Yale Cabaret is NOT the same as Yale Rep. Yale Cabaret is more for encouraging experimentation and innovation in Yale drama students and connected groups/communities. I love their values: cultivating love as action, nurturing artistic, spiritual, and communal growth, and engaging the community to expand their boundaries and learn new skills. I attended their holiday show and dinner, By the Hearth, a bit of holiday variety show. Some people sang songs. Some people did comedy. One performer did a poignant soliloquy about losing his dad and his love of Phantom of the Opera. I really enjoyed the skit/songs featuring the two kids who were told there was no Santa. You can tell these students (some are grad students in their 30s, so don't assume these are all young college kids) are funny and talented. Even though every skit didn't land with me, I really felt the community there, and it felt like a safe place to be. I had the dinner as well. They had some basic dishes--braised beef roast (they were out, bummer), roasted garlic parm cabbage wedge with mashed potatoes, and smothered pork chop. They also have starters, such as grilled octopus, French onion soup, and mushroom toast. The mushroom toast was very good, I ate it all! They also have dessert and wines/beers/cocktails. You can order a prix fixe for a bargain as well. Dinner starts at 6:30 PM for the 8 PM show and they take orders until 7:20 PM. There are six (?) tables up front and three tall tables in the back. I started at the tall table in the back, as I arrived a little later, and it was fine, but the two rows of seats in front of those tables were also high chairs, so before the show started, I moved to the front row. I also want to say the servers and the manager was super nice and accommodating. And I loved that the actors/performers and staff were all diverse from all walks of life. Again, I enjoyed the show. It was fantastic seeing original material and you never knew what to expect from one minute to the next, and you could tell they were having fun. I compare this group to like Second City or The Groundlings. At the very end of the show, I was getting my coat and bag together to leave and I dropped my wine glass (from my wine ordered at dinner) and it shattered everywhere. One of the actors yelled, "mazel tov" and it became a natural moment in the show. They marched off the stage and the glass was cleaned up. Before the show, I told the manager that I've been to tons of shows, including some of the biggest Broadway productions, but I often find "the shows in basement are the best time." That ending mazel tov cemented my opinion about this place. Thank you, Yale Cab. read more

See all

Quality theater and a sexy intimate vibe for a $10 ticket? Even if you throw in some of the wine on offer, we're still talking seduction on the cheap. Sure, I'm not slinky enough to pull it off, but it could certainly work in theory. I've been to two shows at the Yale Cabaret, and have enjoyed myself thoroughly both times. The quality of the acting is top-notch, even at what could be an uncomfortably close distance. The space is tiny, with very limited seating, so booking tickets in advance is fairly important. The sacrifice in convenience is repaid many times over by the cozy atmosphere. There isn't a lot of fancy decor to speak of, but with the soft lights and the little round tables with high chairs, you can almost hear the air tinkle with glass and jazz and other pleasant things. The shows themselves were entertaining, though I'll admit that the odds of finding a stellar script are higher at more established, less student-run places like the Rep. The shows do seem to be shorter, which is often a plus, and really, the experience is worth your time. The venue inspires love, and that's hard to beat. read more

What a gem. Experiencing the Cabaret is not to be missed if you live even remotely near New Haven. Pair talented (and up and coming) actors, actresses, and producers studying at Yale's renowned School of Drama with thought provoking and engaging plot lines, and you have a totally captivating night at the theater. I've been twice - one night they play was a a serious existential piece about a Chinese prisoner and another night the play was a comedic take on caring for the elderly. Whatever the mood of the plays, the themes are deep and resonant. I've been to the Rep, and it honestly wasn't my thing. I love the Cabaret's experimental stages, audience engagement, and intimate vibe. Not to mention that they serve drinks and a fun menu to match the theme of the night's play. So much fun and such a unique experience! I plan to go over and over again during the two short years that I'm in the area. read more

i saw the play Kaspar down here and it was darn good. i don't usually watch plays or what not but i enjoyed it. excellent service. the actor got naked as well, which was fun. A couple old guys and gals were sleeping through the play, so nbd if you get a little tired. It's all gravy in the name of THEATRE!~!~!~!!~! read more

A great black box theater with interesting shows, great acting, and a really nice atmosphere. We've been to several shows, including the Summer Cabaret, and we love the fact that the actors are right there, never more than fifteen feet away (and occasionally you get grabbed by one, mistaken for a long lost father by an overly enthusiastic narrator!). We love the shows which are often experimental and mix genres. We love the cast who are extremely talented. We love the friendliness and intimacy of the space and the people working there. And we love that you can have a glass of wine before the show starts! And the summer cabaret often features workshops or discussions or some kind of activity before or after the show, adding to the whole experience. We loved the Shakespeare. The only thing I don't like is that the shows often run for one week, so you can't always get to every show you want to see. Overall great place to see something unusual and support student theater! read more

