A Chicago boy's fixation with Bugsy Malone and a love of everything theatrical is what brought Gilbert and Sullivan's latest director to our shores.

'Cabaret' director Brian Kite studied acting at UCLA and worked in Los Angeles before heading off to Broadway. Once in New York he discovered another love ? directing.

While acting in long running shows he would be called on to rehearse the understudies or to cast new actors into the show whenever the director or the stage manager was away.

"I ended up directing another production of the same show and the next thing I knew, I was a director somehow," he said

He is the artistic director of Buffalo Nights Theatre Company and the associate director of La Mirada for the Performing Arts, which seats 1,250 people.

"I had been working there as a director and in other places around the country and then at some point I decided to go back and get a Masters' degree in Fine Arts for directing ? that made me a smarter director, I guess," Mr. Kite said with a smile.

"Then I started teaching at UCLA, and it is great although it is kind of weird to hear them call me Professor Kite, it's like, 'Are you talking to me?' It has been great to be able to watch new directors coming up and developing their craft and every day that I teach makes me a better director as, teaching often does."

However, running into an old friend is what has brought him to Bermuda.

"The musical director of 'Cabaret', Martin Lowe and I did stuff together almost 20 years ago," said Mr. Kite.

"We haven't seen each other for many years, as he is in London and is a big time musical director for 'Mama Mia', 'Cats', 'Les Miserables' and other things at the Royal National Theatre."

But the pair met up in Los Angeles when Mr. Lowe was on a world tour.

"I asked what he was doing next and he said he was going to Bermuda to do this show. And I asked, 'How come I am not going with you to Bermuda?' and Martin said that they were looking for a director. A couple days later I got an e-mail from them, we started talking, and here I am in Bermuda. "So after 15 or 20 years of not working with Martin, we get to reunite in Bermuda. We have just picked up from where we left off."

The cast of Gilbert and Sullivan Society (G&S) 'Cabaret' is really great, he said.

"I think some good old fashioned G&S actors were chosen along with some new ones who have never done a G&S show before," said Mr. Kite.

"So, I love that sort of mix of the old and the new ? there aren't those pre-existing conditions amongst everyone, they are all really enthusiastic and really hard workers. It's amazing to spend your day in your regular life and then come to rehearsal and put in a good several hours every evening. There is a really strong work ethic here and I am really impressed with it.

"They are fast studies and talented people, so I can't complain about anybody."

'Cabaret' takes place during a time which is often overlooked by filmmakers.

"It takes place in the early 1930s before the Nazi invasion of Germany," Mr. Kite said, "It's a really interesting time to set a play. We have seen a lot of films set once they had come to power, but this was as it was happening. It allows us to really take a look at the choices these people are going to make. Are they going to go along with it? Are they going to fight against it? Are they going to be a part of it? Or are they going to close their eyes to it?

"And that is really what 'Cabaret' is all about in a lot of ways and a lot of the characters struggle with that."

But aside for the war content, he said "you get a lot of singing and dancing, which you can't beat either".

"'Cabaret' was one of the first concept musicals, which helped Harold (Hal) Prince the original director, who wanted to do a musical that was not just a straight musical that didn't just follow a story along ? but rather had these other scenes that were non-linear and didn't necessarily fit into the whole plot.

"We follow the story of four characters, Cliff, Sally, and then Frauline Schneider and Herr Schultz, an older couple ? both German ? one Jewish and one not Jewish. They fall in love, but then they have to figure out what is going to happen.

"Herr Schultz says, 'I am German this is no big deal, this is just politics it will blow over ? not to worry. But Schneider hears that, but she thinks 'I am too old to get caught up in that world'."

The Kit Kat Club and others like it were some of the things the Nazis railed against and there was an attitude of 'look what is happening to Germany, we're hanging around in these clubs were anything goes'.

"But the Kit Kat Club is the place where what's happening is seen most clearly."

"The master of ceremonies at the centre is Keith Maderios and he is going to be great. We also have all these Kit Kat girls around him and they do some kicking and some dancing.

"Fraulein Schneider is being played by Liz Knight, who is new to Gilbert and Sullivan," he said.

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"Herr Schultz is being acted by Kelvin Hastings Smith, and this is a really good role for him ? and there is still some good Kelvin comedy.

"Then we have Rebecca Faulkenberry as Sally Bowles. I think the last show she was in with G&S was when she was 14 or 15. She is one of the recipients of the G&S scholarship to study theatre. Graham Henderson is playing Cliff ? the guy that Sally falls hopelessly in love with."

'Cabaret' is based on Christopher Isherwood's semi-autobiographical Berlin stories, which initially spawned the play 'I am a Camera'.

"In the original story Cliff was based on Isherwood who lived in Germany during this time so a lot of it is semi-autobiographical.

"He met Sally Bowles, although the name has been changed, so we actually get to see it through the eyes of Cliff. In our version he is an American in Germany and Sally is from England so they are both from the outside looking in.

