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