From Mungo_jerrie:
11/8/02
The tour hit Buffalo on the 7th, I saw it on the 8th.
First off, the matinee that I had 4th row tickets for was CANCELLED. Can you believe that? But only because they added 2 shows the day before. So, they moved us to the 6th row for that evening. And I am glad they did. For one, we were more center than before and I was in the perfect spot for when the cats come in to the audience. Anyway, we get to our seats and were the only 2 in the row. So, when the overture started and someone tapped me on the shoulder, I thought it was a late arrival. But much to my delight I saw a big pair of flashing green eyes staring me right in the face. I lost it. Tears were running down my face throughout the whole opening. Right after, I regained my composure. The cast did "The Naming of Cats" which is the monolog I used for my first ever real audition. But when the man who played "Skimbleshanks" took position directly in front of me, never breaking eye contact with me, I found myself mouthing the words along with him. And I could see a hint of a smile as we did the song together. The rest of the first act was all stunning. I was really amazed as "Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer" performed their duet with full acrobatics. It's one thing to watch the movie and see this knowing that the audio was dubbed. But when it's live and they're singing through a triple cartwheel... that's really something!
At the end of the first act, "Memory" brought me again to tears. And as the house lights came up for intermission, I noticed that "Old Deuteronomy", the big gray cat that kind of was their leader, was still sitting on stage. And there he sat motionless for the 20 minute break.
The second act was visually stunning with a train assembled from junk; magic live on stage; and pyrotechnics to make your head spin. "Mr. Mistoffelees" did about 20 or so spins on one leg in a row, crazy. At the end of the show Rumpelteazer stopped by me and started pawing me in cat fashion which I gladly returned. And a few moments later during the ovation I rose early and one of my favorite kitties, Bombalurina, blew me a kiss and winked at me from stage. I died right there. All and all, a really great show.
Well thats about it. Every one peace out.
From Razzy:
11/10/02
The Overture
The lights in the Theatre were set up the way they were in the
Wintergarden Theatre, they flashed all the time during it and the
thing that takes Grizabella up to the Heaviside Layer lifted up
from the floor of the stage and went up into the rafters. During
the Overture the Cats come in through the audience and flash
their glowing green eyes at you.
Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats
They all come out the way that they do in the video, except a few
differences. Tantomile, Coricopat, Electra, and Etcetera are not
in the show at all. In the position that Tantomile and Coricopat
are in on the video, Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer are now in that
spot. They sing the lines that Tantomile and Coricopat did.
Everyone else's lines are pretty much the same in the video as
they were on stage, but Victoria sings one of the following two
lines. It was either Are you mean like a minx? Or Are you lean
like a lynx? There is no trapeze in the stage version and this
huge boot drops down onto the stage, bigger than the one on the
video. Munkustrap still picks up Victoria and swings her around
just like the video...the rest of that song is just like the
video though.
The Naming of CATS along with Solo dance and Invitation
They all come out to the edge of the stage and start the Naming
of CATS; Quaxo sits next to Victoria in that. As they are saying
it, towards the end they come out into the audience to talk to
them and tell them what a Jellicle Cat is. Then as they stand
there thinking of their name, they look up at the spot light like
they are in deep meditation...then they hurry up to the stage and
disappear so Victoria can do her solo dance.
Victoria's solo dance is basically the same thing as the video,
but she doesn't get her leg up as high.
Quaxo then comes out to dance with her during the Invitation. He
does run his hands on her leg like the video, but he doesn't sing
the song, Munkustrap does. Then some of the cats dance and sing
with Quaxo and Victoria during the refrain of that and then the
rest of that is the same as the video.
The Gumbie Cat
Jennyanydots comes out of the oven, not the boot of the car;
Quaxo does let her out of it though. Demeter, Jellylorum, and
Bombalurina sing the part they do on the video. Victoria,
Sillabub, Rumpelteazer, and Skimbleshanks (I think) were the mice
and then the Beetle Tattoo was wonderful. That was the longest
Beetle Tattoo ever, they tap danced like they never wanted to
stop. Then Munkustrap, Demeter, Bombalurina, and Jellylorum took
their places near Jennyanydots and finished off that song.
