From Donovan:
Dec. 1, 2001
Finally, I got to see the latest tour of Cats this past Saturday, December 1st. I had been anticipating it for quite some time, especially as I was getting to take my girlfriend Anne with me. It was her first time seeing Cats live. When I first met her, she didn't like Cats, but a lot of that was from how a previous teacher had introduced her to it as she has begun to like it since being around me. And she very much enjoyed the performance as did I :)
We were a decent distance back, about row N and a little towards center. As we looked around, I noticed some of the differences between this set and the Broadway one which I was more familiar with. But then of course, that one was a set stage and the tour one had to be made for quick take down and hauling between cities. I found out later that it was pretty much the exact set of the 4th National Tour and this company had acquired it for this tour. The tech person I was talking to even mentioned that they had asked Marlene Danielle if they could borrow her tire (she was given the tire from Broadway after the set was disassembled), but weren't able to. Besides, in many locations the 4000 pound undercarriage of the tire would have broken through some stages. The one thing that later surprised me was that the car trunk didn't open and instead Jennyanydots can sliding out of an oven (I couldn't see the oven from where we were sitting so hadn't noticed it then). But I did really like how the huge strings of lights carried out far over the audience (TPAC has a very high ceiling, especially compared to the WGT. I think it is somewhere around 100 foot high in places).
The show began as a thrill of finally being able to see the show again passed through me. The cat eyes and flashing of the lights were once more happening in front of me. I was also slightly surprised and happy to see the green eyes of Cats running along the outer edge of the audience (there being no center aisle). I did manage to see Skimbleshanks, Sillabub, and maybe Old Deuteronomy??! on our side. At least I think that's who they were. What can I say? It was dark :p The smoke was billowing out from the stage and I could barely make out the UFO being lowered. Unfortunately, there was a major technical problem as they tried to raise it back up. Only one side of the UFO would raise, tilting it and not bringing the other side up. After struggling with it for a while, the Overture ended with it still right above the stage. They had to halt the show as the team of stage techs came out to see what they could do to repair the problems. They finally had to unhook it from the cables and about 7 or 8 of them hauled it off stage so the show could go on. Fortunately, I think the audience was very understanding and as they say, welcome to live theatre :)
The show started up as the car lights swung across the audience and onto Demeter. She was extremely excellent all through the show with a great voice and fabulous dancing. She also acted the part of paranoid, scared, and startled during the Macavity scares terrifically! Then the silver tabby himself came out. Grant Turner was out with a strain or other injury to his lower back (Get well soon!) and Mike Ericson was playing Munkustrap. He did a marvelous job with an incredible singing voice. Very deep at times, great mannerisms, and just carrying himself off as Munkustrap with every step. This seemed to be the time for the understudies and swings to shine as there were a lot of other replacements. Mike Ericson was Munkustrap, Colin Cunliffe was Skimbleshanks (although he had been playing Munkustrap previously and got confused as to who he was that night when signing programs :), Brad Barnes was Mistoffelees, Brian Collier was Tumblebrutus, and not an actual swing but not in the program as playing the part was Katie Warner as Sillabub. I guess they just couldn't find anyone good enough to fill Pouncival's shoes as they left him out entirely. But soon I am sure David Blonn will be out there on stage once more as he's just having to wait on the doctor's ok right now.
The Naming of Cats was great as the cast spread out across the stage and slightly down into the audience (sorry. TPAC isn't designed too well for a lot of audience interaction). And then came Victoria's solo. WOW!!! Shylo is incredible as Victoria! Elegant, poised, and just perfect. And this is not because she is my favorite either :p In fact, because she is my favorite, I could possibly be more critical of anyone performing her than any other Cat, but Shylo left no room for any comments other than ones of awe :) One interesting thing was instead of Misto calling the initial Invitation after coming out to Victoria, Munkustrap did that part after Misto came out to Victoria.
Jennyanydots was tremendous as she came out for her song. She really began to catch the audience up in the show. It was really great to see the full tap number once more :) And then when she was accepting her due accolades and poor Munk was running after her to try and put her coat back on was hilarious :) Ummm... not much that I can say about the Tugger. To me he did sound and act better in his later parts, especially when singing Mr. Mistoffelees. Then he was really terrific. One cute thing I noticed during this song was Jenny grooming Tumble's hair some :) Tumblebrutus that night was extremely hyper and very cool :) Hehe, guess he was trying to make up for Pounce not being there as well. Tremendous acrobat and all around great acting, from sitting on the top hat before it was brought over for Bustopher, to imitating some of the older Cats, and generally being mischevious and full of kittenish energy.
Grizabella... WOW! She had an incredibly strong, vibrant, rich voice. Extremely moving and tremendous acting, even with the short time she was on for that first part. And she only got better through the night :) And then Bustopher came out :) Deep strong voice which really came out later for Gus and especially Growltiger. Great actor throughout. I really enjoyed how William Hartery portrayed him and all the other diverse characters he played. Poor Tumble. Skimble got on to him when he was forming the line as well as Alonzo I think swatting at him.
Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer were really good :) I was a little concerned when it looked like Rumple almost fell over during a cartwheel early on, but she quickly recovered and carried on with energy and exhuberance. As for Bryce... he was a hilarious Mungo :) Great voice and acting on his part. And later, when he was Genghis, you could see some of his training as a fight coordinator and fencer coming through (I fence some, but not too often anymore. Need to get back into it).
All the other Cats came on and caught Mungo and Rumple which led to Old Deuteronomy's song. Misto of course sensed him first, but since Cori and Tant were not in the cast, Cassandra sang the next line. Also something different was that Skimbleshanks was the one that went off stage to escort Old Deuteronomy. Tugger and Munkustrap harmonized very well during this song.
