MsJellicle's Creative Cats

Trip Report for the Broadway Production

This is a report of Nick-Ko-Las, Shadowcat's, and Similyn's FULL vacation trip, not just to CATS. If you would like to read just the report of the trip, click here.
(FYI~MsJellicle is also known as Similyn or Sim)

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Monday, June 19, 2000

Nick woke up at 9:00am because he still had things to do. He basically killed time until he went to the train station. Nick was held up for 15 minutes at the station by immigration asking him all sorts of questions, such as:

"Ever been arrested?"
"Ever refused entry to the United States?"
"Ever been fingerprinted?"

Then they ran Nick's name to see if he was a bad guy on the loose. (*grin*) Then the officer finally asked Nick to show him his left forearm. Since Nick had no tattoo on him arm he was allowed to board the train. The train was delayed for about 10 minutes at the Fraser River by a tug pulling a barge. So, the swing bridge had to be opened to allow the barge and tug to pass through. The trip continued until the train was slowed down by a Burlington Northern freight train, which was on the same line and they had to wait for it to be diverted. After getting the freight train out of the way, Customs officers came aboard the train. Nick was questioned again. In both cases it appears that it was a very good thing Nick had a return ticket. Or else he may have not been allowed to cross the Canadian/US border. Nick arrived at his destination about 40 minutes late where he met Sim.

Meanwhile, Sim arrived at the train station at 8:40 when Nick's train was supposed to have arrived. The station was all closed up and had been since 6:15. The train hadn't arrived yet, and the lot was empty. Worried, she called home and checked her messages. Shad had called asking her to call back. When Sim called her, she found out that Shad had lost all the information of the flight arrivals. Sim told Shad that she would e-mail the info again once she got home. Then Sim got Shad to check the net to find out if Nick's train was delayed. Everything she tried said the train was on time. Finally, Shad says she would call Amtrak, the call Sim back on her cell phone. Just as she hung up, the train arrived. Nick got off and Sim called Shad back (who had been put on hold by Amtrak the whole time!). Sim handed the phone to Nick as she opened up her car to put his luggage in it. A large family asked Nick to take their picture. These women had been partying in the bistro in the car ahead of Nick. They all are in their 50's and 60's, a very wild bunch. That done, we finally drove off and made it to Nick's hotel. Amusingly enough, the Motel 6 wouldn't accept the photo ID that the immigration people HAD. But they finally got him settled in and Sim went to her car to go home. At this point, Sim found out that Nick was a rare breed in that he was a true gentleman and walked her to her car. [1,2,3, everyone now.. "aaaaaawwwwwwwwwww........"]

Tuesday, June 20, 2000

The next morning [at 6am!] Sim's friend gave them a ride to the airport. There was no trouble there with Nick's ID. The airport officials liked Nick's ID that Motel 6 didn't! In fact, Nick and Sim both tried to sleep on the plane on the way up.

Shad had spent the past 2 days getting ready for them. All day Monday working and most of the day Tuesday cleaning house. Driving into Baltimore she hit bad traffic. As time ticked away, she grew increasingly worried that she couldn't reach them in time. She was able to sit down to read one page of her book before the plane taxied in and unloaded. She recogized Sim almost right off, but was very nervous meeting Nick. [Nick: Well, she should be!] [Shad: He's a trip in RL, BTW!] Finding the correct carousel for their luggage was a mini adventure in and of itself. They then headed out.

Since it was rush hour traffic we stopped in Laurel to get something to eat. This is when we found out a few things that kept coming up over and over. First none of us could make a decision. [Fast food or pasta? Fast food or pasta? I don't know what do you want? I don't know what do you want? *Two heads turn towards Nick* You decide! BTW- we ate at the Pasta Plus. :o)] Second, when Shadow got hungry, everyone had to stop until she could eat. [I got hungry quite often and got very verbal about it. MEEEEOOOOOWWW...]

