Kevin Davis’ One in a Million Cabaret Electrifies at the MITF

The Sargent Theatre at the American Theatre of Actors was the latest home of the cabaret consisting of highlights of Kevin “KD” Davis’ powerhouse Broadway World-nominated Musical, which has delighted audiences throughout NYC.

“You’re not going to get the beginning, middle or the end,” noted Davis of the Cabaret version. “But what you are going to get are the themes that run throughout the musical.”

And those themes were driven home by the key scenes performed and by the dynamic score, assisted by the fantastic JazzCatz band and a lineup of magnetic singers and dancers giving life to the characters, telling a tale of greed vs giving, and evil vs good. The gist of the story is as relevant as ever, as we see a group of church friends win a shared lottery of $999 million, and quickly learn that happiness is not the result. Their struggles and conflicts are set against the backdrop of life in 2020s America, where the message of Matthew 25:40 appears to have been forgotten: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Raquel Sciacca is an exuberant Little Red (Red for short), who urges us not to misconstrue her nickname. “No, not that kind of red. I’m so liberal the trees hug me”.

She acts as an observer and commentator for the proceedings, part Jiminy Cricket and part Ghost of Christmas, as she laments the collapse of the protagonists into selfishness and the cruelty of today’s USA.

Valerie Chamberlain reprises her lead role as Wanda, and Jillian Marzziotti dazzles in her spotlight dance sequence as Moriah (“because every show needs a bad girl.”) Karen Vigo, Rayvon Johnson, and J. Singh round out the cast, all tremendous vocalists who give their all to the emotional songs, and depth and humor to their parts.

The narrative yearns for an America that can return to true Christian values through a progressive perspective. It’s a reaction to a conservative movement that has coopted and corrupted the teachings of Jesus for years, literally doing the opposite—not feeding the hungry, not caring for the sick, hating the neighbor and rejecting the immigrant. A screen shows videos of recent incidents of extreme brutality committed in the United States by law enforcement, followed by clips from the film Judgment at Nuremberg, to drive home how far we haven’t come as a society. A disillusioned Red reveals that she is a DACA Dreamer whose parents have been banished from the country and are now missing.

But the sadness gives way to hope, which can be found in the lyrics of the songs and the glorious musicianship of the JazzCatz (Davis on sax and percussion, Hector Rodriguez Jr. on keyboards, Daniel Best on bass and Sound Designer Christopher Velazquez on percussion). It’s a terrific sampler that makes one eager to see the full production of One in a Million, and a great example of how music and theatre—and creation itself—can inspire, teach, and unify.

Directed by Davis, this run of One in a Million was presented as part of the Midtown International Theatre Festival in July 2026.