The most intriguing aspect of Cabaret is that the action is yanked in and out of the Kit-Kat Club at a moment’s notice. Scantily clad, make-up-smeared Kit-Kat boys and girls greet you at the door with flirtation and remain present throughout the show. At first, this ensemble is cheeky fun with each Fosse-inspired step. With a young, intimidating Nazi (played with stoic fierceness by Remy Sisk) monitoring the audience during intermission, accompanied by searchlights during the Entr’acte, the audience is forced to identify with the characters, and that reality is too hard to ignore.

When The Emcee appears outside of the club, moments set just outside of reality, Wallen rips the rage away and we see that it’s a cover for the helplessness of absolute despair. As director, Drury rightly has enough faith in Wallen’s performance to let those reality-adjacent moments hang and linger, with Wallen often serving as a silent focal point for entire scenes.

“Cabaret” is a massively complex play filled with verbal, visual and musical details that yield startling epiphanies. Producer/Director Michael J. Drury harnesses all those details to unleash a fast-moving narrative of shattering power. Pandora has an extensive track record of successfully tackling major works. But even against that backdrop, this “Cabaret” stands out as special artistic achievement at an important moment.