After eating, they got back on the road and drove towards home. Shad just HAD to stop in at work. Nick and Sim got to see where she worked [Sim had seen it before, but hey, Shad couldn't resist showing it off! :o)] but she found out that work was a disaster! They arrived home at 10:00p. Nick had been up for a long time, [with very little sleep the night before] and he went on straight to bed, leaving Sim and Shad together at the computer without him [BIG mistake! :o)] We sat up and RPed until late - after midnight.

Wednesday, June 21, 2000

Getting up somewhat early the next morning, Shad had to go into work to deal with the disaster, leaving Nick and Sim on the computer together. [Gee, what did they do? RP of course! :o)] She got back after lunch, where they ate lunch here and then left to go onto DC. [Shadow will skip all the problems she had dealing with work, since this is a vacation writing about here!]

The group arrived in DC about 2:00p, and spent time wandering around. [Nick: HEY! We were there! We know we were cause there was a big sign that said so.] We saw sculptures and Natural History Smithstonian Musuem. [Along with Red Castle and a few other stuff that we won't get into.] We arrived back at home late that night as well, after 9:30p.

Thursday, June 22, 2000

Having to get up early to leave for NY, we all decided to get to sleep early. Nick and Sim actually stayed up a little bit later, however, to read e-mail and the musicals.net board. (Sim: Of Course! Just HAD to read it before leaving! *grin*) They finally got off to sleep and everyone woke up the next morning by 8:00am in order to get ready to leave by our planned 10:00am departure. Shad, however, was not ready at that time, having to make phone calls for work and then needing to pack still (procrastination until the end!). We all finally got out of there and picked up the rental car around 10:20. Sim drove the rental back and followed Shad back to her apartment to drop off Shad's car, and then to pack the rental. We all finally left for NY just after 11:30am. Shad started driving as Sim took a nap in the back seat. Then Sim drove as Shad tried to take a nap, but she got too nervous as she heard Sim asking Nick "Which way? Which way? What's that? A toll booth? How do you go through those? How much money?! Uh-ohhh....Wrong lane. She's waving you forward. Okay, I'll go...umm...ignore me, I've never gone through a toll booth before." After that, Shad sat up and said, "I can see I'm not getting any sleep this trip!" We otherwise just chatted the whole trip up and were surprised to find that we had arrived much sooner than expected. We had told Munk and Tanto that we should arrived around 6, but we had gotten there about 4:30 instead. The twins were surprised to see us and (of course) they didn't know what to think of Nick when they saw him. We went in and introduced ourselves to their family. Nick was given Munk's room (we think), and Shad and Sim were given the guest room. Munk went in to stay with her sister. We then chatted up a storm and Munks performed a monologue and solo before we ate some legendary New York pizza! (very good!) After that, we walked out to a beach on Staten Island and took pictures and talked some more. Returning, Munk, Tanto, Shad, Sim, and Nick all went into the guest room to turn on the computer and role-play a bit. It was quite interesting having 5 of us on one computer. We found out interesting quirks each of us does as we type our threads and we also found out that Munks was a VERY good typist. We all then went to bed in our assigned rooms.

