Kittix: Yay! We finally got to see CATS for our very first time! We saw the CATS U.S. Tour V in Pittsburgh, PA, on Sunday, January 6, 2002. Oooh.. special is us.

      Anyways, I'll tell you all about it song by song. But first, I'd like to say a few things. First of all.. the
things that really stood out to me. Now, being as I'm a full hearted video fan, there were really noticable
differences, first, the make up. The make up was really different. The make up took after the Broadway
CATS, I do believe, and I thinks thats why it was so different. Obviously. I still like the London make up better, but I cant complain, the make up was still good! The costumes were really different too. I.E. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer looks waaaaay different. Rumple's costume was a white build, with orange here and there. Mungojerrie, instead of looking like Rumple, he looked totally different. He was a dark brown, with hints of orange and yellow. I cant complain, they were still a cute pair! They changed my perspective of them, with the Tour/Broadway, I think they're mates. And on the video/London, I think they're siblings, which is how I prefer to view them as. Anyways, another thing is the accents.. there weren't any! I mean, yeah I know it was in America and all, but still, it was really noticable that there werent any accents. Also, there werent as many cats out there. No Etcetera, No Electra, no Coricopat and Tantomile. I know, it wasnt that big of an impact, but still. And lastly, no 'Awful Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles'. Too bad, because I actually kind of liked that, oh well.

Well, you see, on this Sunday, Pittsburgh was hit by some snow. A good deal of it actually, and the roads were horrible. Well, luckly, our Uncle had a 4x4 SUV so we made it there, slowly, but we made it. Besides the snow, traffic was terrible! There was a Steeler game going on at the same time, and football is like religion here, its worshipped, and it didnt help that the Steelers were playing thier rivals either. In other words, it was a hard time just driving there. We arrived at Heinz Hall at about 12:40 pm and the show started at 1. Uh oh.. when we got in there, the lobby was packed! We made our way around the people and found our way to the souvenir stand. Ooooh goodies! So much to buy.. but we were stupid and didnt bring much money. We decided on some programs and little things like that. I'd also like to point out that they had the CATS DVD there, and it was $45.00.. it wasnt even the new one, it was the Commemorative Edition. We got the Ultimate Edition for like $20. Anyways.. we had to stand in line waiting to get to our seats. As soon as we enetered the theater area and saw the stage, our jaws dropped and stayed that way pretty much the whole time. The stage was AMAZING! We went to our front row seats. We were so close, we could touch the stage from where we were! I did take some pics with my digital camera, it made a beeping noise as I took each picture, so I had to use the excuse 'Its my watch' while I took them. It wasnt worth it since the pics didnt come out. Blah.. Anyways,  we sat about 5 mins bouncing up and down in our seats and then the lights dimmed.

Overture/Jellicle Songs for Jellicle CATS

As soon as the lights dimmed, a bunch of cat eyes started flashing all over the place. On stage and every where! It was soooo cool! Then a bunch of stream lights and the music played. Suddenly, QAK turned around to see a cat beside her, which made her scream, which made me jump. I dont know which cat it was because it was dark, but it ran up onto stage and off it. Then a whole bunch of cats ran by us! Some giving us good stare downs. Then all the cats ran back stage and after the overture, the lights were out completely. Then, a car sound was heard, and a flashing light. There was Demeter, just like in the video, out there as she hisses as at the car. Then, it went a lot like the video. Munkustrap came out.. and the rest. Mungo and Rumple came out and had to do the parts Coricopat and Tantomile usually did. Well.. they all did thier little thingies and we were like 'OMG OMG OMG'.. then, eventually they got into thier little pyramid thing and started 'The Naming of Cats'. They said the first lines in the pyramid and started spreading out into the audience. Tumblebrutus came down and recited the poem right infront of us. He was starring up as he said it. He was so close, you could only hear his voice over the rest. As they went back on stage, some cats gave us some good stares and hissed at us. (We were so close enough that you could really hear them hiss.) I also accidenly kicked Jemima (well, its Sillabub since it's American, but since I am a video fan..) I think, with my foot as she went by..my bad. Then Victoria did her dance and all, Quaxo came out but didnt sing the 'Invitation to the Jellicle Ball'. It was Munk. That was a little weird, but cool. He had a good voice! It wssnt the regular Munk either, it was an understudy, anyways. Everything ran like the video.

