Cats Previews — Page 6

blaxx said:

And yet, we know T.S. Eliot lived among these people and humanized the animal in order to include the social criticism behind his affection for felines. Some of my favorite parts of the poems are those that include specific locations (Tottenham Court, The Russell Hotel, The Night Mail Train, Victoria Grove, etc.) which serve as a reference to understand where these people, uh cats, come from and where they stand within their tribe.

"

I completely agree. Just to be clear, when I said that I do agree with your point, I *do* agree with your point--completely. I just thought it was worth throwing in that infamous ALW/Prince exchange (I can see now, reading back on what I wrote, that maybe it sounded like I was mocking your point. That wasn't my intention).

And my mocking of the hugely convulated backstory of all of the cats in the musical that have been made (many by the cast and production team) has zilch to do with that, obviously.

indytallguy said: "Man. I found that number boring. And I kinda liked CATS the first time around."



Which number? No number from the revival has been posted.

EricMontreal22 said: "indytallguy said: "Man. I found that number boring. And I kinda liked CATS the first time around."



Which number? No number from the revival has been posted."



I was joking about the video in #117.

My dear After Eight, Eric likened Marie Christine to Porgy and Bess. If you're going to be snarky, at least be correct, Darling.

Eric and Blaxx - love both of your posts. I remember what Sondheim infamously said when he saw it: "Why didn't they just stack 5 million dollars on the stage?"

Updated On: 7/16/16 at 12:12 AM

Part 2 of Mr. Mistofelees from the filmed version --

Updated On: 7/16/16 at 12:34 AM

Was at the show tonight. It's good fun overall but it gets a bit boring here and there.

I know it was only the second preview so I'm sure this will go away, but when the show started the ensemble was just radiating "Look! I'm doing CATS on Broadway!" and it took a bit to penetrate through that feeling to get to the actual characters they were playing.

The dancing is the real star here. Andy Blankenbuehler has done a great job at marrying the old with the new. "Jellice Ball" was the absolute pinnacle of excitement for the night with "Mr. Mistoffelees" following close behind.

Leona Lewis is very amateurish in her portrayal of Grizabella, which at first was a bit endearing, but after a serviceable (at best) rendition of "Memory", with overwhelmingly repetitive hand gestures, I was checked out. There are so many brilliant performers who could've made it something exciting but instead we get poor stunt casting with little payoff. Shame.

Honestly I can't stand this show, it's like Panto with a bigger budget. I know people find all these dark meanings, messages and characters back stories in this show but I'm pretty sure that all involved the first time round including Webber weren't really thinking about any of this stuff. They saw a cute idea to get families and kids through the door to see the cats dance (very very well).



it always amazes me when I see things like this

'
Why does the show have to have a plot? Can't it just be enjoyable as a revue of various song/dance numbers? A common complaint about CATS is always "it has no plot" or "the plot is so thin". So what - just enjoy it as if it were a revue?'

I mean the amount of musicals that are ripped apart on this board because of a weak plot/bad book etc yet this gets a pass because it's Cats and fans make up their own back stories etc?

This along with Starlight Express is one of the worst shows I've sat through, though as a former West End dancer I did love the choreography when I watched it in London. It feels like it's aiming at people who don't normally go to the theatre but can tell their friends they went to see Cats.

Dont get me wrong, I'm thrilled people like it because any fans of anything theatrical is a good thing, and the show has introduced a lot of people to theatre, but I for one can't think of anything worse to sit through.

The worst is when someone who has never been to the theater and then has to sit through this crap. They will never be back again.

rangersrule132 said: "We get it... you don't like the show. "

That is very cool!

Updated On: 7/16/16 at 01:42 PM

Replace "heaviside layer" with "Broadway show" and "cats" with "auditioning hopefuls" and the plot sounds exactly like the plot of A Chorus Line. Yet i have never heard people criticize that show for having no plot or a thin plot. It seems to me that if people enjoy the music and dancing enough, or are moved enough by the individual stories in the songs, they will not really care that much about the overall plot, but if they don't enjoy the music and dancing, then they will be bored and more annoyed that there is no plot to hold their interest instead.

adam.peterson44 said: "Replace "heaviside layer" with "Broadway show" and "cats" with "auditioning hopefuls" and the plot sounds exactly like the plot of A Chorus Line. Yet i have never heard people criticize that show for having no plot or a thin plot. It seems to me that if people enjoy the music and dancing enough, or are moved enough by the individual stories in the songs, they will not really care that much about the overall plot, but if they don't enjoy the music and dancing, then they will be bored and more annoyed that there is no plot to hold their interest instead.



I enjoy Cats well enough, but please, tell me you didn't just try and compare Cats to A Chorus Line. Just...no.

I wonder if we will get a new recording of the show, since the last official english one was the Australian one way back when. I for one would love one, but I have doubts they will bother.

But if they did, being that these days you don't have to worry about fitting everything on a record, they can do the whole show, extended dance breaks and all, especially if its distributed digitally

But if they did, being that these days you don't have to worry about fitting everything on a record, they can do the whole show, extended dance breaks and all, especially if its distributed digitally

My only wish is that they record Old Gumbie Cat with the sounds of the tap shoes. It's a tap number, I want to hear it.