- Detroit Public Theater's Holiday Cabaret is back by popular demand.

The seasonal celebration is becoming a holiday tradition, here in Detroit.

The theater describes it as a production filled with music, laughter, and a whole lot of sass.

Here to tell us more is one of the performers, Lulu Fall.

Welcome to American Black Journal.

- Thank you for having me.

- I love that description, music, laughter, and a lot of sass.

- A lot of sass.

Yes.

- So tell us about this year's cabaret.

- So my first time attending Holiday Cabaret was two years ago, and I believe this is their third year doing it.

So I'm happy to hear that it's backed by popular demand and Holiday Cabaret this year, it's going to feature five performers.

What I love about this particular holiday performance is that this performance, it's geared towards the personal style of each of us as individuals.

- [Stephen] Oh, wow.

- Yeah.

So it's definitely scripted to a certain degree because the last thing that you want is for me to go on stage without a script.

(laughs) - That doesn't work?

- But it's scripted to some degree.

But for the most part, there's a lot of individuality that is weaved into the style and the performance.

So it's a very individualized experience.

- So for you, what does that mean?

- That means that there's gonna be a lot of sarcasm, coming from me.

- Is that right?

Okay.

- Yeah, yeah.

Sarcasm with love.

- Yeah.

- With love, of course.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- But the holiday aspect of it, how does that come into play?

- I think that that's a great question.

And I actually was thinking about this a lot this morning.

One thing, in my opinion, that sets Detroit Public Theater's Holiday Cabaret apart from just the average holiday performance or experience, is that for the most part, a lot of these holiday productions are, essentially, unified in one singular emotion, joy, or peace, et cetera, which are all very important things.

But in actuality, not everyone experiences joy and peace when it comes to the holidays.

- Yeah.

- And so what I love about this particular production is that it kind of runs the gamut of emotions, while also providing generally an uplifting and sassy experience.

- [Stephen Yeah.

So that range of emotions, talk about some of the others that kind of get acknowledgement here.

- Yeah, so personally, again, I tend to approach the holidays in a very sarcastic manner.

I am not a Grinch by any means, but I am not necessarily the biggest holiday person.

So I tend to tack on the sarcasm, because that is what makes me feel cozy.

- [Stephen] You feel, right?

- Yeah.

And then there's definitely another cast member who is a walking Christmas tree.

She just loves absolutely all things related to the holidays.

And then, you know, on the opposite end of the spectrum, you have folks who approach the holidays in a saddened, lonely manner.

- [Stephen] It could be an anxious time.

- Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Especially with us, you know, coming out of COVID over these past few years.

- Yeah.

- So I love that.

Detroit Public Theater, they're able to kind of shake up the snow globe, in a sense, by weaving this beautiful experience that runs the gamut of emotions, - Yeah.

- But without particularly dampening the experience.

If anything, it makes it that much more real because everyone, every household, every individual has their own experience.

- Has their own experience.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

And that's what makes it real.

And I believe that that is probably one of the major reasons why Holiday Cabaret is back by popular demand.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

How does this kind of work fit into your work?

I mean, cabarets are not the most popular things around.

I mean, they kind of come and go, but I mean, they certainly had a bigger time in the past, I think than they do now, but how does that feel as a performer to be part of something like this?

- Again, a great question.

Well, I am a singer, songwriter.

I am a Broadway and TV actor, and I'm also the executive director of Cabaret 313 which is a 13-year-old nonprofit here in Detroit.

So it is a huge part of what I do from the executive director standpoint.

I essentially run a nonprofit, - Right.

- That is all about just educating the masses when it comes to the intimate art form and style of cabaret, - Yeah.

- That it doesn't, necessarily have to be, you know, music of the 40s and 50s.

It's all about creating that personalized connection between the artist and the audience through song and through storytelling.

- Yeah.

- Now, on the flip side, as a performer, as a singer, songwriter and actor, that's what I do on stage, is I make sure that I provide some sense of connectivity between my character in the audience, between myself and the audience, and the music that I perform, and the stories that I tell within the music and outside of the music.

So it's a huge part of what I do.

- Yeah.

You know, I'm not sure that if you're in the audience for a cabaret, that you're always aware of the personal, I guess, investment and shaping, really, that is going on with the performers, right?

- Yeah.

- And I'm speaking about myself, I think you sit there thinking, this is a performance, like any other performance on stage.

It was scripted somehow, someone else wrote this.

- Special.

- But I mean, it certainly sounds like, there's a lot more personal, again, investment in how you do this, and what you do in these performances.

- Yeah, for sure.

And that's the beauty of it.

And that's, again, what I believe is one of the major driving forces in Holiday Cabaret being back by popular demand, is the fact that, you know, from the audience perspective, it's fun.

It evokes all of these, you know, emotions and experiences, but it also touches you very deeply because of that real aspect in there.

And as a multidisciplinary artist, I believe that the most profound artists out there, they are the ones who are able to kind of cut through, - Yeah.

- And pierce the hearts and souls of audience members and viewers, particularly because there's always going to be some sense, some ounce of truth from the artist into the piece.

And I think that's what we do as artists.

That's part of our duties.

- Wow.

Wow.

I would imagine there's a lot of energy that you get from the other performers, and what they're doing and what they're putting into their performances, right?

Because it is so personal.

- Absolutely.

Absolutely.

- It's probably a little different from a play or an opera, or some other kind of performance.

- Yeah.

It is a little bit different.

- Yeah.

- But I will say, what ties all of these different types of artistic experiences together is that there has to be a sense of trust on stage.

You know, what's in my opinion and in my experience, what's the most palpable is, the things that are unseen, the things that are not said out loud.

- Yeah.

- It's that energy, that symbiotic energy that you have to have with your castmates.

And that is where that magic tends to form.

- Yeah, yeah.

Well, congratulations on the work and thanks for joining us on "American Black Journal."

- Thank you for having me.

- Yeah.