The History of Kids Cabaret

A Kids Cab high point; Best Float Award for the 2000 Hingham Independance Day parade.

Click here for an extended history of Kids' Cabaret.

Kids Cabaret was started in the summer of 1989 by Jamie O'Neil and Jay Muldoon, two graduating members of the Hingham High School Drama Club who wanted to share what they had learned with kids in Hingham who had no summer outlet to enjoy theatre. Together they put on a small musical revue called Kids Cabaret, with a cast of about 25 kids, performed at the Old Ship Parish House. Although an outgrowth of the Hingham School System's Drama and Music Department, the organization was founded by local young adults, and to this day remains and independant non-profit organization.

The following year, Michael Kaye and Ema Dassori took over, starting the practice of "handing down" the group in an unbroken self-perpetuating chain of student leaders. Kaye and Dassori decided that the group should keep the name of its first performance, Kids Cabaret, but they wanted to do something more than a musical revue. They purchased a license to do Kids Cabaret's first full length show, selections from, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in including a tribute to Jim Henson using songs from The Muppets. Because of the previous year's success, the cast grew to about 65 and was performed in the Saint Paul's School Hall. 1990 also marked the first year that Kids Cabaret would march with Hingham's 4th of July parade, with splatter-painted pink hats and tricycles behind Kids Cabaret's first float.

Kaye and Dassori stayed on for the 1991 performance. This time, a show was chosen that had recently been on broadway, Once Upon a Matress. The cast grew to just under 90 kids and the show was a hit.

Following Kaye and Dassori's leadership, Kids' Cabaret's growth necessitated movement to a temporary stage in the Hingham High School auditorium. Under various student leaders from 1992 to 1998, Kids' Cabaret produced performances of Barnum, Peter Pan, Oliver, The Wiz, Once on This Island, Bye Bye Birdie, and The Boyfriend. Over this period the average cast size grew to 150.

In 1999, due to renovations at Hingham High School, Kids' Cabaret found its first temporary home, Sanborn Auditorium at Hingham's Town Hall where The King and I was performed. The following year saw a production of Annie at Weymouth Junior High School. To date, it had the largest cast ever, with a chorus of over 180 kids from twelve towns! Notably, Kids Cabaret won the Grand Prize of "Best of Parade" for its "Annie" Float in the Hingham Parade July 4, 2000.

On December 28, 2000, Kids' Cabaret incorporated with the State of Massachusetts. The "Articles of Organization" for the new "corporation" declared that Kids' Cabaret was formed for the non-profit purpose of teaching kids about theatre, dance, and music, and that it would be dedicated to those things for the duration of its existance. In recognition of this charitable purpose, the Internal Revenue Service of the United States declared that Kids' Cabaret was a "501 (c) 3" non-profit organization.

Returning to Hingham High School, this time in the newly renovated auditorium, in 2001, Kids' Cabaret has recently produced productions of JOSEPH and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun, and our 15th anniversay show, Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance.

Throughtout the years, Kids Cabaret has come to stand for alot more than our final product. We are the largest group in the area run by kids, for kids. Our goal for cast and crew alike, is to learn group cooporation, individual responsibility, and to instill a sense of confidence into each person involved. Our overall goal is to have a good time during the summer. We accept everyone who has a desire to be involved, to learn, to work hard, and to have a good time.

Written by Mike Hines.