Breaking News: CATS to Return to Broadway This Summer; Andy Blankenbuehler Joins Team- Page 3

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 12:15pm

I only saw Cats on tour, and I did not enjoy it at all. Still, I am fascinated by the original Broadway production and I am disappointed that I never saw it. I just can't imagine what it must have looked like, especially when people use words like "gutted" and "transformed" to describe how different the Winter Garden looked.  Does anyone have any pictures they're willing to share of the original Broadway production?  

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 12:32pm

I'm sorry, but I'm looking forward to this! I can't even call CATS a guilty pleasure; it's something that I've always genuinely enjoyed, and I always thought that the way they went about putting the show together was clever. (Not to mention that when we went to see the show on tour some years ago, we had front row seats, and it was funny to watch the "cats" interact with my younger brother, who was petrified.)

It's just mindless fun, which is what some audiences need when going to the theatre. I don't see the problem.

[ggersten]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 12:35pm

My first viewing was in the second balcony - second to last row - at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco - and was bored - very bored.  That theatre is a huge barn seating 2300 or so.  But, the VHS! tape (then the DVD) got me interested and my daughter was in love with the show.  When she was five, we promised to take her to New York to see Cats, because Cats was forever, right?  About two months later, we read of the announced initial closing date.  A promise is a promise. So, in June of 2000, we went to NYC to see Cats.  And, inside the WinterGarden theatre, in the first row of the mezzanine - the show was magic and involving and entertaining.  My daughter was exhilarated.  We went to a one-night tour with the blow-up set in a sports arena a few years ago - and the show was back to "meh" - although not "boring".  So, I very much look forward to seeing the show staged properly! 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 12:36pm

Phantom4ever, the New York Public Library website has a large collection of rarely seen pictures of the original cast if you're interested in seeing photographs from the original Broadway production.

http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/search/index?utf8=%E2%9C%93&keywords=cats+broadway

[Wildcard]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 12:40pm

The show doesn't need a good command of the English language to "appreciate" either. It has a good name recognition that's perfect for tourists.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 12:40pm

Well, maybe we'll see some compelling race and gender (and age) change-ups in the casting.  It sure was a white show, back in the day (not always, but look over the cast lists after Page).  Hell, put Leslie Uggams in, and let Terri White play Old Deuteronomy.   

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 12:40pm

Not a fan of the show, but I really hope Nicole Scherzinger comes with the production.

[illiniparkie]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 12:43pm

Look out.  Here comes Old Deuteronomy.

 

I saw a touring version in Chicago many years ago and was surprised that I actually enjoyed it.  There is that interminable sequence that takes place on a ship with cat pirates or something.  And the songs always felt somewhat pretentious. But I will always remember lots of attractive young ladies in those tight fitting body suits.

 

Maybe Terrance Mann can transition from Rum Tum Tugger into Old Deuteronomy and Charlotte d'Amboise can switch from Cassandra to Grizabella.  I would imagine that there are a whole host of other actors and actresses who most likely got their start in this show who are now pretty well known. 

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 12:46pm

I just want them to cast an older actress as Grizabella. It adds more to the "once young and beloved but now old and looked down upon" character, in my opinion.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 12:47pm

"Maybe they could set it in an insane asylum.
 
"Crazy Cats!"
 
Where they play all the instruments. Right."

 

Please, as if Doyle would go anywhere near this mess.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 12:51pm

Really? T.S. Eliot is beneath John Doyle? I must have missed that interview.

[Peter2]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 12:57pm

Cats. Now and Forever.

 

Like bedbugs.

Cockroaches.

Elmo in Times Square.

 

Oh joy.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 12:58pm

I also wondering if maybe the MISS SAIGON revival gets PPD until summer 2017 so it doesn't compete with CATS.

[Dave13]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 1:09pm

ACL2006 said: "I also wondering if maybe the MISS SAIGON revival gets PPD until summer 2017 so it doesn't compete with CATS.

 

"

It competed with Cats in London, and did just fine. I see no reason to wait. 2016 hasn't turned out to be the greatest season so far, so the competition maybe less than 2017. No reason to wait. 

[Dave13]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 1:12pm

I saw Cats for the first time in London in March 2015. I had the hardest time staying awake. I couldn't decide if it was the time change or simply the show sucked. I never had trouble staying awake for a show before. 

 

I am willing to give it a second chance, but not holding my breath. 

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 1:15pm

Webber didn't understand the lightness of Eliot's little poems, and he really didn't understand cats as animals, and this show still blows.