Hit or miss? I must have hit it on a miss night. I was in town visiting family and we thought it seemed like a great idea. The acting was great. Costumes good. Staging good - once you get over the feeling that you're in the production because you're sitting so close. Can't judge the food since we didn't partake of that option. But the storyline? Oh, the storyline. I'll save you the windy description and leave it at cliche and predictable, to say the least. Or perhapsI had exceedingly high expectations from the MFA students that wrote it, considering some of the alums of this program. Unfortunately, I probably won't have the opportunity to try again for a "hit" night since family is probably moving from the area next year. read more

i friggin looooooooooooooooooooooooooove the yale cabaret. i want to write sonnets to the yale cabaret. i want yale cabaret to be my BFF. ok, let me break this down to you in list-form, mostly so that i don't overwhelm myself with ridiculously incoherent run-on sentences expressing my love ***** - a common opinion is that the cabaret has hit or miss shows. i will agree with this one. HOWEVER.... - the atmosphere of the cabaret is always a HIT and more than makes up for any potential "miss" shows. it's a tiny, super cozy and dim setting, which serves food, and most of the time the play is performed within an arm's length from you. to me, that alone makes a great experience. - the food, of course, gets its own bullet point. they do dindin at 8:30 shows, and light snacks at the 11:00 show. the food isn't bad, well-priced, and makes the theatre experience so much more enjoyable. i often share a bottle of wine (usually the malbec... for $18 - not bad) with my cabaret-mate, along with an appetizer or dessert. i absolutely adore being able to sip on a glass of wine, as i laugh uproariously during the cabaret. keep in mind the laughing and the sipping are intermittent, lest i make a big, loud wine-y mess out of myself. - i have developed quite a few anonymous, secret platonic crushes on some of the actors (not so secret anymore though...), who are all so great. - i have seen some pretty great HITs this past year, namely "the last five years" and "in the cypher." OH. MY. Friggin. GoodNESS. simply amazing. - for the logistics... shows almost weekly during the season. thursday 8:30pm, friday 8:30pm & 11:00pm, and saturday 8:30pm & 11:00pm. - and for more logistics... tickets $15 general admission, $10 students, $35 10-ticket membership, $60 20-ticket membership. dude, for the minimal cost of $3 you too can delight in the joy that is the yale cabaret, 20 times in one academic year!! well, i only got the 10 ticket membership because i had never been to the cabaret before and didn't khow how much i would friggin love it. but now i know better, and knowing is half the battle (the other half is getting the 20-ticket membership). ***** ok. i think i'm done singing yale cabaret's praises, for now... lookin forward to the summer season, even though there exists a review about it's costly, less fun-ness. hopefully, that was a fluke, because i cannot bear to think of yale cabaret as being unpleasant in any way, shape, or form. read more

The Yale Cabaret is an unmatched gift to those of us in the area. It's like a theater laboratory where we get to see the actors, directors and playwrights experiment in a small, intimate setting. The actors and behind-scene crew who aren't in a particular production are the waiters in the cafe, which is super fun. But really: It's the hushed close-up presence we get to share that is simply priceless, and not available anywhere else in the theater world. It's fascinating to see how the designers/creators reconfigure the tiny dark space for each production. That alone is worth getting there for every production. Be sure to check out the Summer Cabaret: A real treat, especially if there is a core repertory company re-appearing throughout the series. A great way to see these gifted upcoming actors in several challenging and oh-so-different roles. read more

Like all Yale shows, the Summer Cabaret's costume and set design are unbelievably good. The acting is fantastic. But, their lineup for Summer 2005 is painful. No one wants to watch avant garde interpretations of German theatRE in the summertime. No one. Especially when the ticket prices are way inflated above the regular season price, even for students. read more

i have lived in new haven most of my life, had a roommate in the cabaret even, and had not gone till last week. shame on me! i hate to sit still, but everyone in "doctor faustus" was too amazingly captivating for me to even notice time. this is your chance to be a few feet from soon-to-be movie stars! i can not wait to go back. :) read more

The Cabaret is a wonderful treasure - it provides an excellent resource for students wanting to put on a show and an intimate environment. However, the food is really quite disappointing! Portions lacking, strange choices for ingredients (vegetarian shepherd's pie?)... The performances themselves are quite hit or miss (I don't hold that against the Cab). We've seen maybe 10 shows at the Cab and will definitely be getting season tickets next year. read more

Recent productions at the Yale Cabaret have been awful. The shows have been dull and a waste of time. We made reservations well in advance and they had no record of them. The food which we ordered was slow to be served and sometimes was served five minutes before the play began. At least once, the food order was lost. As to the plays, they were often poorly written and only liked by the "darling set"- the theater majors and friends of the actors in the audience. The others in the audience were bemused, confused and bewildered. When you voice your disapproval, you are told, "You just don't understand". I understand because I have seen over 2,000 plays, was an actor and am currently a dramaturg. So, I also know pretentious crap when I see it. The real crime is that the actors at the Yale Cabaret are professional actors who attend the Yale School of Drama. They are first rate but they are wasting the talent and time performing at a basement hovel known as the Yale Cabaret! read more