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To see pictures from this trip report as you read, just click on the asterisks (*).
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Nick and I headed off on Thursday the 9th of May to visit with friends for a couple of days. As we visited, I was still knitting legwarmers for Nick to wear. We left for downtown Seattle on Saturday morning on the 10th. Unfortunately, it wasn't until we arrived at our hotel in downtown Seattle, that I realized I had forgotten my knitting bag...as well as Nick's legwarmers at my friends house and there was no time to go back for them. Oh well. We still had his tail and arm warmers. As we were checking into the hotel, Fairlith came over and greeted us. It was the first time I saw her without CATS make up on! :)
We arrived at our room and looked out one of the windows. From where we were at, we could see the Paramount Theatre and the CATS truck!* We then ate our lunch and started getting ready for the costume meet with the others. I put on my make up first. It took about an hour to apply. Then I put Nick's make up on his face. His make up took 45 minutes...then an extra 15 minutes to tease, color, hairspray, and bobby-pin his hair into a red and black cat-like mane. :) After that, we met *asterix* (dressed as Skimbleshanks....AWESOME costume!) and Sylvani (dressed as Sillabub. I love her costume, too!) (~Bal~ had come up to our room earlier. She was dressed as Mistoffelees. Great costume as well!) all in costume and then headed out to the streets of downtown Seattle.
We went into a toy store called FAO Swartz and walked around getting strange looks from the employees and the customers. :) Upstairs, there was this piano/bridge type of thing. You had to step on the keys when you walked across it. And when you stepped on the keys, they lit up and made a sound...but the thing was very off-key. Oh well, we had fun anyways.**
While we were up there, *asterix* saw a little toy train set. Dressed up in her Skimbleshanks costume, she couldn't resist going over to play with the train.* We then went downstairs again* and *asterix* saw the big stuffed animals. She sat right down to see if she could blend in!* And we all then joined her down on the floor with the huge stuffed animals.* :)
After that, we went back to the hotel and met MrsJemimaMistoffelees and her party (MrsJemimaMistoffelees was dressed as Jemima. Her sister was dressed as Victoria. Her cousin was sort of dressed in a black dress, tail and ears. She had whiskers painted on her face.) in the lobby. Then it was off again to Barnes and Noble Bookstore down the block. We quickly found the musicals section and the book of the musical for CATS!* *asterisk and Sylvani read up a bit on felines while they were there.* After the bookstore, we went back to the hotel to rest and touch up make up.
From there, we went to the stagedoor. But we had arrive early. So, we all gathered in front of the CATS trailer and posed for some pictures.** Then we waited around for the cast to come out.***
When the cast came out, we got to talk to Mario Martinez (Mungojerrie)* and Kevin Wanzor (Gus/Bustopher/Growltiger).* Mario still had orange stripes on his face. Apparently, the orange makeup is harder to wash off. When I introduced myself, Kevin (I think it was him) pointed at me and said "OH! You're- you're the- the- the website!" I had to laugh as I thought to myself, Well, I run the website... Hehehe.. Kevin told us that we did our make up better than he does! :) We also saw Adam Lendermon (Skimbleshanks) and Karl Warden (Plato/Macavity). I asked Karl if he remembered me...and he did! And I was wearing cat make up! What an amazing memory! :) I saw some of the other cast members, but I didn't approach because it looked as though they wanted to be left alone.
We left the stagedoor to let them all get their lunches and such and our little group headed over to the monorail. We rode the monorail *** over to the Seattle Center where we split up into two groups. MrsJemimaMistoffelees and her entourage were hungry, and *asterix*, ~Bal~, Sylvani, Nick, and myself weren't so we went over to the rides area. *asterix* and Sylvani bought some sno cones.
