The Day---
That morning---
Woke up. Today’s the day!! THE day I’ve been waiting for about 4 years now. Not much happened that morning--- it was all a blur!! We went and tried to decide which NYC collages we wanted to buy down our street. Then I headed over to two nearby B-way shops. Got 3 hand painted CATS shirts, a postcard, and 3 pairs of B-way socks (one for me and two for souvenirs for friends) and a rare CATS show card at another B-way store. I stopped by the CATS signs and got a few pics standing by it earlier. I was merrily jumping around as we went into Friday’s to eat. They had the air conditioner really cranked up in there. Still, I could hardly sit still. The Winter Garden Theater was just down the way!! I couldn’t believe it. After lunch we went back and changed. Of course, I had to wear my leopard print top and black skirt. Well now--- walking down the street (or floating, rather for me) Finally we reached the theater. Floating by, I caught a glimpse of two familiar faces. They were Nos and Creol from the chat! By the time I recognized them both, I was caught in the updraft into the lobby. Once in the lobby, I marveled at the sights. I bought a brochure and waited to be seated. Once we got into line, the feeling hit me. As we stepped inside the theater into the big oversized junkyard, I began crying. I knew I would--- so it wasn’t unsuspected. I was finally there. It just hit me at once. I was THERE. I sat down on row AA (front row) seat 2—RIGHT next to the ramp. I sat down and tried to dry up my tears, and suddenly, I noticed a familiar Iowan kitty walking down the aisle. It was Nos. But he kept walking--- and kept walking. He was sitting on our row!! 2 seats down from me. We talked for a while ‘till the show started. The anticipation was growing! Finally the lights went down after the announcements were made.
The Overture—
I couldn’t wait for the CATS to come out there with their green glowing eyes! I knew what to expect, and couldn’t wait! That was my first time to see that, because when I saw it on the tour, they couldn’t manage to get down the long aisles that quickly or something like that. Tumblebrutus came over on the ramp and stuck his green glowing eyes in my face. And then, to my advantage, a certain favorite tabby of mine (Munkustrap!!)was lit up in a green overcast on our row. It was a beautiful sight.
Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats—I nearly bounced out of my seat when I saw Munkustrap crawling onto the hood of the car! (Munku-fan instinct) Tantomile and Coricopat slithered up from behind me on the ramp I was sitting by. The expressions on the cats’ faces when the shoe hit were priceless!! CAT interaction: Rumple stared intently at me after her entrance. Oooh—and THEN I was hit in the head by Munkustrap’s tail when he kicked it back after snarling at “that man over there”.
Naming of CATS—
This is when some of the CATS first noticed that I was mouthing the lines along with them. Cassandra stared at me for a second, and then Skimbleshanks caught my eye and stared at me for a while. I was about to bounce out of my seat there.
The Invitation to the Jellicle Ball—
Very cool!! Missy did a different dance than the one we see in the video. It was great! She added a little hip twist to her “bicycle” move. Reminded me of our strenuous stretches we do everyday in musical theater.
Gumbie Cat—
Must note: Sharon is marvelous! Sharon Wheatley played the Gumbie Cat, and she was just splendid in her part! She was such a sweetie on (and offstage…As I later found out after the show) onstage!! Something that caught my attention in this number was that Skimbleshanks played one of the mice. That was different! He was sitting right in front of me too—so I really noticed that. The tap dance sequence was marvelous as well!!! Pouncival (Jon-Erik) was such a cute dancing beetle! (As well as a kitten!)
Rum Tum Tugger: Stephen was a short, but wonderful Rum Tum Tugger!! His antics were just hilarious. The kittens were all very cute here too. Rumple’s never-ending-scream at the end of the number was adorable.
Grizabella the Glamour Cat---
Linda put on a great performance here. I had a close up encounter with her--- she is an excellent actress! The way she would shake and look up as if it hurt her to look back at the other jellicles was bone chilling.
Bustopher Jones—
Jennyanydots was cute in this number! She had all of her “queenfriends” prim her up and get her ready to meet Bustopher ! So cute! Tumblebrutus and Pouncival quarreled the whole time. Then they’d stop a minute and flirt with the girls, and then one would get mad at the other and they’d start playfully fighting again.
Mungjerrie And Rumpleteazer—
Tesha Buss (Rumple) had such a cute voice!! The duo was amazing. Their cartwheel deserved an ovation in itself. (Especially since they didn’t have THAT much room to do the cartwheel in.)