Updated On: 1/21/16 at 01:15 PM

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 1:18pm

CATSNYrevival- I wasn't aware TS Eliot rose from the dead in the 1980s and purposefully decided to write a musical about cats dancing around a garbage dump in spandex.

 

"The mess" I was referring to was actually the attention surrounding the first Broadway revival of a musical that ran for too long based on overhype that makes Hamilton look like a sleeper hit in comparison. Literally everyone will be waiting to pounce on this and call out the show for the flaws everyone ignored when it was successful.

 

Anyway, Doyle doesn't do dance shows and without the dance, there's no point to doing Cats, because that book can't carry the show without the shiny distractions.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 1:21pm

Phantom4ever, the New York Public Library website has a large collection of rarely seen pictures of the original cast if you're interested in seeing photographs from the original Broadway production.

http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/search/index?utf8=%E2%9C%93&keywords=cats+broadway

 

Unfortunately, these are just production photos of the original 1982 Broadway production.  There are no photos of the house/auditorium at the Winter Garden Theatre which was visually as breathtaking as what was being performed on stage.  

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 1:27pm

Why? I can't think of a show that's needed less on Broadway.

[Broadway Guru]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 1:57pm

orangeskittles said: "CATSNYrevival- I wasn't aware TS Eliot rose from the dead in the 1980s and purposefully decided to write a musical about cats dancing around a garbage dump in spandex.

 

 

 

"The mess" I was referring to was actually the attention surrounding the first Broadway revival of a musical that ran for too long based on overhype that makes Hamilton look like a sleeper hit in comparison. Literally everyone will be waiting to pounce on this and call out the show for the flaws everyone ignored when it was successful.

 

 

 

Anyway, Doyle doesn't do dance shows and without the dance, there's no point to doing Cats, because that book can't carry the show without the shiny distractions.

First of all, please don't say "literally everyone will be waiting to pounce on it.." I know I won't and, based on some of the posts on this board, many others won't be as well. So no, literally everyone will not be waiting to pounce on it. Some people will be waiting to pounce on it.

Who cares? If ever a show was critic proof this is it. Are the critics what you mean when you incorrectly state that "literally everyone" is waiting to pounce?

As far as word of mouth goes, in my humble opinion the only people with the right to point out the flaws of the original are people who actually saw the original. Other people have no basis of opinion upon which to stand.

I would imagine that people who disliked the original will, for the most part, not attend this production so they aren't going to be able to express any informed opinions of this version.

Similarly people who never saw the original and are seeing the show for the first time have no basis of comparison upon which to express their opinions as to what the flaws were the first time around.

Finally for people who did see it the first time, enjoyed it, and come to this one....well their opinions will no doubt be shaped by the quality of this production. Some will probably like it, some will probably not. Welcome to the world of the theater.

Love the show, hate the show....but don't condemn it without even seeing what a re-imagined production can do for it. You might just be pleasantly surprised if you keep an open mind.

"

 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 1:59pm

As a millennial, I'm very excited for the opportunity to see this show on the Great White Way, and know that my sentiment is shared by several others in my generation who were too young to see its original run.

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 2:14pm

Ultimately, "Cats" and "A Chorus Line" aren't all that different, which is why I think they struck a chord with wide audience appeal and ran for so long.

 

Both shows are light on plot. In fact, their plots can be amply summed up in one easy sentence:

 

A group is gathered together to tell their stories and choose some (or one) among them who will get a chance to fulfill their dreams.

 

Same plot for both.

 

And one character in each musical gets a second chance, a "rebirth," to start over (Cassie or Grizabella).

 

It's in this simple message that we all are hoping for a common goal: to be accepted, loved, and granted an opportunity to fulfill our greatest dreams. Seeing an elder among them get the chance to start over is huge. It resonates with people. We are not hopeless. It's not too late.

 

The final moments of the cast selection in ACL and Grizabella's assent to the Heavyside Layer both had me in tears. I was far from alone, as nearly two decades on Broadway confirmed.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 2:15pm

I think Liz Callaway can still be a fantastic Grizbella.  Her voice is..."just magical."  After all, she did the role for some 5 years or so.  

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 2:15pm

As a "millennial" (puke), I just feel like I dodged a bullet. The video gave me nightmares enough. 

[SweetLips]

Posted: 1/21/16 at 2:40pm

WOW--I bet the producers of Cats are glad they didn't check with the members of BBW before sinking their money into this revival.

Just hope they cast an 'older' cat to sing Memory for realism and genuine 'memory' of times past and not give it to some glam.pop star which the song doesn't require.

I'm happy that a universally loved show will again entice a new generation to walk through the doors of a theatre,maybe for the first time.

 

 

SL.....x