We then went over to the roller coaster and ~Bal~, Nick, and myself all rode on the roller coaster. ~Bal~ was smart enough to remove her wig first. As for me....I thought I would be able to hold my wig on my head. Nooope. Up the hill and down the hill and during one of the twists and turns, I suddenly felt my head become wigless! At first I thought it had fallen somewhere below the roller coaster tracks. But Nick said that he had my wig (Bal and I sat in the front and Nick sat behind us). Apparently, the wig had flown off my head, but had hit the seat behind me and stayed there! What luck! Hehehe... After the ride was over, I quickly put the wig back on. ;)
We all then started to head over to the carousel but got stopped by first one person wanting a picture, but quickly turned into....oh...about 6 or 7 different people wanting pictures (and more than just one each!). Soo, after we posed for the pictures, we finally made our way to the carousel. A little girl went up to ~Bal~ and asked her to ride the carousel. She was excited to learn that we all were going to ride....well, Nick didn't ride. He stayed off to take pictures. :) ** After we got off the carousel, we posed for more pictures for people and then Sylvani, ~Bal~ and *asterix* went up on the ferris wheel.*
We all went back to the monorail area and posed for more pictures as we waited for MrsJemimaMistoffelees and Company.
After they arrived, we went back to the hotel for a short break and then it was off to see the show. During intermission, people kept thinking we were performers and we had to keep telling them that we weren't. We were just fans dressed up. An adorable little girl went up to me and I had to kneel down to hear her. She said in a whisper, "You're beautiful." Awwwwwww... I almost cried, she was just so cute!
After the show, we all met at the stage door. We saw Mario again* and I lightly 'whapped' him with my tail as a way of getting him back for flicking my tail during the show. :D Then I also got to meet Nicole Johndrow (Jellylorum/Griddlebone)* and talk to her for a few minutes. Heh, it amazes me how she gets all her hair in her cats wig! :) She had gotten a beautiful bouquet of flowers from an old friend. After we talked to her and Katie Ann Wanner (Swing), I turned around and asked if I could join another circle of people talking. They introduced themselves as Adam Walters, Adam Lendermon, Jesse Factor, and Joey Abramowicz.* Then Jesse (I think it was) looked at me and said, "You're MsJellicle? You run the website? Can I shake your hand?" I had to blink and laugh as I shook his hand. I kept thinking, it should be the other way around! Hehe. Adam had mentioned that Jesse had gone onstage for him because he had hurt his finger. Jokingly, I said, "Oh, is that all?" I felt kinda bad about it. I knew I was just teasing, and told him I was, but still felt a little guilty about it. We also learned that we were talked about backstage before and during the show. The cast members had told everyone backstage that there were costumed fans in the audience. I also learned later that they had said "MsJellicle is the grey one!" We also got to meet and chat breifly with Kevin Wanzor (Gus/Bustopher/Growltiger) and Jacqueline Stedman (Sillabub). They all finally went off to their hotel and our little group hung out beside the theatre for a few minutes just talking and having fun.* Then we went back to our hotel and called it a night.
The next day (our anniversary *grin*), Nick and I slept in then went out for breakfast and walked around downtown Seattle for awhile. We then went to the box office window to see if there were any tickets available for the matinee performance. It wasn't open yet, so we decided to wait there for it to open. As we waited, we saw a few of the cast members pass by us on their way to the stagedoor. We didn't say anything to them, however, figuring they didn't want to be bothered before the performance. Nick did say something to Mario, though...something about getting some rest, I think. Anyways, the box office finally opened and we nabbed the last two tickets with seats together. Any other tickets left were solo seats only. With that done, we went back to the hotel room for some lunch and then it was back to the theatre to see the show. After the show, we went to the stage door and said hello to Nicole, Mario, and a few others. We got to talk to Martin Hurt (Deuteronomy) for a couple of minutes.* I was surprised he recognized us out of costume. He said that he recognized Nick's hair first. Hehehehe...
Nick and I then went off to grab a light dinner and then it was back to the hotel room where we pulled out the frozen cake top (now thawed) from last year's wedding. It wasn't all that bad considering it had been frozen for a year. :) We also re-said our vows to each other and sang to each other (awwwwwwww).