Old Gumbie Cat

Well, after the opening, time for JennyAnyDots. Yup. Well, all of it happened as it did in the video. Munk sang the first part, and then Mungo and some other cats came and opened what looked like an oven, and Jenny came out. The mice were both boys and girls, there were only 4 I think. Jemima, Rumpleteazer, Skimble, and Vic, but I'm not sure. Eventually, a cockroaches came out and went to go stab Jenny (oh no) and she sent him away. And then as Bomba, Demeter, and Jellylorum sang thier parts, all the other cats got off stage. They took off Jenny's costume *eep* and then a bunch of cockroaches came out. Thier shoes were really clicky too. They did a neat little tap dance number, it seemed slower then the video's, but atleast you could tell that parts werent cut out. A cute little background thing, while Munk was singing, in the background, what I think was either Plato or Tumblebrutus kept flicking Vic's ears. She would turn around and he would hide. It was cute!

The Rum Tum Tugger..

Well.. The Rum Tum Tugger was a good Tugger and all.. but what can I say, he wasnt John Partidge. You cant worship, I mean, listen to John Partidge's singing style and change it like that. Anyways, Tugger came out and all the cats went crazy.. especially Jemima, Rumpleteazer, and Victoria. Bombi kept giving him 'Come here' stares too. He sang his parts and eventually went into the audience. He walked by us and went to the lady next to my older sister. He was waving his tail at her and he went over to some little girl, and then a guy I think. (that was strange..) He went back on stage and sang the rest. He went and did his 'Aboooooout' pelvic thrust thingies.. making all the queens go crazy. It made me laugh for awhile. He was using his tail as a fake microphone which was cute. His number ended and the music slowed down.

Grizabella the Glamour Cat

Grizabella came out and all the cats stopped in thier tracks. This Grizabella was neat, its just, her make up kinda looked like someone from the band KISS, but the costume was good. Well, Tugger got off stage, and there were some cats hissing at her. Mungo, Pouncival, and Tumblebrutus fought with each other to go smack Griz, and eventually Pounce went and scratched her. I loved Pouncival! He was a cute Pouncy, maybe even a little more then London's Pounce, or Carbucketty if you will. Anyways, Jemima went to touch her and was scratched by Jenny. Rumple went to touch her and Mungo stopped her. She got really pissed and ran off stage. Then Demeter went to touch her and stopped herself. She got mad and hissed at her. Grizabella started to sing her song and she was really good! She had that 'Feel bad for me. I'm old and I'm a cat' thing going on in her voice. Demeter sang her part, then Demeter and Bombi, and then all the cats. And eventually she got off stage and left.

Bustopher Jones

Bustopher was actually cute! In a cat way that is.. he came out and made little faces and walked around. He took his little flower in his pocket and threw it into the audience. Jenny started to sing and then the rest. As Bustopher sang, Pounce and Tumblebrutus kept fighting with each other and Skimble would break them up. Eventually, all the male cats got into a line and Bustopher tapped them on thier paws. The queens were all sitting on the other end of the stage. He shot a fake golf ball with his spoon and went over to Jenny. Instead of giving her a flower, he kissed her hand and she fainted. Why? Anyways.. there was a loud crash and the cats went crazy again. Demeter shouted 'Ma-cav-ity' in 3 sylabols which sounded a little weird compared to the video's 'MA-cavity!- two sylabols. We wont get into the english lesson here..

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer

Giggling was heard from backstage. It was a deep slow giggle, but it was still a giggle. Nah, it was a 'Ha heh he he..' and then a loud 'shh'. Rumple came out from the junk at the top right of the stage, holding a red sock, and Mungo followed. The did thier little tip toes thing and went down to the stage. Rumple went 'Weeeeeee...' as she slid down the car trunk. Mungo 'shh'ed her again and they both walked into eachother, throwing thier socks. When they first started to sing, thier parts were switched. Rumple sang 'Mungojerrie' and Mungo sang '..and Rumpleteazer'.. and the rest was regular. Without the British/Scottish accent. They were great! They sang the missing verses, my favorite ones that were cut from the video. They went over right infront of us and stood up on one leg as they sang '..commonly said to be ming...' They looked down at us and Rumple said 'Uh oh' and then they both laughed. Heheh, I liked that. Then they did thier double cartwheel, 3 of em, and stretched out as they finished thier number. All the cats came out and chased them up onto a pile of junk. They threw thier socks at them and instead of them flying over thier heads, they caught them and the song ended.

