On Sunday, March 16, 2025, Kaleidoscope Cabaret, an intersectional student musical theater troupe at OU, closed out their last of three shows this semester. This leg of performances, led by senior musical theater major and Kaleidoscope President, Tuger Xiong, centered around the theme of “Our Hidden Truths.”
This set of Kaleidoscope performances use a meta-narrative, navigating the lives of the performers themselves. The performance follows the narrative of Chris Brannon, Crystal Orser and Zena Kissinger as Kaleidoscope Vice President DeDe Gibson instructs them to reflect on not only their own experiences but learn more about the backgrounds of other members.
The musical numbers of Kaleidoscope’s performance are taken from various songs, films and musicals that have multicultural themes or identity. Almost all of the tracks are backed by live instrumentation, which adds to the DIY-atmosphere of the show.
The main three go forth with their task of mutual understanding and peer into the lives of the other members — who each play a part in their own performance.
The first true solo-number, “Inner White Girl,” which is performed by Yeshua Hardy and choreographed by Xiong, tackles white privilege, bigotry, stereotypes and keeping up appearances. Hardy’s stellar vocal performance mixed with Xiong’s talented choreography skills, make our first look into the members of Kaleidoscope truly engaging and subversive.
Xiong and Gibson’s choreography, blocking and direction all come off as incredibly professional and refined. Some more standouts when it comes to these elements are “What is This Feeling,” performed by Ximena Perez and Bex Papazian, “Debut,” performed by Natalie Nguyen, Jazz Harris, Gibson, Perez and Xiong, as well as the tremendous duet, “Change,” performed by Gavin Carcamo and Aidan Riggs.
Xiong spoke a little about the directing journey and what it taught them.
“Being on the director’s side is so interesting, because now I am the one that has to lead everyone and I am not just focusing on myself. I got to focus on the big picture and make sure that each and every single actor is taken care of…” Xiong said. “It was such a wonderful experience with everyone’s different background, everyone’s different training, and helping them hone in on those skills and let it bloom into what we have now.”
“Our Hidden Truths” is not just about exploring other peoples different backgrounds and experiences, it is about letting our own experience guide us into the people we are today. It is about being authentic and not holding back.
“I wanted to give people the chance to be able to tell their true stories and not have to hide them,” Xiong said.
Gibson, who is one of the assistant directors of the show, is actually an acting major. Her previous experience as someone who specializes in that different kind of performance has shaped how she views and understands “Our Hidden Truths.”
“When I get to do things like this, it allows me to kind of fit into that pocket that I thought I couldn’t fit in before,” Gibson said. “That’s what I believe Kaleidoscope also allows a lot of acting majors to do is step out of something that we don’t usually do all the time.”
Whether it be on-stage, in the production team or the directing role — Kaleidoscope has brought together many different kinds of performers for a common cause: understanding through theatre.
Xiong is graduating this spring and hopes to pass along their leadership of Kaleidoscope to a newer group of performers.
For more information about Kaleidoscope and where to find tickets. Visit oakland.edu/smtd/performances-and-events/ or check out SMTD on Instagram @oumusictheatredance.