Friday, June 23rd, 2000

Munk and Tanto's mother drove us into the city. Wow...what an experince THAT was! We found out how New Yorkers like to drive where they can when they can and park where they want to get to their destination. Munk and Tanto's mom finds a lane and claims it as her own when she's driving in it! It took us over an hour to get to our destination. But, we finally found the Novotel Hotel that Lady Grizabella was staying in with her parents. Entering the lobby, we were heading towards the elevators when a voice called out Shad's name and she turned around. Lady Griz was there waiting for us and gave us each a hug. She was a little wary of Nick however. (Sim: Are we seeing a pattern here? *grin*) But, She got used to him during the day, just like the rest of us did. We went up and met her parents. Then Munk and Tanto and their mother had to leave. So, Shad, Sim, Nick, and Lady Griz went out to see the sights. Before they started to take the *shudder* subway, Munk and Tanto's mom came over and offered to drive them to the Empire State Building. Fitting seven people in a car was quite interesting. Griz and Shad sat in the middle and shared a seatbelt! Good thing they were both very skinny! We then had to quickly jump out of the car and we walked to the ESB and had to walk around it a bit before we found the elevator to the top. The 102nd floor was closed, so we only made it to the 86th floor observatory. But the view was amazing and we took many pictures. We then took the elevators down and took a bus over to the courtyard across from the Winter Garden Theatre. We arrived at the courtyard at 1:50pm where Shadow announced she was hungry "again", so we went to MacDonald's. Everyone except Griz, who went back to her hotel room to finish eating her bagel from that morning. We took our food to the courtyard where we met everyone: JellicleKate, JemmiaKitty, Dax, Vlado-Munkustrap, Norriscan, Carbucketty, Whimsey, Donavan, Creole, MandaKay, RaeCat. After we put faces to names we all chatted for a little bit. Sim spotted a Starbucks and took off for it! After she came back the rest of our group decided it was time to go. We went up to Griz's room, where we talked some more about various subjects, and then decided to go souvenior shopping at "Backstage Memories". An hour later and many dollars short we went back to the hotel room with our bags. By this time Sim started to help Shadput on her makeup for her costume. Griz put her makeup on for her costume as well. The time came to pickup Tatters at Grand Central Station so we all headed out, faces painted and all. [Tatters only knew Shadow's face IRL, which was all painted up. We unfortunately did not know Tatter's face, so imagine the problems we are going to have!] We walked down the street according to the directions given us. Sim was amused by all the people who walked by Griz and Shad saying "Cats" whisper whisper "cats" whisper "cats" "cats" whisper whisper whisper... Arriving at the cross streets according to the directions given, we found that we were at the bus station and not at Grand Central. Hopping into a cab we had the cabbie take us to Grand Central rather than walk. The cabbie pointed to the building in front of us and said "Grand Central". We entered the building and saw no trains. Sim walked over to an employee and said "Can I ask a dumb question? Where is Grand Central Station?" The employee laughed and said "Downstairs". They walked around and found the escalators to Grand Central Station, with people still whispering "Cats". We walked over to the main information booth where Tatters said she would be, looking silly as we wondered what to do next as no one knew what she looked like. Shadow started to ask solo females if they were Tatters. Splitting up and walking around it was Tatters who found Shadow with the bright makeup on. We regrouped and headed out. We ended up having to take two cabs back to the hotel. [something about only 4 to a cab?!]

In Shadow and Tatter's cab Shadow told the driver, "To Novotel". Driver - "Don't know where that is." Shad - "Wintergarden Theater?" Driver - "I don't know where that is." Shad looked at Tatters. Tatters - "I don't know!" Shad - "Follow that cab?" Driver - "Can't do that. Too much traffic." [Which blows out every theory that Shadow had about taxis following others in NYC!] Shad finally remembered and guessed "Broadway and ... er... 52nd!" and they were on their way.

Before we got back to the hotel Shadow got hungry ...1, 2, 3... AGAIN! Once back at the hotel we all quickly changed into our outfits and costumes. Nick was allowed to get changed last being the only guy. Nick and Sim found that their outfits matched and they hadn't planned it that way. Munk and Tanto had ridden with their dad into the city, and it was hectic in that small room with the 6 of us cats, and 3 parents! Properly attired we headed down and across the road where we took pictures. We headed into the theatre and found our seats. Griz was sitting back in the theatre; Munk and Tanto were sitting way up and back in the balcony.

Sim spotted the Green-Eyed Monster sitting next to Dax behind us. We spotted many of the people we had met in the afternoon all around the theatre. Sitting down Nick spotted Bombs in her red dress and said "There is the Red Queen." Sim got up and went over to Dasha to introduce herself where they exchanged hello and hugs. Dasha immediately wanted to be introduced to Nick. Nick and Dasha said hello and hugged. Next Dasha was introduced to Shad and oddly enough they said hello and hugged. Dasha commenting to Shad, "You just had to wear a unitard?" Sim next took Dash over to meet Vlado, at which point the show was ready to start so we sat down in our seats.

