Jim McMullen says he wants to make Canberra Philharmonic Society's Cabaret

And while it's entertainment, Cabaret is a musical that raises issues - and plenty of them. It's set in the cosmopolitan Berlin in the early 1930s during the last days of the Weimar Republic.

But amid all the hedonism, the menace of the Nazi Party is rising.

Running in parallel is the story of another couple, Sally's landlady, Fraulein Schneider (Ros Engledow) and her Jewish suitor, the grocer Herr Schultz (Ian Croker).

Cabaret was based on the play I Am A Camera which in turn was based on stories by the English author Christopher Isherwood, in particular his recollections of the British performer Jean Ross. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1966 and was a hit, winning eight Tony Awards including best musical. It has been an enduring success, with a major 1998 Broadway revival also winning several Tonys and the 1972 film adaptation winning eight Oscars.

This production takes elements of the original production, the 1998 revival and the movie as well as adding its own ideas, as every interpretation does. The score - much of it influenced by the sound of popular German music in the 1930s - includes numbers such as Wilkommen and the title song.

Roberts says Sally Bowles is one of the most interesting and difficult characters to play in musical theatre: an ambitious but not very talented performer - "that's a bit of a challenge: I'm not going to sing poorly" - who is vulnerable but does her best to hide this and who isn't very good at relationships.

"She's very much under the illusion that the cabaret is everything and can't see past herself."

The world of Cabaret is effectively divided into two parts - inside and outside the Kit Kat Klub - and the latter is presided over by the Emcee (Angel Dolejsi) who acts, McMullen says, as a Greek chorus.

His numbers - and the others in the cabaret - provide a sometimes sardonic commentary on the action taking place in Germany, of both the main characters and society as a whole, mirroring the folly and decadence that is happening.

Dolejsi says, "The reason I'm drawn to it is it's not like there's a quintessential version of the role. It's been done by very well-known actors - Joel Grey, Alan Cumming, Toby Allen - but they all did it very differently."

He sees the Emcee as the narrator and social conscience of the show but as more than just a symbol.

Croker and Engledown have been in the show before, in different roles. He played the Emcee back in the 1980s and she was Sally Bowles. Now they play the older couple in counterpoint to Sally and Clifford.

Croker says Cabaret is "a drama with an underpinning of dark satire - the humour in the piece remains a reflection of the horror".

Schultz, he says, sees the Nazis as merely another passing threat and thinks that as a loyal German he has nothing to fear. "The way he deals with fears is he ignores them. The Nazis are just another phase they'll get through."

Schneider has also endured a lot in life but is more pragmatic in her response. Engledown says, "She's a survivor."

Both actors see Cabaret as much more than just another musical with great songs and fabulous production numbers. They say it's a show with something to say about people burying themselves in hedonism and ignoring the terrible things that are going on around them. That, perhaps, is the ultimate - and all too timely - message of Cabaret.