Old Deuteronomy—
I was thrilled with this number, because when the cats all gathered up to meet Old Deuteronomy, they were facing me and coming right towards me!!! Old Deuteronomy came up on the ramp beside me and I couldn’t help but grin a huge grin at him as he passed by.
The Battle Of the Pekes And the Pollicles—
This was a FABULOUS number!! Skimble and Misto first crawled out into the audience and put their “Scotty” dog heads on the laps of some audience members for them to later return to and put on. Oh my! The Startrap, in which Keith (WOO HOO! Keith was a wonderful Plato/Macavity/Rumpus Cat) shot out from was right in front of my seat!
Jellicle Ball—
What an energetic cast! They did such a great job here at the high-energy Jellicle Ball number! It all went by so fast. Lenny (Alonzo) projected his wonderful voice! He has such a deep rich voice that it’s hard to miss! Ended up at the end with Misto reaching out his paw right in front of me and watching me until he returned back.
Memory(1)—Again, Linda displayed her wonderful singing/acting abilities. When she attempted to dance, she did a great job of convincing the audience that she was too worn out to do the dance the way she once could.
Intermission—I ran outside and spoke with Nos and Don for a few moments. Found out that I’m either really loud, or they’re soft spoken. Might be a little bit of both. Pokefest 2000 was declared (You don’t want to know.) After that, I went back in and took a moment to walk onstage. I found it beyond hilarious that they put up those little blocking chains around Old Deuteronomy—like he was an exhibit in a museum. Onstage was amazing. I did a little “Groovy dance” at the edge of the stage, plotted out in my mind where I had seen Munkustrap standing during the show and went to stand there myself (obsessed? Noooo--), and then stood in the middle of the stage and looked up into the light. That in itself made me start crying again. I looked out at the huge audience and realized exactly where I was. I was on the CATS stage—in New York City. After a silence of just standing there, I went back to my seat and waited for act two.
Taking a break from the report-- here I am outside the theater waiting to get autographs! There will be more trip pics up soon of the cast.
Moments of Happiness---
My compliments to the cast here!!! You could tell that they were all contemplating about their reactions to Grizabella. And were all concentrating so hard. None of them lost concentration as they stared up at the Jellicle sky. This was a very beautiful number, even if there wasn’t any dancing.
Gus the Theater Cat—
John Dewar could really play the “old” Gus out! When he gave the “blood curdling noises to bring on the ghost”, he let out a cough that sent the audience laughing.
Growltiger’s Last Stand—
What can I say?! It was a fanstastic number! So much energy here too! I had never seen a *REAL* Growltiger’s ship before—because on the tour it’s just the helm and a background on a sheet type thing. But here, the large ship folded out of the back of the stage. The “crew” of pirates were all taunting Growl when he spoke of the Siamese that “mauled his missing ear”- as they all yelled in a high voice-“Siame---s!” to make him cringe. Griddlbone popped up staring her Italian aria right beside our row and waved her tail above the people’s heads on the other end of the row. The Siamese attack part of this was fabulous! It scared me when Genghis started doing his twirling knife trick right in front of me. Everything had been hitting me that night, and I hopped that his knife wouldn’t be one of the things.
Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat—
Wow! James (Skimbleshanks) was spectacular in this number! He was awakened by the kittens sleeping in a loft above our seat. The train that the cast built was one of the things that drove me to cry again. Don’t ask why—but when they all assembled the train I began crying again. Perhaps it was being so close to it all, and seeing it all happen right before my eyes. It just hit me again.