Old Deuteronomy

Quaxo suddenly looked very confused and he went to the center of the stage and said 'Old Deuteronomy?' and all the cats stopped what they were doing and started to clean themselves off. Instead of Quaxo, Skimble went off stage and brought Old D to them. Munk and Tugger sang thier parts as all the cats were absolutely amazed by Old D's presence. Not much happened during that song.. after it, there was another crash and the cats all scattered.

Jellicle Ball

They all came back out and read lines from 'Jellicle Cats' and did little dance thingies. They went into thier dance number and it was great. It followed the video.. they all got together and did the, uh, 'Mating Dance'.. Quaxo was with Cassandra right infront of us and did.. some.. things. Ahem.. anyways, they all got into a circle and Grizabella came out and they all got pissed again. They did the rest of the number and I loved it! The music slowed down again and Grizabella came out again.

Memory

Grizabella came back out and the cats hissed at her like usual. One of the cats bumped into her and she flew a few feet. They all eventually got off stage and it was just Old D and her. She tried to dance but lets face it, Griz is old and cant. She eventually came to reality and stopped herself. She sang a great rendition of 'Memory' and the music slowed. She put her paw out and Old D in the back put out his aswell. She left the stage and the house lights went up as intermission started. We didnt have a call of nature, and we werent in the mood to get up, so we stayed in our seats and marveled over our little programs. On stage.. Old Deuteronomy sat perfectly still during the entire intermission. He didnt move.. he just sat and stared.. occasionally blinking. That kinda creeped us out..

Moments of Happiness/Memory

All the cats came back out on stage and were messing around. Mungo was pushing around Rumple.. I think Tumblebrutus and Pounce were knocking each other around too. Vic was walking around, she kept looking over at us and smiling. That Vic was adorable! Old D finally started to move and all the cats calmed themselves down as he started to sing 'The Moments of Happiness'. We found ourselves really interested in a piece of fluff that was gently floating around in the air, so I cant tell you what happened during this part. Anyways, Jemima came up and sang pieces from 'Memory' and eventually all the cats sang.

Gus the Theater Cat

Jellylorum came out with Gus and all the cats went and sat down. They both sang thier parts but my attention was too the cats in the background. Poucival, who was absolutely adorable!, er, was sitting in the pipe and kept playing with Bombi's tail. She'd pull her tail away and he kept pulling it. Mungo was sitting by Bombi and Jemima, and beside him was Old D, and then on the other side of Old D was Rumple and Vic. Tumblebrutus was on the pipe, and I think that was all the cats out there. Mungo kept tapping Rumple and hiding behind Bombi. Gus got all emotional and got up and was actually moving around! Gus from the video had problems keeping his eyes open.. anyways, he got up and went to the front of the stage as the lights in the background dimmed. He said a few things and turned around with his back to the audience and suddenly, a backdrop came down that read 'Growltiger's Last Stand'.

Growltiger's Last Stand

This rocked! I wish they had a younger Gus in the video and did this.. oh well. Anyways, this was my first time actually seeing it and I loved it. Gus, well, Growltiger went and got into his pirate uniform and the backdrop curtain lifted up. There was a ship scene and the cats, aka the crew, which were Alonzo (a yellow and brown Alonzo, instead of black and white), Skimble, Tugger, and Misto, dressed as pirates, were sitting on different places of the ship. They all sang about Growltiger and Growltiger ended up punching them all. It was funny.. and then they all got into a line as Griddlebone came out. Growltiger went to cleaning himself off as the pirates sang about Griddlebone. Then the crew got off and Growltiger and Griddle sang a opretic duet together. Then.. some siamese cats came out. I didnt really like the costumes.. they were really weird, but they came out and sang with thier little swords. Evetually, Ghengis came out and sang. Hehe, I loved his voice, even had a little Siamese accent in there. Evetually, the number ended and the cats all came back out and Gus returned. He got all sad and left.

Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat

Skimble was asleep on a speaker thing on the other end of the stage. I have to say, I like this Skimble. He was cool.. I usually dont like Skimble. Anyways, they all sang and it was pretty much like the video. Actually, no, this number was better then the video. At one part, all the cats lined up in a straight line as Skimble went and examined them. He moved around Rumple's paws and stopped Mungo and Pounce from knocking eachother around. Did I mention Pounce was really adorable? Anyways, they all got out some train parts and put  together a train. Well.. it eventually all fell apart and they all got into a line and skipped like a train. Then, Skimble climbed up onto some cats and stretched. Suddenly, there was another loud crash and they cats went crazy again!

