“A Night of Cabaret” will be held at Willow Ridge, 1788 Madison Ave. Tickets cost $25 per person. Reservation and prepayment is required. Call Willow Ridge at (515) 576-5711 for reservations. Seating is limited.

The doors for Cabaret open at 5:30 p.m. Guests will be seated for dinner at 6:15 p.m. with dinner being served at 6:30 p.m. There will be a three-course meal served consisting of a salad, main course, and dessert prepared by the Iowa Central Community College Culinary Arts students.

Kathleen Schreier, the college’s director of choral activities, said the idea of holding a Cabaret show like this came from a restaurant she had visited a few times while in New York City.

“The restaurant was called Ellen’s Stardust Diner, where they feature aspiring Broadway waiters and waitresses serving food, while singing and dancing at the same time,” Schreier said.

-Submitted photo
Iowa Central Community College students entertain the audience at “A Night of Cabaret” in 2017 at Willow Ridge. Students will reprise the cabaret enterainment form this year on Friday and Saturday at Willow Ridge.

There will be nine Iowa Central students performing, as well as serving the food and clearing the tables.

“It’s a great experience for singers to showcase their talents, and preparing their own performances,” Scherier said. “It is fun to see the creative sides of the students because for this show they have to choose the song and prepare it for themselves, as well as going to sound rehearsal on their own time. This is a great show to teach the students how to be independent in a professional world.”

Audience members can expect to hear a variety of songs throughout the night. There will be tunes from Broadway shows including “The Last 5 Years,” “The Putman County Spelling Bee, and “Into the Woods.”

“There will be a variety of upbeat music for the audience to see and hear, and we may even have a few alums returning for the night to entertain the audience,” Schreier added.

Most of the performers for the shows take private lessons through Karen Morical and have performed in the NATS festival in the fall and spring.

“It is a very relaxed, intimate, friendly and warm atmosphere at Willow Ridge,” Schreier said. “The guests will never know what song will be next, or when the waitstaff will break out into song, which makes for an element of surprise.”

‘A Night of Cabaret’

When: Doors open at 5:30 p.m., seating is at 6:15 and dinner starts at 6:30, Friday and Saturday

Where: Willow Ridge 1788 Madison Ave.

Admission: $25,

reservations required.