Touching, groping and gyrating bodies will slink across Schwab stage tonight.

But these performers, (un?)dressed in little more than undergarments, aren't part of a strip or freak show. They're just recreating history as accurately as possible.

The Penn State Thespians' rendition of the risqué and occasionally raunchy musical Cabaret will be shown at 8 p.m. tonight through Saturday.

Set in Holocaust-ridden 1930 Berlin, Cabaret follows Sally Bowles, a singer at the seedy Kit Kat Klub, as she shacks up with American writer Cliff Bradshaw.

Interspersed throughout their tumultuous affair are Chicago-esque Kit Kat numbers, which provide both commentary on the effects of Nazism and raised eyebrows from the audience.

Cabaret, then, is a mix of two worlds: the rise of Hitler's regime coupled with racy and ridiculously entertaining Kit Kat numbers.

Director and choreographer Brian Williamson said the Kit Kat girls and boys serve as extreme representations of all the things that were wrong in society in that era--like the fascination with perversion.

"So we're not just putting these raunchy numbers on stage just for shock value," he said. "We have free license to do that because that's what these clubs were like in the '30s."

Entertainment back then "wasn't like going to see a Broadway or Vegas show, where you have beautiful showgirls with beautiful costumes. In the '30s, they were prostitutes," Williamson added.

As the Emcee, Kevin O'Leary (freshman-theatre) splits his stage time between being a sort of navigator for the show and performing with the Kit Kat dancers.

"The costumes of the people who dance in the Kit Kat Klub are all pretty crappy because I think they're supposed to be whores," he said. "So they're dirty. And I think the design for people's faces is supposed to be your typical crack addict."

O'Leary's costume, too, is a little skimpier than what he's used to wearing.

"I wear these pants that are cut up to like my butt almost," he said, "and then there's suspenders and nothing else. That's one reason why I was excited to do this--I needed to expand my horizons. And this is quite the opportunity."

A standard Thespians show, Cabaret sure is not.

In "Two Ladies," for example, a pair of Kit Kat dancers and the Emcee sing about the three sharing a bed--and "liking it." Compare this to previous Thespian shows such as, say, Fame.

Prostitution and near-nudity aside, Cabaret's powerful sociopolitical commentary also distinguishes it from the jumble of other Thespian musicals.

"This [show] has a lot to say politically," said female chorus member Liza Poor (senior-theatre). "Especially with what's going on now, what's going on in America. It's a lot darker than most of the shows we do. We were ready for a change."

So was first-time Thespian director Williamson, who recently returned from performing professionally in New York and was itching to direct and choreograph.

Throw in the fact that Bob Fosse had choreographed the show's movie version, and Williamson was sold--nevermind the hour-and-a-half drive from Evansville that it took him to make every rehearsal.

Williamson's passion fuels the "already amazing" score, said Regina Brannen, Cabaret's Sally. The songs are just "too darn good" to pick a favorite, she added.

"I love them all," Brannen said. "Honestly, I have never done anything like this before, and I've been performing for 15 years now."