CATS revival scenic design vs Original Broadway Scenic design - Page 3

[Justin D]

Posted: 7/25/16 at 4:14pm

that video was so touching, esp the one with Laurie Beechman singing Memory, for anyone that has had a sickly pet that died it was very touching, esp. the applause when she gets onto that ramp. had me tearing up at work. and to make matters worse, knowing that she dies a year later in real life, such a talent she was

 



this was the seating chart when cats was there (with the onstage seating at the top and the broken up section of the front orchestra

[rangersrule132]

Posted: 7/25/16 at 5:06pm

Updated On: 7/25/16 at 05:06 PM

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 7/25/16 at 5:54pm

morosco said: "Grizabella's trip to the Heaviside Layer at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1997.

https://youtu.be/BaGYwwSM7TI?t=141

 

"

Does that lift work in the same way the lift in  worked?

Updated On: 7/25/16 at 05:54 PM

[chewy5000]

Posted: 7/26/16 at 5:34am

Quoting from this terrific biography:

Napier at first suggested that the Winter Garden’s proscenium be removed, but practicality dictated otherwise, so instead he extended the stage by twenty-four feet, out over the orchestra pit, and wrapped seats around both sides of the extension. The proscenium arch also necessitated changing the shows penultimate scene. In London, Grizabella had made her heavenly exit up a grand staircase that emerged from the New London’s back wall, but in New York her apotheosis had to take place center stage, that the whole audience might see it. The stairway had to emerge, miraculously, from the ceiling, so the technical coordinators, Peter Feller and Arthur Siccardi, broke through the Winter Garden’s ceiling, built a shed to house the mechanism that would operate the stairs and then rebuilt and reinforced the roof.

Indeed, safety first was the production motto, reinforced by the strict New York City fire codes. Everything was fire tested until it surpassed the city standard several times over. Engineers were called in to tell the producers where it would be safe to suspend the lights and false ceiling, which together weighed more than ten tons. A new sprinkler system was installed, and fire walls rebuilt. The theater’s granite foundation was drilled to install the panto spring-trap that would shoot Alonzo the Rumpus Cat up through the floor, and hydraulics were installed to operate both the folding upstage wall (four tons), which dropped down for “Growltiger’s Last Stand,” and the levitating truck tire, which conducts Grizabella twelve feet above the stage floor and twenty-five feet downstage to meet her stairway to paradise.

…

The lighting plan of David Hersey … called for four thousand festoon bulbs, a fiber-optic system in the ceiling to create the illusion of a vast, starry night, and three hundred pairs of blinking cat’ eyes. At center stage was a huge ring of lights that, as the show began, slowly rose into the air like the mothership from Steven Spielberg’s "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" or, Spielberg’s hit that year, "E.T.".

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 7/26/16 at 9:21am

@EricMontreal, I saw the first national tour of Cats in Boston in 1984. Although I was in the balcony, the cats definitely came out into the audience.  I was in the rear mezzanine on Friday, and a couple of cats went all the way up to the last row of that section.

Here's a link to the book I used to have, which had wonderfully clear photos of the original cast and set.  I have no idea what I did with the book.  https://www.amazon.com/Cats-Musical-T-S-Eliot/dp/0156155826/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1469539235&sr=1-1&keywords=cats+broadway

[D91]

Posted: 7/26/16 at 10:51am

Although I like the set design of the revival. I do wish it was more immersive. I remember as a child walking into the Winter Garden and being in awe of the junk being around me in every which angle. I remember looking up and seeing the night sky above me in the Winter Garden it really was incredible. I always felt like I was in the world of cats at the Winter Garden like I was part of the show, now it feels more like a normal theater experience where I am just watching the show from the outside. I don't know if anyone else felt that way??

I wish they had covered the entire theatre with at least the black cloth that covers the walls and ceiling of the orchestra in the Neil Simon. I also wish they picked a better theatre for CATS. The Winter Garden was perfect for the show. Larger Orchestra, not a huge overhang on the mezz and very wide. Perfect for CATS!

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 7/26/16 at 10:54am

D91 - I totally agree with you. The one thing that makes me more appreciative of this revival is looking at the set from the London revival. That set looked SUPER cheap and bare compared to the effort they put into this B'way revival.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/26/16 at 11:12am

I'm confused re: Grizabella's exit. So they had to build a false ceiling and a shed atop the Winter Garden for the staircase? So where was it housed? In that shed or above the false ceiling? And so the tire rose to meet the staircase? So where did she go if it wasn't in the fly space?

[rangersrule132]

Posted: 7/26/16 at 11:19am

I'm assuming they created a false ceiling inside the theatre were the unit was housed and then would descend from the false ceiling. I'm also assuming they built catwalks inside the false ceiling for her to climb across. 

[Justin D]

Posted: 7/26/16 at 12:20pm

It was said in interviews by various people that Grizabella's exit was out onto the roof, like the roof roof outside of the theatre, so they had to build a walkway/tunnel for when it rained/snowed etc.

I am guessing the false ceiling is just so that you cant see the staircase when not in use, but I dont know either.

as for london, as on the dvd, the tire stays up (it might come down half way) but slides back to its usual position for addressing of cats, so the cats are in front it not around it.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 7/26/16 at 3:13pm

To me, the set design of the revival feels "flat", sort of like when you need to clear space you shove everything to the side. Instead of being "spread out", the "garbage" is piled up to create "walls". I assume this is somewhat necessary due to the Simon's smaller stage. It mostly works. but it looks a little strange to me.