"There is also Ernst Ludwig, who is being played by Burton Mazzone, who is a German and he is our eye into the Nazi world.

"None of them follow the Third Reich or become part of the Nazi Party for what they believe to be evil reasons ? instead it is all for a stronger Germany, because after the First World War the country was in very bad shape and this was a good path to reclaim their greatness, or so everyone thought. Ludwig then befriends Sally and Cliff and that sort of unravels as the play goes along."

Co-ordinating the production has been a bit of a to do with Mr. Kite in LA and other members of the production team in other parts of the world.

"We have our lighting designer from here, and the set designer, costume designer and sound designer are from London so, I am not sure how people used to do it, but now with e-mail and everything we somehow keep it going.

"They send me drawings of costumes. The set designer built a little model of the set in a shoebox size and she then took pictures really close up so for me I just see the picture of the models and I got a really good idea of what the set is going to be like.

"Cleo Petitt, the designer was in London and I was in Los Angeles and Marjorie Stanton was here in Bermuda asking, 'are you two talking?' So, it is great fun and they are very talented people, so organising it is hard, but it seems to be going really smoothly, which is lucky.

"We have Colin (Pink) and he did sound for some other shows and he worked at the National, in London, so hopefully that will help to bring it all together."

They are planning a little twist and the musicians will not be in the pit.

"The band is all a part of the cabaret here," he said, "So we get to take a look right at them, you know, I know they like to nap down in the pit ? take a little snooze sometimes but not on this one ? no joking around, they are going to have to be on their best behaviour."

The set itself does not revolve, but it instead shrinks down towards the back.

"There is a scrim in the back and through there we can see the band," he said.

"The plan right now is to bring the set right down into the audience, and in fact we may put some audience members right up next to the stage at little cocktail tables so that they can get right in there and interact with the show.

"'Cabaret' is really an intimate show, and the audience needs to be right in there with them so, that is why we didn't want to use the pit ? we wanted to build the stage right over it."

So, how did the little boy Brian Kite get into theatre?

"I used to watch the movie 'Bugsy Malone', which starred Scott Baio and Jodie Foster," he said.

"Then my local community theatre was doing a production of 'Bugsy Malone' when I was maybe 13 or 14 years old. I just went to the audition and did it exactly like I had seen it so many times on the video, and I got the part of 'Bugsy Malone'."

After that, he said he was "off and running", and he started doing theatre more in high school.

"I did a lot of sports and I was the guy in the middle to bring the sports world and the theatre world together," Mr. Kite said.

"The jocks would say, 'He does both, and hey this is not bad, going to these shows. There are a lot of attractive girls up there'. So, that got me into it, and then I went to a performing arts summer camp, which was a great place. It was great to be around those types of people ? creative people who are always thinking creative things and who truly want to follow the dreams in their lives.

"It was an exciting place to be where people are thinking big and going after their goals and dreams. I thought, 'That seems pretty good, I'll do that'."

He eventually got into UCLA and that is what brought him to Los Angeles.

"Now there is a whole city of people going after their dreams, which mostly means that if you want to hang around during the day or call someone to go to lunch everybody's available because everyone is pursuing their dreams because no one is doing anything," he said as he laughed.

"It is not exactly true, but it always seems that I can find someone to hang around with. So, that is good."

That brought him to theatre and directing and "a great job", he said ? "if it can take you to some place like Bermuda to direct a show and especially one that I love". "I've had a great time here so far, and it is a great way to come to Bermuda ? I am not here on a cruise ship for two days and I am not here for two weeks at a resort. I have a lot of my days free and not to just go to the beach, but to explore everything that is in my guide book. I can go to every little park, and it has been good to check out Bermuda ? it's been great."

On speaking about non-professional theatre, he said: "I have seen non-professional theatre in other places, and I think that because a lot of money, attention and commitment goes into these productions it makes it a level above what might be amateur dramatics in other places. And for the audiences and the performers you still get the most talented people here and I think it makes for a better show."

He was pleasantly surprised when he saw the auditions.

"I thought it is going to be pretty good," he said.

"It is also exciting to do theatre with people who are doing it for all the right reasons. It is not just to bring home a pay cheque. They are doing it because they love theatre.

"I always feel strongly about theatre being for the community, when there are stories that the audience can relate to and be a part of and make their lives richer.

"Suddenly, I am thinking 'This is as hands on as I can get'. The performers are having the same experience in this case ? they are a part of it to make their lives richer."

'Cabaret' is a great show. It has a lot of history. It is not a dated show; it is always sort of new.

"We are doing our best to reinvent this production in places for today's audience as well. The show was done originally in '66 and then revived in '87,then again in 97, so, it's like every so often someone says this show still means something ? let's do it. I think it keeps it really relevant and exciting, and even if you have seen it before, it might not be the 'Cabaret' you remember."

'Cabaret' tickets are available from City Hall Box Office Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., www.boxoffice.bm and ( bookings 292-2313. Tickets are $35.