think it was necessary for them to step out,” Gaona said.

Despite the difficulties, however, the show went on, and the musical was executed perfectly.

“It was a super fun and creative show to be in! And I’m really sad that it’s over!” said Lauren Neser.