‘Cabaret’ to Take the ‘Light’ Out of Light Opera : Theater: Irvine troupe will stress musical’s dark side. Things are serious off-stage, too, as the company faces a make-or-break situation with this production.

There’s no denying “Cabaret’s” dark side. With the rise of Nazism as a backdrop, it hardly can be described as one of those bouncy, giggle-as-you-go musicals.

Certainly, nobody’s laughing at the Irvine Civic Light Opera, which opens its production of “Cabaret” tonight at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. And the tinge of seriousness, even fatalism, reaches beyond the stage.

Still facing economic problems aggravated by its last production, “The Music Man” in September, the ICLO must do well this time out. Indeed, artistic director Dan Trevino said this is probably a make-or-break venture for the 9-year-old troupe.

“If we can’t reach budget on this show, then we’ll probably have to cease,” Trevino said. “We went into a $50,000 deficit with ‘The Music Man’ and have been scrambling ever since. We can’t depend on a miracle. We have to depend on cold hard facts. We need two-thirds of a house every night, or averaging that, to make it.”

Although the big blow came with “The Music Man,” the ICLO actually has been in trouble since last July when its “Pacific Overtures,” though well received by critics, drew scant crowds. The company, founded in 1983 by Trevino, had started its tenure at the Irvine Barclay Theatre in February of last year with a financial success when “Evita” drew near-sellout crowds.

After “Pacific Overtures,” the troupe’s board of directors considered dropping “Cabaret” from the schedule, but anonymous contributions of $20,000 kept the production afloat. Still, the show’s budget had to be scaled back from $100,000, the amount spent on “The Music Man,” to a “bare bones” $58,000, Trevino said.

Without much free cash, Trevino continued, the company has had to depend more on volunteers than it has in the past. And, it needed to build a bargain set instead of renting something more elaborate. However, Trevino said he’s happy with what set designer Wally Huntoon has accomplished.

On the eve of “Cabaret’s” opening weekend, the director was expressing cautious optimism. “I can tell you that we’ve been under a lot of pressure the past three weeks” fine-tuning the show, he said, adding that the company’s financial status “has had an impact. I also think this will be a first-rate production.”

His belief in the quality of “Cabaret” (he calls it “one of the really major musicals” written in the past 30 years) has bolstered his hope that audiences will come to the Irvine theater. Trevino thinks the show is unique in the way it combines serious elements with the usual entertainments of big Broadway musicals.

Based on Christopher Isherwood’s “Berlin Stories” and John van Druten’s play “I Am a Camera,” the show, first produced in 1966, is set primarily in Berlin’s steamiest hot spot, the notorious Kit Kat Club, where chanteuse Sally Bowles and a devilish master of ceremonies preside over the city’s more decadent night-crawlers, most oblivious to the Nazi threat around them.

Because of its historic setting, “Cabaret” has been called dated, but Trevino disagrees. “We think it has a lot to say in the ‘90s. There’s the same economic climate, with all the problems associated with it. And then there’s the racial climate and the intolerance (manifested in the Nazis’ persecution of Jews). There seems to be more intolerance and racism these days. It seems to be growing.”

Trevino said he’ll emphasize the more somber elements. “Ours will not be light. This is a dark version. . . . I think (‘Cabaret’) did break ground in that it tackles more serious issues than in other musicals of its day and has that moody quality. Besides the dark elements, we hope to explore the main characters as fully as possible.”

And what if “Cabaret” fails to bring in the crowds?

Trevino sighed. “I really don’t want to think about the reality of that. I just can’t, not at this point.”

The Irvine Civic Light Opera production of “Cabaret” (music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, book by Joe Masteroff) opens tonight at 8 and continues through July 18 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine. Curtain: Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2. Tickets: $21 to $28. Information: (714) 854-4646 or (714) 740-2000.