Alley 1, Section 102 F 1
Having never seen CATS before, other than the Video, of course, I really didn't know what to expect from this production. I had been told much about it from reading all the reports on Megan's page and from having read articles in newspapers and such, so I guess I had an idea of what I wanted it to be like, but I certainly was not expecting what I got! Wednesday was spent in great anticipation of the show I was to finally see that night. We'd had our tickets for months by this stage, and at around 6pm, the long wait was finally over and we were off to the tent! Mum and I had driven past the tent earlier and stopped to get a better look and my brother told us he'd seen them setting up the day before. But not even that could have prepared me for the wonders that awaited me inside that big, black tent.
So, at around 6:30pm, I was in my seat -- which wasn't too bad. It was around the side of the stage and on the aisle, so I was quite happy. At least I could see everything! And I'd been told that the cats ran up and down the aisles, so I was looking forward to having them run past me all night! Another aisle was right behind me, so they were all running up and down there too. The announcement came over the speakers to turn off mobile phones and pagers, no flash photography, enjoy Cats, blah, blah -- and then it was time for the show to start! The first note of the Overture made the whole tent jump (including me!). The show had begun!
I had been warned by my parents, who saw Cats in Sydney many years ago, that the cats would come running through the audience on their way to the stage. So I was prepared, but apparently the girl sitting in the seat in front of me wasn't --and when one of the cats stopped right in front of her and started blinking at her, the poor thing screamed! I think the whole tent probably heard it! I'm not sure who the cat was, since it was too dark to see them properly, but they stayed there for a second and then jumped onto the stage. The man beside the girl in front of me just started laughing. The other cats gathered on stage and it was time to truly see what a production this would be.
The opening number, 'Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats' has always been one of my favourites. I found myself singing along in my head. I was struck by everyone's voices -- they were all so good! The whole tent laughed when the boot landed on the stage while the cats were in their group. And so passed the first song of the first production of Cats I have ever seen live! And it was incredible! I didn't catch who did the trapeze tonight, since I was too busy paying attention to the cats actually on stage. I had Demeter, Bombalurina, Tugger, Alonzo…and a few others on my side of the stage. 'The Naming of Cats' was uneventful for me, but wonderful nonetheless...there were cats running and crawling past me all the time. I had Warwick sitting up above me on the side of the stage and I could hear him the whole time! You were absolutely right, Megs -- he does have a powerful voice! Emma Delmenico has a lovely smile and demonstrated it a lot during her beautiful 'Invitation'. When Misto came out to dance with her, I got to hear Oliver's lovely accent properly!
The next song, 'The Old Gumbie Cat', is also one of my favourites. The first thing I noticed was that the tap dance was much longer than in the Video, which was a good thing, naturally! I was also impressed at how good Cara, Nicola and Helen sounded when they sang together. Lovely trio! Julie has a lovely voice too, of course! Then Richard burst onto stage and wowed the audience with his Tugger routine. The guy he picked out of the audience wasn't too bad...although, not as good as Richard! *laughs* I believe Rumpelteazer was our screamer tonight! I love 'Grizabella, The Glamour Cat' and both Delia and Cara sang their parts beautifully -- I especially like Demeter's solo here. Next along was 'Bustopher Jones'. I must admit that this hasn't been one of my favourite songs having seen the Video, but Mark's Bustopher was wonderful! I loved the little trio again and Mark sang his part very well indeed. During this song, I noticed another change: there's a little bit of speaking in between the songs! Stephen said, "Tell us about your clubs, Bustopher!" as Mark was pulled back to sit on the hat. The whole song was really well done.
Next was 'Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer', another of my favourites. Thanks to Markham and Rebecca, it still is! They performed flawlessly and I just love the accent that Markham gave to Mungojerrie! So cute! Rebecca was wonderful too, though! 'Old Deuteronomy' too hasn't ever really been a favourite song of mine, but I thought Glen and Richard's version was lovely. Juan was great too as Deuteronomy himself. I simply adore this cast's version of 'The Pekes and Pollicles'. Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer had me laughing when Munkustrap says, "Now, remember what I told you!" and they both nod at him. Then when he turns away, they turn to the audience and start shaking their heads. It's so cute! The confrontation between the first Peke and the first Pollicle was also amusing -- Markham and Rebecca do that so well! The Rumpus Cat was fantastic -- "You never saw anything fiercer! *gasp* Or...hairier!" Hilarious! If my memory serves me correctly, it was Victoria up on the ball during that song.
And what can I say about 'The Jellicle Ball'? It's absolutely incredible! Awe-inspiring, sensational and a whole lot of other words I could write down, but I'm not going to. The choreography in this number, as I'm sure you're all acutely aware, is amazing. The high kicks and the few little solos in there are so brilliantly done...particularly by this cast. Makes me wish I could dance like that! Well...maybe some day...you never know where to look during this number, since there's so much going on at once on the stage! When I'd caught my breath again, it was time to be blown away by Delia's Grizabella. She does a beautiful version of 'Memory' and you can see it gets very emotional for Delia herself up on stage. Brilliant!
Act 2 I think would have to be my personal favourite -- it's got all the songs I love in it. This started with Juan's lovely voice and Sarah Bowden's lovely solo. I've always liked Sillabub's part in this musical. Sarah plays the kitten very well. Then it was time to hear the talents of Helen and Mark again -- they're both wonderful performers, and showed it during this song. I've never seen 'Growltiger's Last Stand' live, so now was my chance! I must say, it quickly became one of my favourite numbers. I loved seeing Adam-Jon, Glen, Stephen, Richard and Oliver dressed up as the Pirates and Mark made a fantastic Growltiger! Griddlebone made her entrance to the delight of the cast members on stage and she and Growltiger sang their lovely duet while the Siamese snuck up through the audience. After a quick consultation to my program I discovered that it was Markham high above us as Ghengis who did the rope slide.
I was looking forward to seeing 'Skimbleshanks', since this was one of my favourite numbers on the London soundtrack. Stephen was FAR from disappointing -- in fact, he was a brilliant Skimble -- and the train was fantastic! Two of my very favourite songs followed very closely behind this -- 'Macavity' and 'Mr. Mistoffelees'. The former was wonderfully done by Cara and Nicola -- I was astounded by the talents of these two -- and the latter was wonderful too, done by Richard and Oliver. I got to see Oliver's real dancing prowess -- the whole audience started clapping along as he started his conjuring turn...how does he DO that?! Yikes!
Sarah Bowden's lovely voice again filled the tent and Delia came back out to wow us all again with a reprise of 'Memory'. She has such a great voice and makes a great Grizabella. She sings her songs so powerfully, which is essential to Grizabella's character. The 'Journey to the Heaviside Layer' was very sweet and Juan's 'The Ad-dressing of Cats' was also wonderfully sung. The cast didn't get a standing ovation this night, but I seriously thought about it! The audience went wild as the cast came out for their curtain calls, doing acrobatic tricks and such as they introduced each other. Phew! And so passed the very first production of Cats that I have ever seen live. *cheers* And I loved every moment of it!
We got a few photos of the tent on the way out as we had when we arrived, but I didn't get to go around the back of the tent tonight because my parents are the types who like to get out of shows pretty quick so they can avoid all the traffic. *sighs* So I don't really have any specific thankyous to make, except to the whole cast for making my first live experience of Cats such a memorable one. I don't know if any of you cast members will ever read this, but if you do, thankyou all -- you're a bunch of incredibly talented performers and this production and the cast will remain in my memory for a long time to come. Thankyou all again!!! I went home singing all the songs and feeling very happy that I'd managed to buy a ticket for the Thursday matinee!