Sim's thoughts and observations about the show.
Knowing what to expect, I looked to spot different cats that I knew would appear and where. A large smile was plastered on my face for 2 reasons. 1. I was enjoying the show so much. 2. It kept me from mouthing the words! *grin* Being so close up to the stage for the first time, however, I was able to see facial expressions and movements I had never noticed before. It was a wonder to behold the variety of "cat-like" movements and antics that the cast had picked up and entwined into their characters. Cats passed all around me and during Tugger's song when he came into the audience, his chains hit the back of my head. I loved Tumblebrutus and Pouncival's little antics during B.J. At intermission, we went up on stage and Shadow tried to bow to Old D in her costume, but it didn't turn out very well as a young boy had a hold on her tail! One of the stage-hands had thought that she was going to try to touch Deut and told her not to touch him. Old D, the whole time, just stared ahead without blinking (Impressed). For the first time, I also noticed that Griz was there listening to Old D tell the cats about the Moments of Happiness. Heidi Stallings did just a fabulous job as Griz. Skimble was the best ever!! I absolutely LOVED him!! I saw sweat flying from Mistoffelees as he did 34 turns in his song. I had very little interaction with the cats, but I had a great view of the cats playing with other members of the audience. I could see Misto and Skimble behind me and to the right. They played a bit with some audience members and during Pekes and Pollicles Skimble (I hope I'm remembering this correctly), Skimble put parts of his "pollicle" costume on the laps and heads of some audience members. Once he gets his costume one, though, he turns around and barks at the people sitting next to us, startling them! Meanwhile, during Macavity, a couple of kittens were cuddling up next to where Dasha was sitting. Towards the end, Munkustrap and Demeter came behind us, and I scratched Munks back as he passed. But it was great watching all of these antics that are totally missed on the video! There is nothing compared to the live version of CATS!

Nick-Ko-Las' thoughts on the show.
Hmmm well after having to wait for three women to get changed I was allowed into the bathroom to get changed. Then it was out the door down to the street across the road to the theatre. Finding our seats and sitting down I looked around taking all of the theatre in and spotting people all around it. Then everybody was told to get to their seats and the show started. Well what can you say than it was a blast. I noticed when Munkustrap was explaining what the Jellicle Ball was all about that Victoria as she stood behind him she was watching him to see what the next step was and then copying him. I thought to myself since the background story is that this is Victoria's first ball that it was the perfect thing to do. Rum-Tum Tugger was great and I found myself saying YES that is the way it is done! :O). At various times during the show I would feel a good solid thump on my arm as Sim, also know as MsJellicle, got my attention to point things out to me so I did not miss much of the action that was going on. Whoever had the cell phone that went off during memory should be scratched with several rusty nails, but the singing of Heidi Stallings will be what I remember over that. Also the audience's cheering for Keith Wilson when he first appeared as Rumpus Cat. There was so much cheering for him and cries of Keith that he had to acknowledge the cheers so the show could continue. Wish I could see it again.

