Cats

[theatremadness]

Continuation of the TheatreForum thread! There is another UK/International tour heading out in Feb with rehearsals underway and it's just been announced that Cats will return to Broadway in the summer of 2016 at the Neil Simon Theatre with previews beginning on July 14th, opening on August 2nd, with new choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler.

Interestingly, original Cats choreographer Dame Gillian Lynne tweeted this shortly after the news broke:

[steve10086]

Awkward!!!

[chinatoy]

Why no cast announced for the Uk tour? It starts in a few days

[BurlyBeaR]

Jan 24, 2016 17:00:52 GMT chinatoy said:

Why no cast announced for the Uk tour? It starts in a few days

Opens in Manc on Saturday and STILL no cast on the website.

I'm going on Monday with considerable reservations as its my first time and I suspect I may hate it. Although as things go it appears I may be staring at an empty stage.

Who the hell is in this??

[ali973]

Guys..relax. It's a bunch of very talented unknowns in leotards and pussy make up. The only one worth noting is probably the actress playing/singing Grizabella, which is Anita Louise Combe in this upcoming tour. Done.

[BurlyBeaR]

No google images of Anita in pussycat ears and smudged lippy so it's presumably her first time too.

[BurlyBeaR]

Do the cats still infiltrate the audience before the show starts?

If anything touches me in a cat-like way they'll regret it!

[Deleted]

Full cast was announced on West End Frame yesterday

www.westendframe.com/2016/01/full-casting-confirmed-for-cats-uk.html?m=1#more

[d'James]

So it's not possible to have the 'duet' version without Elaine, or I couldn't find it. The person singing with Elaine is extremely bland that I found.

Maybe someone should force Elaine and Sarah Brightman to record it now, if they could try and sound less affected.

[ali973]

Jan 28, 2016 14:58:30 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

Do the cats still infiltrate the audience before the show starts?

If anything touches me in a cat-like way they'll regret it!

Yes, they do. But they don't really touch as much as they talk to you about the naming of cats. That part is actually pretty creepy. 

[Deleted]

Jan 31, 2016 3:11:49 GMT d'James said:

So it's not possible to have the 'duet' version without Elaine, or I couldn't find it. The person singing with Elaine is extremely bland that I found.

Maybe someone should force Elaine and Sarah Brightman to record it now, if they could try and sound less affected.

So all the foreign cast recordings have it (Broadway and Australia are the ones in English). Dunno if you'd need to get whole CD though as not sure would be on iTunes.
Well worth it though!

[BurlyBeaR]

Well, I should have listened to my inner voice.

Left at the interval. Absolutely dreadful. We HATED it.

[tr252]

Feb 1, 2016 21:32:19 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

Well, I should have listened to my inner voice.

Left at the interval. Absolutely dreadful. We HATED it.

You may have been sat next to me as they didn't come back after the interval either. I didn't hate it but I was very bored. Memory in the second half was very good. And that's it. The rest was very very dull. I'm not sure how this show is so famous.

[Deleted]

Feb 1, 2016 23:22:34 GMT tr252 said:

Feb 1, 2016 21:32:19 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

Well, I should have listened to my inner voice.

Left at the interval. Absolutely dreadful. We HATED it.

You may have been sat next to me as they didn't come back after the interval either. I didn't hate it but I was very bored. Memory in the second half was very good. And that's it. The rest was very very dull. I'm not sure how this show is so famous.

Like most long runners or new tours of the long runners, they are shadows of their former selves. They look cheapened, have been directed for an audience who has been brought up on X Factor, and are cut or reworked. In its day Cats was both ground-breaking and breath-taking. Alas no longer... I went to see Les Mis at the Queens a couple of years ago and couldn't believe what they'd done to this one-time masterpiece. Awful, just awful... Phantom in Las Vegas was the same, but at least it had been craftily renamed ("The Phantom Spectacular"). Don't get me started on Starlight Express or Blood Brothers...

The exceptions are when the shows have been completely restaged by a new director with a new vision of the piece. Laurence Connor's interpretations of Les Mis and Phantom which toured around the country a few years ago were magnificent reimaginings, I thought. So refreshing in their design, performances, and true to the original score with some new orchestrations. (His Arena Superstar was less impressive... )

I can understand that you have to judge on what you see, but you can't question how a show became the megashow it is when you haven't seen its original incarnation.

[loureviews]

I don't agree that the new Cats is necessarily a shadow of its former self. For me seeing it in 1989 and again last year it was still a powerful show, although the reboot of the Rum Tum Tugger's song is poor.