We then got dressed up in formalwear and headed off to see the show for the third and final time. After the show was a bit of a rush. We got to meet Jean Michelle Sayeg (Victoria)* and told her about musicals.net. Then we saw Karl and gave him a card from Nick and I for the whole cast that said thanks for a great show! We also gave Adam Lendermon a 'get well' card to show no hard feelings about teasing him about his finger. We got to say hello to Ronnie Nelson (Swing). And then we got to talk to Martin Hurt and Kevin Wanzor again. Kevin complimented all of us again on our costumes and make up. He said that if he had to apply make up when he auditioned, he wouldn't be in the show. Hehehe. I saw Stan Stanely, but didn't get to say hello. I also wanted to meet and say hello to Joshua Edwards, but never got the chance. Oh well. We stayed and *asterix* and Sylvani had to give the rest of their Jellybean boxes (see ~Bal~'s report for an explanation) to a crew member to hand out to the cast members that didn't get theirs. We took some last pictures (to finish off our roles of film) and then slowly made our way back to the hotel for the night.***********
^,,^ The Show Review ^,,^
Nick and I saw the show three times. Saturday, May 10th, evening performance (we sat on the far right side -technically the 5th row back, but it was set up so basically there were no seats in front of us), Sunday May 11th, Matinee show (we sat on the far, far left side about 12 rows back), and the evening show (we sat on the right side, aisle, 3rd row back). For all three performances, Jesse Factor filled in for Adam Lendermon as Skimbleshanks. And Eric Shorey filled in for Ryan Jackson as Mistoffelees. For the Saturday performance, Molly Logan filled in for Lucie Wood as Bombalurina. For the two Sunday performances, Mary Elizabeth Sweeney filled in for Nickole Johndrow as Jellylorum/Griddlebone. For the Sunday night performance, Jessica Lee Patty filled in for Robin Wilner as Demeter.
Costumes: Since I had been getting more involved with making costumes, I found that I tended to be a little more observant of the costumes this time around. :) And I found that the Bombalurina, Demeter, and Pouncival wigs have changed a little. The Bombalurina wig is now larger and poofier. The Demeter wig is slicked back a little....it kinda reminded me of a Cassandra wig....with spiky fur. Pouncival's wig looked a little smaller. Mungojerrie has more fluff along his shoulders and upper torso area. Grizabella's gloves are no longer the black, glittery style. They are more of a stripey...um...tan and black, I think? The same thing is true for the "stocking's" she wears. I belive that Bombalurina's gloves have changes as well. The left one is still black that fades into the white as it runs up her arm. But the right one starts off white (as ususal) but instead of of fading into a red color, it looked as though it was more of an orangish-gold color. Of course, that could have been the lighting. Also, Bombalurina's make up is a little more reminescant of the previous tour's make up style. Victoria's make up seems to be a bit...softer as well. I'm not too sure about any other make up differences, though.
Overture:
Beautiful music, as usual. :) During the first show, we saw then run right past us as they made their way up the stage stairs. During the second show we saw, I think it was the first time that I noticed that some of them make their way halfway down the aisle before they are cued by the music to stat flashing people with the green eyes. That was quite interesting to see. Oh, because we were on the very edge of the seating area, we saw the performers making their way up the far aisle silently to prepare for the green eyes. :) On the third show that we saw, it was the first time that one of them stopped right in front of me and flashed the green eyes at me. :) I believe it was Dee Roscioli in her chorus Grizabella costume.
Jellicle Songs:
During the "Have you been an alumnus of heaven and hell" part, I wonder if someone else sings, or if it's a prerecorded part "of heaven and hell" because Tumble (or was it Plato?) is in the middle of his forward roll? I love how Andrea Young plays Cassandra! And she has a different voice. It's not the usual deep alto, but more soft and almost mysterious. Joshua Edwards has what I would call an announcer's voice! It's deep and melodic! I could listen to him for awhile! I really LOVE the way he portrays the silver tabby. I would say he's just about perfect in the 'narrator's' role.
Naming of Cats:
On the first show we saw, Staci Rudnitsky stood in front of us as Jennyanydots while reciting the Naming of Cats. She had her head tilted and stared right at us. I couldn't keep myself from laughing silently and could only smile back at her. On the third show we saw, Mario Martinez and Katy Burns were beside us but looking at some others behind us as they huddled together reciting the Naming. Dee Roscioli was in front of us, looking at the little girl in the row before us. I just LOVE her chorus costume! :) I've noticed that they changed the 'rhythm' a little bit in certain parts. For example, when they say "There are fancier names" they hold out the word "names" for longer than what you'd hear on the video. It's not a big change, but enough for me to notice, and make it a little more interesting. :)
Invitation:
Jean Michelle Sayeg plays a very sweet Victoria with just a hint of sophistication. She's very graceful. Wonderful job!