The Rum Tum Tugger
Apart from John Partridge, I think this one is the best. He came
out from behind a curtain and said, "Ow..." then he
said it again, but it was higher than the first. That got some
laughs. He blew a kiss to Bombalurina before he came down from
where he was, then he danced all around the stage. Munkustrap and
a few other toms sang "The Rum Tum Tugger is a terrible bore".
He sat on Tumblebrutus' back and stepped on Pouncival's back.
During the solo part of his dance while everyone is dancing up on
the stage, he came out into the audience and danced a bit with
some lady sitting in the front row, then he made her blow a kiss
to everyone and he did the same, last he finished off the song on
stage. Everyone clapped after that (even after the Beetle Tattoo),
then after they finished the song, Grizabella came out.
Grizabella the Glamour Cat
What can I say? She slinked out. Quaxo, the kittens, and Demeter
almost touched her, but that wasn't meant to happen of course.
She was scratched by Pouncival…at least that's who it looked
like...then she sang her part for that and Demeter sang about her
with Bombalurina.
Bustopher Jones
He waddled out, he carried his long spoon, and threw his flower
to someone in the audience. He did his routine. Skimbleshanks
followed behind him as the toms stood in a line, then met him on
the other side and saluted him. At the end of that song, he
kissed Jennyanydots' hand (paw)...it was so sweet.
Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer
They sing their own song, except they only sing one verse, the
verse that's not in the video. They do their dance and acrobatics…even
the double cartwheel. The audience clapped when they were done
with that and then the other cats came out to take their stuff
away from them.
Old Deuteronomy
Munkustrap and Tugger sing the song together. Their voices
blended really well and as soon as that song was done, Munkustrap
started to tell them that now that the Jellicle Leader was there,
they could all rejoice, but that was cut short because there was
another Macavity scare. The first one happened after Bustopher
Jones. After that Macavity scare and all the cats rushed off, two
stayed back along with Munkustrap. I know one was Quaxo, the
other one was either Alonzo or Plato...I wasn't too sure. They
helped Old Deut off the tire and helped him get into position so
the ball could start.
*The Pekes and the Pollicles were taken out of the show*
The Jellicle Ball
Victoria, Sillabub, and Munkustrap do what they do, then Alonzo
did his, and everyone came out after that. At the beginning
before the song gets really jazzed up, all the cats go into twos.
the couples were either tom/tom, tom/queen or queen/queen. It
doesn't mean anything bad; it's just the way they have it because
some weren't dancing it at all. On stage, all the cats do what
Tugger and a few toms do on the video when the song reaches its
climax. The ball was wonderfully choreographed.
The last song in Act One...
Grizabella came back out and everyone did the same as they did
before, shun her. Jellylorum sang her part with Victoria ready to
touch Grizabella, Jellylorum moved her away, and Sillabub sang
her part before Jennyanydots moved her away. Grizabella was all
alone after everyone disappeared off the stage, except Old
Deuteronomy of course. Grizabella tried to act like the others,
but she kept falling because it hurt too much not to be able to
do what the others do, then she sang her song and slinked back
off into the night.
ACT II
The Moments of Happiness/Gus: The Theatre Cat
Old Deuteronomy did not move from his spot on the tire after
Grizabella left and the first act ended. All the cats in the cast
came out for it…even Grizabella. They all sat on the stage,
except for one...she laid down...then when the music crescendoed,
they all stood up like they do in the video, then they all moved
to different parts of the stage for Gus: The Theatre Cat.
Munkustrap, Tugger, Quaxo, Skimbleshanks, and Alonzo went off the
stage to get ready to come out as Growltiger's crew as it was
being sung. After Jellylorum was down with what she had to sing
for Gus: The Theatre Cat, she picked up the hat he was on and
carried it off to become Griddlebone. During that music in
between that and him telling about all the stuff he did about the
telegraph wire, rescuing a child when a house was on fire, and
all that, everyone clapped.