Macavity the Mystery Cat

Macavity appeared on one end of the stage and twirled about. It was very scary.. watching him twirl around, uh huh. His henchrats came out and took Old D away. All the cats got scared and ran around the stage. Right beside us was none other then Pouncival! He was sitting and looking around. On the other end of the stage, ironically, sitting was Rumple and Jemima our fav cats. Oh well. Bombi and Demeter sang thier parts and they were really good. During the dance scene though, it was both toms and queens instead of just queens. They all danced until the other cats came out and Macavity appeared from one side of the stage. A fake Macavity that is. Then another.. and then a fake Old D came up to the center of the stage. All the cats were hugging him and Demeter was stamping her feet and acting like QAK when she first wakes up. Bombi went over to her and she got even more pissed and ran around the cats and they all jumped back. She jumped on the fake Old D's back and tore off the costume. The cats all freaked out and he got to twirling around. He went over and grabbed Demeter and Munk grabbed her legs and they played tug-of-war with Demeter until Alonzo came and took her away. Munk fought him for a little bit, and then Alonzo came out and fought him. Then all the cats got into to! Even Bombi had a few shots him.. (we really liked this Bombi btw.. she rocked!) He got up and grabbed his little spark plug things and they went like this .. WAZAPAPAPAPAPAPA.... well maybe not like that, but he made the lights go out and everything was dead silent except a few coughs from the audience and someone from the front row mutter 'Eeeep!'.. I dont know who that was though.. *Eyes dart around nervously*

Mr. Mistoffelees

I loved this number!! Misto rules! First, one of the cats, I think it was POUNCIVAL *jumps up and down* came out and shined the light across the audience.. blinding me, and then over to the side of the stage. Demeter rubbed her head against Alonzo's and all the cats sang 'We have got to find Old De..' and you get the point. Tugger came out and introduced Misto. He started to sing.. and Misto came down from the ceiling, light bulbed coat and all, and got the lights back on. The dancing was great! There were even neat pyrotechnics.. little things.. but they were cool. Then, he did the 'Conjuring Turn' .. you know, what they sing about in the song on the video and cut it out.. anyways, He did the Conjuring Turn and I counted 30 spins. I was bouncing up and down just watching! He went and got Cassandra, made her disappear and brought back old D. They all sang and danced.. I was singing too.. unfortunatly though, if I were dancing, they'd probably throw me out.. so I decided not to do that... maybe next time.. anyways, he did some great jump splits and it was amazing!

Memory (again..)

The cats settled down and Jemima sat up and started to sing. They all did thier little 'Old D pick me thing' and Griz came out again. The cats still hated her. She sang 'Memory' again and eventually they all accepted her. They all grabbed her hands and handed her off to the older cats, who handed her off to Munk, who handed her off to Old D and TOUCHDOWN! I mean.. anyways.. she got up onto the tire with Old D and it started to fly up. The cats were jumping up and down.. and singing. It was soooo neato.. She eventually was gone and the tire went down a little bit, but was still in the air. He sang 'The Ad Dressing of Cats' and all the cats sang with him. I couldnt wait to get up and start to scream and clap.. as they ended the show, I burst up and screamed and clapped. Hehehe.. They got a standing ovation.. from the entire audience, not just that weird girl in the front row.

End of the Show

At the end of the show.. the cats started singing 'Mr. Mistoffelees' and they all came out one by one and did a little leap or something. I was clapping and cheering for them all. Specially my favs.. Pouncival, Mungo and Bomba. All the cats started running around again into the audience and stuff. Bomba came over to QAK and held her hand out for QAK to touch. Stupid QAK sat and looked stupid. She thought you werent allowed to touch the cats.. *sigh* oh well. The Tugger and Bombi went up on the stage and Bombi grinned and motioned him to come over to her. He smiled and ran over to her, he went to kiss her and she knocked him over. Left the audience laughing..

After the show.. we sat absolutely amazed. We loved the cats so much we decided to take them all home with us!!! Mwazahaha.. but, our friends from security didnt like our idea and we went home.. oh well, maybe next time. >:]

    We took advantage of the video.. where we could just rewind and play. Now, we have to wait till the tour comes back to see it again. If you havent seen CATS live.. you better go do it!!