Spotlight On: Marty Kluger
Connecticut Theatre Company’s “Spotlight On…” series continues with a look into our talented cast and crew of Cabaret. Get to know Marty Kluger who is portraying Herr Schultz!
Introduce Yourself to Our Audience:
Marty Kluger (Herr Schultz) is known to local theatre goers for his recent roles in A Christmas Carol (CT Theatre Co.), Beauty and The Beast (Little Theatre of Manchester) and Climb Every Mountain (Madison Lyric Stage). He also performs as a classical musician (timpanist) with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and before acting on stage, was a biologist at Yale School of Medicine (now retired). Marty resides in South Glastonbury with his wife, Miriam who deserves much credit for their three grown children and for helping him learn lines for this entertaining, thought-provoking production of Cabaret.
Why did you want to be involved in this production?
To act is to live a different life, an opportunity to experience a magical world created by musical theatre. This production, in addition to being decadently entertaining, reminds us of a lesson much relevant to America today.
How do you prepare for a new role or character, and what techniques do you use?
Acting is largely reacting, so I try understanding how my character fits into the circumstances and development of the story and by relating my role to lines and actions of other characters. I search for the unspoken motivation engendering a line (subtext) as I learn my lines, and when present on stage, try embodying my character physically and in real time, that is, spontaneously with an attention that is both focused and flexible.
What do you love about your character?
Genial, generous Herr Schultz views his world of late 1920s Berlin through a lens that filters out all bad intentions. Naïve, even oblivious to the pending rise of Nazi hatred to Jews, he simply wants to share fruit and Schnapps with everyone he meets.
What challenges did you face bringing the script to life?
As one who understands the history leading up to World War II and how dehumanization is (still) used for political purpose, I am less inclined than Herr Schultz to passively ignore a doctrine of exclusivity based on ethnic categories.
Who do you look up to (as an actor/director/etc.)?
I admire film Director James Cameron (The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Titanic, Avatar). He wrote, “…I see our potential destruction and the potential salvation as human beings coming from technology and how we use it, how we master it and how we prevent it from mastering us.”
What’s the last thing you do before you step out on stage / the curtain goes up?
Close my eyes, clear my thoughts, breathe in, breathe out, smile from ear to ear and take a big step forward.
What is your favorite film or theater production and why?
That’s hard because I have favorites that fall into different categories. OK, if I must choose, then it’s the musical West Side Story for witty lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, jazzy music by Leonard Bernstein and an immortal love story (update of Romeo and Juliet) delivered by Jerome Robbins and Arthur Laurents.
Cabaret opens July 19th and runs through August 4th at Connecticut Theatre Company. Tickets on sale now!
“A stunning musical… this marionette’s-eye view of a time and place in our lives that was brassy, wanton, carefree and doomed to crumble is brilliantly conceived.”– Walter Kerr, The New York Times
“Stunning… a masterpiece of musical theater penned as a cautionary tale and not at all leavened by the embrace of paradox.” – Chris Jones, The Chicago Tribune