Growltiger's Last Stand
A curtain came down behind Gus to hide how they get the ship on
the stage, Munkustrap, Tugger, Quaxo, Skimbleshanks, and Alonzo
were behind the curtain on the ship, Gus changed into Growltiger
before our very eyes. The curtain went up revealing Munkustrap at
the wheel of the ship guiding it while the others were cleaning
the ship. Growltiger knocked them all around…just like back-pawing
them, elbowing them, etc. It made it very entertaining. When
Griddlebone first came onto the stage, she flirted with
Growltiger's crew and when she got to Tugger, he shook his
shoulders at her and she fainted, he caught her before she fell
all the way. They (Growltiger and Griddlebone), did their duet,
then it was time for the Siamese to attack. Mungojerrie was
Genghis and he fought Growltiger and they did make him walk the
plank. The Siamese danced...I think the Siamese were played by
the crew and whomever else that they needed. Then the scene left,
everyone clapped and then it all went back to the way it was
before Gus' play.
Skimbleshanks
He came out at the end of Gus: The Theatre Cat and pretended to
be sleeping on the hat. Victoria, Sillabub, and Rumpelteazer went
over to him to wake him up, and then they sang and danced around
the stage. The building of the train was incredible. It looked
like a real train with metal parts, there were two pistons that
moved like it would on a real train. There was a really tall lamp
that they used as a smokestack, it would flash and let off smoke.
They also had a teapot that would whistle like a train, it beats
the one in the video.
Macavity
There was a double like on the video to show him in two places.
Everyone left the stage and Demeter started her dancing. It had
to have either been Alonzo or Plato dancing behind her and
following her every move, he did it exactly the same way she did,
then Bombalurina did her part and another tom joined them. So
there were two toms, Bombalurina, Demeter, Victoria,
Rumpelteazer, and Sillabub...Cassandra may have been there too.
They all danced to the song Macavity, then he came out as Old
Deuteronomy, Demeter did what she does on the video and reveals
him to everyone, Macavity danced and showed off what he could do.
The fight ensued between him and Munkustrap, then Munkustrap was
out of commission so Alonzo helped fight of course. Then Macavity
took the two jumper cables and zapped himself away. It took him a
long time to disappear. The stage went completely black and there
was a lot of smoke on the stage after that.
Mistoffelees
Well, the searchlight came up after Macavity disappeared and they
sang that they had to find Old Deuteronomy. Rum Tum Tugger told
them they had to ask the Magical Mister Mistoffelees the Original
Conjuring Cat. They all thought he was lying about it so they
started to go off the stage, but he told them to listen to him
and not to scoff and then he went through the opening of that
song. Then Mistoffelees came down on that metal pole with a foot
thing…kinda like the video, except this one was metal and
not like a rope, made all the lights come up and danced to his
heart's content. His conjuring turn was the best; he also got
applauded for doing that. He chose Cassandra as his assistant,
she did what she normally does (you know, go through the pipe),
Old Deut was brought back and Misto jumped into Old Deut's arms,
then Cassandra came out from the side of the stage and Misto did
some more of his dancing and did what Jacob Brent does at the end
except for one thing...he made the spotlight shut off.
Memory
Grizabella came back out after they all went over to Old Deut to
see who was going to be chosen. She hobbled on the stage and they
all went off in different directions. She stood there and sang
Memory. Sillabub sang her lines and Victoria touched Grizabella
first. Then after that, three cats crawled over to her and rubbed
against her leg and the others touched her as well. Tugger, when
he touched Grizabella, he kissed her hand (paw) and it went all
the way down the line until she got to Old Deut.
Journey to the Heaviside Layer
Grizabella made the Journey to the giant tire with Old Deut. She
looked like she was sick, so she probably knew she was dying
anyways. She got on the tire and it levitated and moved to the
front of the stage where the thing that was going to take her to
the Heaviside Layer was going to come down and get her…we
know it as the Everlasting Cat. She got on it and it took her up
into the rafters.
There really isn't much to talk about for the last song though,
but after the last song, they all came out into the audience and
did what they did in the beginning. They also did their final
call for bows and Tugger wanted us to sing Mistoffelees with the
cast. They got a standing ovation of course and did some
acrobatics on the stage. Then at the very end Bombalurina stayed
on the stage, Tugger noticed it and came up behind her, wrapped
his arms around her, she pushed him off her and to the floor,
then she stepped on him and scampered off the stage with him
behind her.