Shadow's thoughts on the play.
My memories are slowly fading from that magical night, no matter how much I wish I could relive it again and again! Getting to the theater, we all stood outside taking pictures for a bit, before entering and seeing faces we recognized. Being dressed up in costume, I was feeling extremely self-conscious and had a lot of small kids pay attention to me. A lot of adults wanted my autograph, as well as some of them just wanted to stare. Getting to meet some more of the posters on musicals.net as the guy called out several times "No pictures please!" Then the performance actually began. Being right at the stage, it was almost too close for me! Cats were going up and down the aisle behind me, and in order to see them, I had to turn away from the magic of the stage. Decisions, decisions, and speaking of which *blush* Nick kept me from making a very bad one when Munk was standing right behind me. *grin!* Skimble barked nearby, Demeter hid right behind our seats. I was facinated by how scared she was, and kept looking to see her reactions. When the lights went up, I was also shocked and surprised to see Bombalurina "mating" with a tom almost in front of my sight, but drats! I missed seeing who he was! I watched the startrap closely, because for once in my life, I wanted to see Rumpus Cat come out! We all clapped like crazy for him too. :o) Watching closely the dancing [I love that!] and the different cats who moved slightly different from the group dancing. I also seemed to watch Cassandra a lot. I really like the "Egyptian" way about her, and her hissing at that fresh tom with claws was just so catlike! Almost all of the movements facinated me - from the dancing to the cat-like poses. After the show, Shad and Nick had to take Tatters back to Grand Central Station. Shad was surprised at how hard it was to get a cab...especially since she was still in her costume! I guess no cabbie wanted to pick up a "cat" for a fare! But they made it fine and Tatters didn't want to go home, but she finally gave them a hug and got on her train. Sim, Griz, Munks, Tanto, and the twins, dad returned to Griz's hotel room where Griz and Munk washed their face of their make-up. The group then went downstairs where they saw Nick and Shad returning so Shad could change out of her costume. Then everyone made it to the party at TGI Friday's where we met the cast (Let's see if I can remember everyone here. Keith [of course], Lenny, Jon-Erik, Jeffry, Billy, Julius, and more). We also got to meet the other fans that we've posted with on Musicals.net (Again with the remembering part...There was Dasha, SDPaul, Chessnamoon, Whimsey, Carbuckety, Gintora, Green-Eyed-Monster, Talis, Rio, 'Stofflees, Mandakay, Little Griz, Sunshcat, Vlado (Munkustrap), Nosrrican, Dax, Donovan, Creol, JellicleKate, Jack Shot, Alonzo, [I think ResQdog was there as well, but I didn't meet her.], Adas, Lynette, and of course ourselves (MsJellicle, Shadowcat, Nick-Ko-Las, Lady Grizabella, Munks, Tanto, and their dad. I'm sure there were more but it was hard to meet everyone with so many people there.)

It was quite interesting when we talked with Lenny Daniels! He was telling us all kinds of information about the chroeography and story with it. He told us that just about every cat there has a point in the show where he/she has a revelation or something to that effect. Alonzo's revelation is that he's been strutting about the stage (And protecting his liscense plate! Hehehe.)the whole show. When Munkustrap is defeated by Macavity, the cats look to Alonzo saying "Well? You've been strutting about the whole time! Now do something about it!!" And it's after that in which Alonzo and Demeter become girlfriend and boyfriend. :o) Then there was Rum Tum Tugger's revelation when he wanted to take the credit for bringing in Old Deuteronomy, but instead he pointed out Mistoffelees and let Old Deuteronomy know that it was Misto who brought him back. He also told us of how Grizabella listened to Old Deuteronomy tell the Jellicles about the moments of Happiness and when she goes to sing "Memory", She's basically telling them "I know you know better! Shame on you for treating me this way, but I don't need you! I've come to say what I have to say and I don't need you!" Lenny was eating some chocolate cake as he talked to us and was so enthusiastic about what he knew and was so willing to share!! We just loved it, and I'm sure he did too! We finally had to leave the party around 3:00am because we were all tired, and we made it back to Munk and Tanto's home on Staten Island where we all fell dead asleep!

Saturday, June 24th, 2000

We all slowly woke up and wandered into the living room where we talked about the night before and ate breakfast. Shad, Nick, and Sim then packed the car and left for home around one o'clock. On the drive back, We almost thought we had to turn back to retrieve Shad's glasses, but when we pulled off to the side to search for them more thourghly, she found that she had been sitting on them the whole time! (Shad: *Blush!*). The rest of the trip, we RP'd vocally and got to see some interesting quirks and sounds effects courtesy of Nick *grin*. That was quite an experience, RPing in person like that! That pretty much took up our time, and with a few exceptions of stopping for different reasons, we made it home in no time. We had stopped for gas and meals, and then Sim spotted a store that was part of the chain of stores she worked for. We all stopped to look around, then continued. We had made it home by about 9pm where we got on the computer to check e-mail and read stuff, then went to bed.