Jennyanydots:
I LOVE Staci Rudnitsky's Jennyanydots! Staci plays the Gumbie cat a little more playful than many of us are used to...which makes her quite unique! In the third show, Skimbleshanks beetle head came off but it didn't faze them one bit. Jennyanydots just turned around, saw the hat, picked it up and handed it back to Skimble almost in a way that she was about to scold him for dropping his costume head/hat/whatever-you-call-it. If someone was seeing the show for the first time, they wouldn't realize that it was a little blooper. They'd think it was part of the show!
Rum Tum Tugger:
Stan has changed his introductory Tugger...er...noise. It was fun watching Tugger come down and choose a woman in front of us and to our right in the first show. During the second show we watched the cats on stage as he danced with the woman. In the third show, after he danced with the woman, he came over to our side of the stage and pointed at us (Well, I think he did...not 100% sure if it was us or some people behind us). We just grinned broadly. Stan really has fun playing Tugger! It's fun to watch him.
Grizabella the Glamour Cat:
Dee Roscioli has a different approach when performing Grizabella. She has a softer voice at first, then grows into a stronger, louder voice. But she still fills it with emotion. Dee does a good job of portraying Grizabella as weak, but still bold and a little bit defiant.
Bustopher Jones:
What a jubilant Bustopher! He's quite amusing! Kevin Wanzor has some hilarious facial expressions! And Staci plays up her part as Jennyanydots liking Bustopher very well! I loved it when she added a bit of a throaty sound when she said "ROOUUND!".
Mungojerrie & Rumpleteazer:
Mario Martinez and Katy Burns play the notorious duo very well. :) There were a couple of parts in which I think the sound technicians were having a little trouble, and a couple of times, I could tell that the two were running out of breath. I don't blame them, though. I'm guessing that that number is one of the toughest ones to do! You have to sing AND dance the whole time, and the choreography is very active. They did good. :) After they sing the "from a vase which was said to be ming", instead of saying, "uh-oh" and giggling, Katy as Rumpleteazer says "Oh no!" and then turns to Mungojerrie. She starts to say his name as though blaming him, but then they both end up bursting into laughter. I think I prefer the "uh-oh" but that was still cute. :) Mario and Katy work very well together as Mungo and Rumple. I really enjoyed their performance.
Old Deuteronomy:
Joshua Edwards and Stan Stanley's voices blend very well together! I loved just sitting there listening to them and almost forgot to turn and look for Deuteronomy to enter. :)
The Jellice Ball:
Great dancing, as usual. The sensual section of the Ball had the same partners. It was kinda cute when Sillabub was off by herself, though. She looked up at Munkustrap as though she didn't know where to go or what to do at that point. He pointed to Mungo and Rumple and she then joined them right before they all moved in for the sleeping pile. One thing I noticed, this time around was that Cassanra was the first to detect Grizabella's presence and Misto was the second one to sense the Glamour Cat in the area. Cassandra spotted Griz and pointed her out. Tumblebrutus and Munkustrap chased her away as Misto tested his powers over light and the dancing continued.
