CATS - anyone?

[Broadway Bob*]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 7:36pm

Has anyone here done CATS?!? On Broadway? Tour? Regional? I'm considering submitting it to my local theater for next year and would like some thoughts from people who've done the show. Also, does anyone know if the sets/costumes/props are rentable from anywhere? Thanks!

[pants2]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 7:41pm

my friend was int it, costumes are easy except for maybe the wigs (which consist of leotards pretty much) the make up is a little complicated and the set is a dump..... literally, its not a great show to see unless it really done perfectly, it cant be half-assed by any means

[CarolynW]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 8:24pm

As far as I know the costumes, props (do they have any?), sets are not rentable. The touring productions reuse their sets/costumes.

As for the makeup, I have a makeup demo done by one of the Troika Tour actors on my website.

Also, the Really Useful CATS forum has a thread about the kids making their own costumes and they explain how they did it and what they used for wigs. It did not sound all that hard.

Like someone said just leotards are the basic costume and they have a paint you can use to make the different colors for the various cats. I think you can buy the tails at a costume shop, and maybe ears also. Or use a boa as a tail.

If you do not get responses on here I would search for CATS fan websites. They have photos of their costumes online and some look very good.

To me the dancing is more important in CATS. If you have good dancers then you can do good.

Do you have a group that makes sets. That is pretty easy as you can go to junk yards and get old tires, etc.


Yours,

Caorlyn

[Lizzya9]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 9:33pm

I think there should be a revival in 2010.

[Broadway Baby4]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 10:16pm

My theater is going to do cats this year- so I'm pretty sure everything is rentable.
Updated On: 11/30/06 at 10:16 PM

[JasonM12480]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 11:30pm

I played Old Deuteronomy in a recent beautiful regional production. I also designed the makeup.

You can rent an exact duplicate of the Broadway set and costumes from Fullerton Civic Light Opera Company in California. We rented the costumes, and they're magnificant. The set is exactly what they had in New York, and I think it was built by someone at The Barn Playhouse, perhaps? Not 100% sure....but Fullerton is terrific to deal with.

While I will agree that Cats is about the dancing, you DO need to make sure the costumes, sets, and makeup are as authentic and well-done as possible.

There is a wonderful online community of makeup and costume designers who do Cats-related costumes and makeup. Visit http://www.s8.createphpbb.com/ccdb/index.php?mforum=ccdb for more information.

Best of luck!

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 11:55pm

A bit off topic, but about how much would it cost to rent the whole show from places like FCLO? (set, costumes, props, everything)

[JasonM12480]

Posted: 12/1/06 at 12:13am

Depends on the place that's renting, and what their package is like.

Fullerton's costume package cost us $10,000, which is not bad - you get 25 wigs and unitards, PLUS extras (i.e. the mice, beetles, all the pirate crap, Mistofelees' light-up jacket, etc), and the rental was for ONE MONTH, which was really very helpful (in case any alterations had to be made, or any new costumes had to be created). The set we did not rent, due to space constraints, and the price, but the set is around $15,000, I think - this includes everything, including the giant floating tire.