Sunday, June 25, 2000

The next morning we slept in a bit and then went in to DC where we took a tour bus around the DC Mall area. We also stopped off to tour the Capitol Building. There is some beautiful architecture in there. We also got to see the FDR Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial. On our way to the Lincoln Memorial we heard someone speaking and went to investigate. We found out that it was President Clinton, said "Oh, it's him." and turned around and left. (*grin*) We wanted to go the the Air and Space Museum, but it was closed by the time we got there and then we decided to go home. That night we played catch with a little ball (don't ask...little things can amuse us! Hehe), and we started to summarize the trip on paper because there was a thunderstorm and we couldn't get on the computer. We finally went to sleep after that.

Monday, June 26, 2000

Shad drove Nick and Sim to the BWI airport and we all arrived 1.5 hours early only to stand in the check-in line for over an hour. We listened to one of the attendants to call out out departure time so that we could be moved to the front of the line and get checked in quicker. When we heard the attendant call out a time for 6:50pm, we got worried. Our departure time was 6:40pm and it was already 6:15! We asked her what about the 6:40 flight and she seemed to have no idea what we were talking about. We clarified and when she said that she had already called it out and that the plane was boarding already! We were moved to the front of the line. When we checked in finally, they thought we didn't have our tickets (they were electronic tickets). Well, we got that cleared up, only to find that we didn't have seats together due to such a full flight. We would have to check in at Pittsburg to see if we could get seats together from there.

The plane taxied out to the runway and stopped. The captain came over the P.A. system and told us the flight was delayed due to bad weather in Pittsburg and they were going to shut down the engines. two minutes later we were cleared for take-off with news that we were going to fly around the storm. The flight was a bit bumpy, but we got there in one piece and then ad to change planes, even though we weren't originally supposed to. We ate some dinner (because Sim took up where Shad left off and got HUNGRY!) and got our seats changed, then took off for Seattle later than scheduled (45 minutes late). We ended up in the very last row on the plane and found out that because we were in the last row, we got free earphones to listen to the movie or music with (normally, the earphone rental costs $5). When the plane touched down in Seattle, we got our bags and took an airport shuttle to Sim's home where she gave Nick a ride to his motel to check in. That done, he walked her out to her car once more (Still the gallant gentleman!).

Tuesday, June 27, 2000

Tuesday, Nick checked out of his motel and Sim came to pick him up. They stopped by her place so she could show him her kitty cat and have him look at her computer (since he knows tons of stuff about computers, and Sim knows zilch!), and Sim made some needed phone calls. After that, they went off to have lunch at a mexican restaurant. From there, Sim took him to her work and introduced him to some of her co-workers and showed him where she usually worked....then proceeded to answer some questions the person who was there to cover for her while on vacation and then realized she was just as bad as Shad about working when you're not supposed to! Nick dragged her out of there and they continued on to a store, then she showed him where she would be moving to.

Sim took Nick to the Space Needle and they went up to the top. We found out that to get to the top of the Space Needle (which is about 50 stories high), it costs $11. To get to the top of the Empire State Building (which is 102 stories high), it costs only $9....Go Figure! But it was a nice day out and the view was great! (While up there, btw, Sim got a phone call on her cell phone from her sister asking her if she could maybe pick her up because her car broke down. She thought it would be faster than AAA. When Sim explained where she was, her sister laughed and said, "Nevermind! AAA will get here sooner!") They then went into the Seattle Science Center and saw some exhibits including a live butterfly exhibit (Interstingly enough, they didn't drop rocks on top of Nick's head! *winks at Griz*). From there, they stopped by one of the rides at the Center and Sim convinced Nick to go on the "Wild River" log ride. Nick sat in front and Sim sat behind him. Nick got all the water that was splashed into the ride, while Sim only got a few drops *Big Grin!!*

Sim drove Nick straight to the train station from there (well, technically, they stopped at the store again, but that's neither here, nor there.) They arrived early, so they chatted about various topics before the train arrived just a few minutes late and Nick got on the train. He arrived home with no troubles.