Memory:
Dee does a good job of showing how Grizabella can't dance with the others anymore due to a bad back, knee, arms, hip, etc... Nick said that he noticed that when she stamps her foot, she really stamps her foot! :)
Moments of Happiness:
During intermission, we noticed that Martin C. Hurt looks around at the audience instead of sitting there staring at one spot. During the last show, the security must have been a little lax at the theatre. Some parents had encouraged their children to go up on the stage to go talk to Deuteronomy. He and then a stage hand (I think) from backstage told the little girl and boy that they shouldn't be up on the stage. Oops. Oh well. Anyways, I loved seeing the cats come out. Andrea as Cassandra was pretty much aloof. She went right up to the stage edge and promptly looked bored. Sillabub slid down off the car right into Mungojerrie. This caused him to retaliate and the two scuffled playfully for a bit. I can't remember exactly who, but there was one point in which Jellylorum (Nicole Johndrow) went over to one of the kittens and pulled his tail playfully! I loved seeing Jellylorum being portrayed as playful like that! AS Deuteronomy was singing, Mungojerrie kept nibbling at Rumpleteazers shoulders and neck. It was soo cute...and funny...especially since Rumpleteazer just kept a straight face and almost seemed to not even notice what he was doing! But she would occasionally react to him. Those two definately give the impression that the notorious duo are a couple and not siblings. On the third show we saw, it was soo cute...Plato (Karl Warden) lay there with his chin on his arms and stared out into the audience. It looked as though he were staring directly at me or at the little girl in front of me. He had this adorable little smile on his face and he would occasionally twitch his mouth. I couldn't help but laugh! Martin C. Hurt (Deuteronomy) has a wonderful voice. And I enjoyed listening to his rendition of "Moments of Happiness". Jacqueline Stedman (Sillabub) has a beautiful voice and seems to be perfectly suited for the role of Sillabub.
Gus:
As Gus was moving into place Sillabub (Jacqueline Stedman) had crawled over to Mungojerrie and seemed to 'offer' her tail to him to play with. He would bat at it she she would give this adorable little wiggle then flick her tail back to him to bat at again! It was so adorable! Again, Kevin Wanzor has such facial expressions! And he also has great inflections in his voice. Instead of the typical scratchy "old tom" voice that most use to portray the old-timer, he used a more high-pitched style "old tom" voice. Nicole Johndrow has a very strong voice! I could tell that she must have been classically trained in her singing. Mary Sweeney's voice isn't as strong as Nicole's, but it was still beautiful. I noticed a few minor changes in the way the song was sung. For example, the line "For he once was a star" was emphasized more than when I'd seen it before and Jellylorum raises her hand at that moment as though to point out his name on a billboard or something like that. Oh, and while Jelly and Gus were singing, Jennyanydots lay face down as though she were bored to death! Hehehehe.... I'm not sure I remember this correctly, but I think it was also during this song in which Jenny sat there playing with her pink bow-tie. Cute! :)
Growltiger:
Hehe...the first night when we saw the show, something happened that Kevin was unable to tie the eyepatch onto his Growltiger costume. So instead, he just flicked his 'bandana' around and kept the one eye squinted or closed during the whole song. Gotta love improvistaion! Hehehe... Also, that same show, we saw that Griddlebones 'hat' had come off as Jellylorum was moving about the stage. But she was able to quickly put it back on before she had to exit off the "ship". Kevin does a great Growltiger! And both Nicole and Mary were great as Griddlebone as well! When Growltiger lays Griddlebone down, you can hear him trying to smooch her, but she stops him and lifts her foot intead. He then goes and kisses her foot! Hilarious! Later, he gets annoyed at Griddlebone when she begins to flick her tail back and forth in her own annoyance that he's singing instead of paying attention to her. Growltiger even goes so far as to grab her tail to stop her from flicking it back and forth. She waves apologetically at him.
I still get disappointed in the new choreography of Growltiger's sword fight scene. I know that they cut it short in order to shorten the length of the show. I suppose if no one has ever seen it before, they wouldn't notice, but I have seen the full version before and it always seems soo....obvious..at least to me...that it was cut. Once Growltiger gets his sword handed to him, in the longer, Broadway version, they do some fighting before they had to pause and take some deep breaths. In the shortened version, they take some deep breaths before they even fight. It makes me wonder why they are pausing to breath when they hadn't even done anything yet. Another thing I miss seeing...and I think this was true with the previous tour, was that Ghengis somehow had dropped his sword or something like that, and Growltiger picks it up. Ghengis essentially demands that Growltiger gives it back to him, and Growltiger does....sharp side first in the palm of Growltiger's hand. :) Oh well. At least the song is included..better that than it not being in the show at all. :)
Skimbleshanks:
Jesse Factor did a terrific job as Skimbleshanks. He was full of energy and sang it well. When everyone was lined up, Victoria displaced Jellylorum who in turn gave Skimble a 'tip' for setting things right again. Mungojerrie and Pouncival (Shane Hall), acted up in the background. During the part where Skimble raises his leg, instead of Alonzo pointing to Skimble's leg, he just stood there and bit at Skimble's arm warmer! Hehehe... When the train 'fell apart' everyone laughed. I'm still not quite sure why they laugh at that point. This is such an energetic song!