Since Pekes and Pollicles was not performed in this production, they went directly to the second Macavity scare after Old D showed up. And what a scare it was!! Crashing and flashing lights everywhere! Very, very impressive and Demeter did great running around skittish and scared as she called out the warning. Then Old D calmed everyone down as he called them out for the Jellicle Ball. And what an amazing ball it was with extremely excellent dancing everywhere. 15 or so solid minutes of intense incredible dancing with a really great musical backdrop. Always a highlight of the show.
And then Grizabella returned and after the others had left, she sang the first part of Memory. WOW! Such a beautiful, clear, emotion filled voice! It was a joy to hear her sing. After she left, we had the intermission. I took the opportunity to walk around some and talked some with one of the local TPAC people up at the keyboard and then with one of the tour technicians as he came back to his station. We discussed various aspects of the show and previous versions and such for a while before it came near time to head back to my seat. Hehe, and the tech said he really enjoyed the cookies I talked my girlfriend into making for the cast and crew :)
The next part began with the Moments of Happiness. Old D, whom had sat in silent contemplation through out the intermission on the tire, sang in a slow, strong voice that left echoes and vibrations throughout. Really great job on a song that sometimes seems hard because of the reach and style of the song (at least that's sometimes how it seems to me when I try to sing it). Tumble and Cassandra were the ones who channeled for Sillabub for her part. Katie had a very nice voice for this part. Hehe, I was wondering who she was later when I found out she had performed the part, as she wasn't in the program. But I found out she had just joined a month or so ago and they had probably already printed the programs so they didn't have time to change it and put her in.
Jellylorum then brought Gus out for his song. She had a wonderful voice and the two of them played very well off of each other throughout each other's songs, though there were a few parts that they might have been able to have a little more interaction. Even so, they did really great together. I throughly enjoyed Gus's singing and acting while singing his song and it was funny to watch some of the reactions of the kittens in the background as they were clustered around Old D. And then came GROWLTIGER!! Really great to see this once more. Here William and Wendi absolutely shone with both singing and acting. Also the other four pirates were great as Growltiger terrorized them and beat them up with Munkustrap having to fend Growltiger off from eating his parrot. Seeing this once more and done so well just made the night for me. Hehe, well ok seeing the whole show did that, but this was a part I missed cause of the editors decision to cut it from the video. Also I think this song really began to draw the audience in and get them to really start showing their appreciation (sorry, the audience did appear a little dead that night).
Skimbleshanks started off with the queen kittens sneaking up on Skimble and waking him up from his spot on top of the can Gus had been sitting on. Colin was great as a very animated Skimble and did wonderful acting through the song. Then came the final and real coming of MACAVITY! Everett did wonderful as the firey Napoleon of Crime. Very incredible acrobatics through out as he fought Munk and Alonzo. Also it was interesting watching Alonzo do his shadow dance of Demeter while she was singing, though he left once Bombalurina came out on stage as well. I've always liked this song and I definately was not disappointed in this performance of it :) Very sultry voice from Bomb as she sang and equally great singing from Demeter. The fight scene was great as well as the mighty Everett took on everyone :)
Then came Misto's song. Here the Tugger had the style and singing quality he was off on earlier and I really got into this song with its rockin rhythm and Tugger's antics as he called forth Misto from hiding to recover Old D. Brad did quite well as Misto, though not too animated or trying a lot of leaping dance moves. Still he looked impressive in his sparkling crystal outfit as he spun around the stage, throwing his magic all around. He did take most of the spins fairly slow, but did speed up there at the last. He also did pretty good calling Old D back. My only thought is that I know several of the cast had worked with Sigfried and Roy and might be able to offer some suggestions on ways to act more like someone conjuring something under the sheet. Just a minor thought as he did do quite well overall.
And then Grizabella returns once more. Singing defiantly at first, she carried an immense impact as she challenged everyone to look at their memories of happiness and as she wished to be able to return to those days again. Wow! As she stood back up and sang at the top of her voice, it was if she was the only thing I could see or was aware of. About the only thing I could really notice outside of her was my hand gripping Anne's knee. Incredible! Old D takes her as the choice and the smoke begins to pour out. Immense clouds of it too! Seemed to be a lot more of it that usual. Anyways, Old D leads her up on the tire and raises it towards the Heavyside Layer. Unfortunately, they had not managed to get the UFO fixed during the show, so Grizabella sort of had to sit back down on the tire and stared up intently at Old D as if trying to direct attention off of herself and back to him, trying to make herself fairly unnoticed :) I thought this was excellent improvisation and a way to work around technical problems.
The Old D sang the Ad-Dressing of Cats with strength and power. It was great watching some of the expressions of the other Cats, especially when he was singing about gifts of food to them :) And so the show ended as the Cats came on stage for their bows. I was a little disappointed in the audience as no one else was giving them the standing ovation they deserved for this being the second show that day and overcoming some early technical problems to still put on a top class performance.
Afterwards, Anne and I managed to get to the stage door and meet several of the cast members. Some were very obviously tired and understandably so. Others seemed to still be fired up and bouncing around. And I do have to offer up an apology to Ronnie for confusing him with Bryce. I couldn't quite make out the name on his jacket as he was coming up except for the last O. So sorry Ronnie, you did a really terrific job out there and I was very impressed with your performance and thank you for being so kind as to sign my handbill. I'm disappointed that I missed David, but then he didn't have to change out of costume so he must have left before we got around to the stage door. If you're still with the cast when they hopefully next come through this area, hopefully I can catch you then. And to all the cast, applause once more for a great performance and a night of magic :)
Mri'fa-o,
Donovan/Arymetore