Macavity---
One word: WOW! Bomb and Dem gave their all for this number. Watching Lenny (Alonzo) dance behind Celina (Demeter) was interesting! I liked it! I wish they had added a tom cat dancing to Macavity in the video. At one point, Celina came over onto my ramp and hunkered down beside me when she felt threatened of Macavity. Then—the fight scene came. It was truly amazing! Lenny swung our Keith (Macavity) around nearly 15 times!! Then when he let go, I could have sworn he was going to land right in my lap. (Would I have minded? Surely not!) And of course, the moment that Munkustrap was hurt, I wanted to jump onstage. He was about 2 feet from me at that point. Skimble went over and tended to him, and then when the lights went out and the spotlight panned around, Skimble came back over to me and looked at me as if to make sure I was still there. (He was a very protective tomcat over the kittens and for some reason, me.) I also vividly remembering one of the kittens saying to Munkustrap while he was still laying wounded on the ground-“Macavity’s not there”. With the backdrop of the spotlight and all—that picture just vividly sticks out. Just thought I’d note it. I notice how all these moments that “stick out” are in some way related to Munkustrap….hmmm…
Mr. Mistoffelees-
Julius (Misto! You should know by now!) really shined during this number!! MAN! That guy can do some SERIOUS turns!! I was amazed at his longevity of his numerous turns! Pouncival was sitting on the ramp next to me jiving with the song! He did a little boogie dance, and would then turn around and look at me, then over at Jennyanydots, and then watch Misto dance some more. This was cute! He reminded me of myself whenever I listen to music at home, because he’d bob his head around acting like no one else was there.
Memory—
What can I say? This was the most moving number of all. I bawled the whole way through. When Sillabub first sang her verse, I went off. Linda once again ceased to amaze us. When she collapsed on the stage, I felt that my 4000 miles had already added up to that one moment. Everything I had been waiting for was happening right before my eyes. This song is obviously the most recognized song from CATS, but it is especially important to me after I got to perform it in a one act play year before last, and won an award for it. The acceptance of Griz was a little less dramatic than the one on the video. The Victoria was much more eager to run over and grab Grizabella’s hand in this production.
The Journey to the Heavyside Layer---
Needless to say, I cried during this one too. Watching Grizabella’s expression while she walked up to the tire was priceless.
The Adressing of CATS—yes I could actually see this number through the tears in my eyes. I kept eye contact with Julius almost the whole number. At one point, I had a sudden sneeze that came out of no where, and Julius grinned and gave me a surprised look and then continued on as I kept staring. I also saw Keith stick his tongue out at Nos.
Curtain Call—can we say, wild standing ovation? I was probably the first person to stand up!! I clapped until I couldn’t feel my hands anymore!!! I yelled as loud as I could for Munkustrap and Mistofelees.
After the show---
I went to the stage door and waited to see who all would come out. I first caught Sharon Wheatly (Jennyanydots) and got her autograph just before she left. She was a real sweetheart! She made a comment about how heavy my dad’s pen was, and commented about how in High School she used to steal all her dad’s heavy-duty pens.
Then I found Keith Wilson (Plato/Macavity/Rumpus Cat) and got his autograph. He too commented on the heavy pen. Keith was quite easy to find outside, for the fact that because of his towering height, he stuck out of the crowd of most people. Such a friendly face!!
Patrick Mullaney (Tumblebrutus)—
Comment here! Patrick reminded me a lot of Ricky Martin for some reason! Hehe--- I caught him and got an autograph, as he TOO made a comment about my heavy pen. The cast just seemed to be enthralled with that heavy pen.
Julius Sermonia (Mistofelees) I don’t know WHAT I would have done if I wouldn’t have gotten his autograph! I was looking for him the majority of the time I was standing out there. I had found him earlier, but lost him in the crowd. Luckily, Don pointed out where he went off to and I made my way towards Julius’ direction. When I handed him the program to sign, he looked down at the program, then at the heavy pen and stated—“Hey this pen is really hea… Hey!” as he then noticed my leopard print top. He looked up at me and shook the pen.“I know you! You’re that girl in the front row that was staring at me! Yea! You were the one that sneezed!” I just cracked up right there! I spoke with him a little longer as 2 familiar faces walked up. They identified to be LittleGriz and DaBomba from the chat!! Julius gave me a weird look and started smiling when they asked what my name was I replied: ”Electra!!” So I explained it wasn’t my real name.
Then I managed to find Lenny standing by the street. I walked over and got his autograph, as he played with the pen too. He also looked up and noticed me.
“Hey! You’re that girl in the front row that actually stared back at me! Not many people will do that!” And with that, he stared at me once more as I simply cracked up. He bid “bye-bye” in that incredibly deep voice again.
Also, it was rather spooky when I met Rio, because we had both been walking around outside there, and recognized each other at the exact same time. I think we frightened quite a few people when we both called out each other's screen names at the same time and ran in for a big hug. :)
Overall--- I must say that this trip will never be beaten. I had been waiting 4 years to go- and it was worth every bit. The 4000 miles was nothing. This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. CATS may not be on Broadway forever- but it will live “Now And Forever” for me, always. Let the memory live again…