Macavity:
Lucie Wood (and Molly Logan on the first night) were great as Bombalurina. Luci portrays Bombalurina not as serious as the way Sharon Huneycutt had portrayed her. Lucie's Bombalurina seems to be more open and playful. Robin Wilner's Demeter isn't as 'spastic' as some other have portrayed the golden queen, but she did a great job. Bombalurina and Demeter were very good together as they sang. On the first show we saw, Victoria had come down the stairs and kept looking at us (we were in our costumes that night) as though unsure what to make of us. :) On the last show we saw, we got to see Sillabub sitting on the stairs. She was paying attention to the little girl in front of us. I wish I could have seen the little girls face. :) Alonzo was up there 'shadow-dancing' behind Demeter. I'm glad they kept that in and can't understand why they didn't have it in the video or the London production anymore. I LOVED the fight scene! They brought back the spin in the fight! After Macavity is revealed, Macavity jumps around the stage and at one point gives out a loud, evil laugh! Karl Warden does an awesome job with that! You'd think he'd go hoarse or something like that with his laughs and yelling! Then Macavity knocks Munkustrap out of the way and grabs Demeter. He puts her over his shoulder and Munkustrap goes after them, but the silver tabby moves away when Macavity holds out his hand...as though he knows better than to let Macavity hypnotize him. Then Alonzo (Adam Walters) steps in to rescue Demeter as Munkustrap continues the fight. But he is quickly knocked out by Macavity and Alonzo rejoins the fight. I keep thinking that Alonzo is going to break his leg or sprain an ankle or something like that when Macavity literally throws the gold and brown tom far away from him. Then, after Macavity "walks over" Alonzo, and Alonzo get up, Macavity gives this frustrated scream that is unexpected. I gave me goosebumps! Then they go on with the fight and in a very quick move, Karl wraps his legs on Alonzo's shoulders and Alonzo spins him around while Macavity tried to 'scratch' at Alonzo. But when Alonzo finally puts him down, it is Macavity that is 'injured'. For some reason, I really felt the emotion when they all said "We have to find Old Deuteronomy."
Mistoffelees:
I was sad that I didn't get to see Ryan Jackson perform. I had heard so many good things about him. Oh well. But Eric Shorey was a good Mistoffelees. He did about 21 conjuring turns in his solo part.
Memory:
Again, Dee starts off singing more softly, but she grows in strength and loudness as she sings. One thing I noticed...during the part where Grizabella falls down and Sillabub picks up the song, Grizabella can't be heard as well during the 'duet' line. At first, I had thought that Sillabub had sung it by herself, but I realized later that Griz had sung, but was so quiet that I couldn't hear her. I don't know if that was by design or if the microphone was more silent or what was meant to be. But it did seem to give the effect of Griz being weak and trying to find the strength to continue on with her singing.
Up to the Heaviside Layer:
Demeter gave Grizabella a hug when they all finally accepted Griz. The way Dee raised her hand up in the air just before she reached the top of the stage is different from before. Intstead of reaching up almost triumphantly, she reached up almost in awe of what was up there. It's interesting to see how different people portray the different characters. :) I wish they could come up with something else to transport Grizabella to the Heaviside Layer. The lights and fog and all are nice effects and such, but it is rather much like a 'ufo'....and I've noticed that it tends to confuse those who don't know what is going on. But, I don't know what else they could do come up with that is transportable. Oh well.
Ad-dressing of Cats:
Martin did a wonderful job as Deuteronomy when singing this song! He gave different vocal inflections to accent some of the more humorous lines of this song. I enjoyed listening to his rendition very much.
When the cats all came out into the audience during the finale, on the first show, Mungojerrie had come over and flicked my costume tail up. Mungojerrie seems to have a thing for tails. ;)
Overall, this is a good cast, and they work well together. They are very energetic and playful. It's pretty obvious that they really enjoy themselves in their roles.
