Performer James Harkness talks about Cabaret ZaZou

Performer James Harkness talks about Cabaret ZaZou

By Tia Carol Jones

On the 14th Floor of the Cambria Hotel is Cabaret Zazou, a show that is unlike anything in Chicago. It recently had its 200th show. James Harkness describes Cabaret ZaZou as a fully expressive feast for the senses. Guests are served a full course dinner, while being entertained by singing, dancing, comedy, as well as top notch Cirque acts.

Guests have enjoyed the show because of its intimacy and its message. They walk out of the show feeling something. That is because Director Dreya Weber wanted the performances to emanate from a place of love. All the performers truly love what they do.

“When you put a group of people together like that, that are not only incredibly professional, but also very passionate about what they do; you have someone at the helm whose message in life is love, it makes this really beautiful space, where yes, it’s highly entertaining for the eyes, for the ears, but also you also walk out feeling something,” he said.

When Cabaret ZaZou opened in 2022, Liv Warfield, who performs with Harkness described it as the most crazy, jaw dropping show she’d ever experienced. She was excited to be apart of it. She called the performances by Frank Ferrante and Harkness “crazy, amazing.”

Harkness wanted to be part of Cabaret ZaZou because of Warfield. They met a few years ago in New York City and became friends throughout the years. Weber offered Harkness the role in Cabaret ZaZou because Warfield told Weber that Harkness is the one who she wanted to sing with in the show. At the time, he was ending his run as Paul Williams in “Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations.”

“Dreya Weber, her heart; talking to her about what she wanted to create. The way that she handled me and took care of me.  Also in talks with the producers of the show, they were so gracious, welcoming and understanding of where I was in my life.  They really wanted to work with me,” Harkness said, adding they were accommodating, which is not something that happens in theatre, unless the person is famous.

At the point where Harkness is in his life as a creative, the family that has been created with Cabaret ZaZou, it is exactly where he needed to be. He couldn’t imagine not taking the role. What Harkness gets to do with Cabaret ZaZou, he wouldn’t get to do in a Broadway show. He added, “in this tent, we all have ownership over our creativity and 90% of what I do in this show is of my creation, under Dreya.”

Weber has been trustworthy with Harkness because she knows the roles he has done before and knows his abilities. She guides him but she lets him do what he wants to do. While with a Broadway show, the goal is to do a repeat performance, with Cabaret ZaZou, the performers have freedom. Harkness called that freedom empowering. It enables the performers to be fully who they are, as a person and as an artist.

Harkness loves what he does and he has learned there is an ownership he has to take over what he does. It means he has a responsibility to the guests who bought tickets to the show, to give them the best show that he knows how, with whatever he has in that moment. All of those things propel him to do what he does.

It’s also powerful for him to see Black guests come to the show and see their faces when he and Warfield are performing, in a space where not too many African-American performers are represented.

Harkness wants people to come to the show and see what it’s all about.

For tickets to Cabaret Zazou, visit https://tinyurl.com/2drrc87u or call 312-488-0900.

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