As for Phantom and Les Mis they are probably no longer the big spectacles and special events they were in the 80s, but I don’t feel they have changed that much. What has changed is the quality of the singers in these musicals - but even that is just my opinion, others may disagree.

[Steffi]

Cats was the first ever musical I watched back in 1990. In those days the show had a definite wow factor. Times change and what once was seen as a groundbreaking new musical might not have the same impact on first time viewers today.
I haven't seen the current production so can't comment on the changes they made but I saw the last German tour of the show a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. I can see that it's not for everyone. There's a very thin narrative and some parts can drag a bit. But I don't question why it became such a popular show back in the days.

[ali973]

Totally agree, Steffi. It was my first show ever, also in the 90s. I had to campaign for my family to take me I have to say that seeing again when it was revived brought to much pleasure and nostalgia. And yes, some parts do drag, especially in Act 2 (Growltigger is painful). But the opening and the big tribal numbers are fantastic, and Memory is usually spine tingling.

[BurlyBeaR]

Well, never got to Act 2, believe me if I am yawning and looking round at people in the audience while the performance is underway there is something very wrong because I have quite a high threshold (cough*Spamalot*cough). It seemed to consist of the word Jellicle being repeated ad infinitum by a lot of people in terrible make up and costumes. I mean I know the costumes are supposed to look like that but they all just looked raggy and dirty and un-fabulous. Best bit was the tap routine, the rest of it left me cold. And THEN she did a cut down version of Memory, walked off stage disinterestedly and the lights went up! I looked at my friend who said "is that it? Where's the rest of the song?!". We had no idea it makes a reappearance in Act 2. Anyway that was his ever first walk out. I was quite proud it happened with me. Even with a full blown Memory I don't think we could have handled another hour of it.

Despite concerns about audience interaction the naming of the cats bit was actually ok. A very beautiful girl in a brown all-in-one (possibly Siamese inspired) chose me to focus on as everyone else avoided eye contact. She was lovely.

I sent my friend a text after saying "cats was s**t" and he sent me this back


tinypic.com/r/v5ctwk/9

[Deleted]

See, on the flipside, it is one of my favourite shows. Just shows how different we all are. Though I agree, Growltiger is a painful display to sit through.

[distantcousin]

Feb 2, 2016 12:56:37 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

Well, never got to Act 2, believe me if I am yawning and looking round at people in the audience while the performance is underway there is something very wrong because I have quite a high threshold (cough*Spamalot*cough). It seemed to consist of the word Jellicle being repeated ad infinitum by a lot of people in terrible make up and costumes. I mean I know the costumes are supposed to look like that but they all just looked raggy and dirty and un-fabulous. Best bit was the tap routine, the rest of it left me cold. And THEN she did a cut down version of Memory, walked off stage disinterestedly and the lights went up! I looked at my friend who said "is that it? Where's the rest of the song?!". We had no idea it makes a reappearance in Act 2. Anyway that was his ever first walk out. I was quite proud it happened with me. Even with a full blown Memory I don't think we could have handled another hour of it.

Despite concerns about audience interaction the naming of the cats bit was actually ok. A very beautiful girl in a brown all-in-one (possibly Siamese inspired) chose me to focus on as everyone else avoided eye contact. She was lovely.

I sent my friend a text after saying "cats was s**t" and he sent me this back


tinypic.com/r/v5ctwk/9

Oh dear - we could never be pals!

[ncbears]

Hooper to herd Cats to the screen?I don't know if if this is good news or bad news - depending, I guess, on what you thought of the film Les Miserables. 

[Deleted]

Oh dear... Lots of close ups of pussies isn't really my thing!

[Deleted]

Feb 8, 2016 16:08:35 GMT ncbears said:

Hooper to herd Cats to the screen?I don't know if if this is good news or bad news - depending, I guess, on what you thought of the film Les Miserables. 

It's already been filmed once, back in 1997 at the Adelphi using the touring set IIRC. That was a filmed version of the stage production, but given the nature of the show it's difficult to see how anything could be added to make a new film significantly different from the existing one even if they take it away from the stage. Unless they did it with actual cats.

[David J]

I'd prefer an animated film

[Deleted]

I gagged at the thought of an animated film! If it is gonna be done, it has to be with first rate dancers... you couldn't star cast the dance heavy roles... you could star cast Grizabella, Gus and Old Deuteronomy to reel the crowds in!