Cats Previews- Page 8

[Buffalo Bill]

Posted: 7/21/16 at 10:07am

Hey NewsiesForever, 

I am sorry to hear of your trouble at home!

 I can get you a playbill for the show, possibly signed by a few of the cast members. 

I am the Concessions Manager at The Simon and we are having a great time with the amazing cast and crew of CATS.

So, I'll send the playbill in regular post if you want. 

Just come to the show in the Spring and say hi! 

PM me with your home address and I'll send it along. 

--Buffalo Bill

[rangersrule132]

Posted: 7/21/16 at 1:14pm

Opening night tickets are on ticketmaster right now

[JBroadway]

Posted: 7/21/16 at 11:17pm

I decided to see the show tonight after winning the lottery, despite my long-standing hatred of Cats. I saw a youth production a couple of years ago, which was able to keep me sufficiently entertained, though not in the intended way. I had hoped the same would be true for the Broadway production - that I would be able to laugh at its expense in the moments that were less genuinely engaging. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. In the youth production, there was a charm to the show's inanity that I wasn't able to find tonight in the big-scale Broadway production.

Granted, the choreography is excellent (the Jellical Ball was actually quite thrilling) and there are great moments of spectacle, particularly with the lighting (they should rename the show "Katz" ;- ) ). Honestly the overture was probably my favorite part of the show - all downhill from there.

Also, despite the fact that I think the score is almost entirely garbage, I'll be the first to admit that "Memory" is a great song, so I was all the more disappointed with Leona Lewis. Though I didn't hate her performance, I think the casting team could have gone with a much more interesting choice. 


The crowd was going wild tonight, though, and the house was packed. 

Side note: anyone else think they have her looking a little too sexy as Grizabella? I was in the Rear Mezz, but she seemed to be wearing tights and some sort of corset underneath her not-THAT-shabby coat. I guess they were trying to suggest her past identity as the "glamor cat," but to me her appearance didn't warrant the fearful response of the other cats. I mean, Gus and Deuteronomy looked quite a bit more ragged than she did, but everyone loves them! Is it because of our sexist feline beauty standards?

Updated On: 7/21/16 at 11:17 PM

[¿Macavity?]

Posted: 7/21/16 at 11:21pm

^Yeah, this show creates an impossible standard for our feline friends...

[lucillefrank]

Posted: 7/22/16 at 12:23am

I really did not want to like it. I didn't. And I loved it. The scenic design, the lighting design, the sound design, the choreography. Jess LeProtto. Eloise Kropp. Tyler Hanes. I'll admit I was not impressed with Leona in act 1 and I was worried about act 2. She sounds wonderful but her acting is subpar.

Updated On: 3/24/17 at 12:23 AM

[metropolis10111]

Posted: 7/22/16 at 11:05am

When this opens ALW will once again have 3 shows running in both the West End and Broadway. I must say that is quite an accomplishment. Love him or not, the man is a showman 

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 7/22/16 at 11:15am

Anyone have any more info about the lottery, like where the seats are, what are the chances of winning?

[supersam1026]

Posted: 7/22/16 at 11:25am

Had a friend who won the other day (Wednesday I believe) and said he got row O of the mezz off to the side for lotto.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 7/22/16 at 11:26am

My lotto seat was in the rear mezz on the side. I heard a couple of people behind me saying they had also won the lottery. The view was fine. 

Can't tell you the chances of winning, but I will tell you I won on my 5th try. Also, I entered for a single ticket. I have always had more lottery luck when entering for a single than when I enter for 2. My last 4 digital lotto wins were all for 1 ticket, even though I do frequently enter for 2 with my roommate. 

[jman16]

Posted: 7/22/16 at 11:42am

metropolis10111 said: "When this opens ALW will once again have 3 shows running in both the West End and Broadway. I must say that is quite an accomplishment. Love him or not, the man is a showman 

 

"

He only has 2 in the West End? 

 

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 7/22/16 at 11:45am

I caught the show a few days ago and overall liked it quite a bit, with two caveats.  

The show is faithful to the original and for all the huffing and puffing in the press about Blankenbuehler adding to Gillian Lynne's choreography, I thought he approached the new bits with love and respect, much like Reinking did with Fosse's Chicago choreography. The dancing was often spectacular and for an early preview this dancing ensemble is on fire. 

I'm a cat lover (have two Bengals who are regular Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazers themselves) and have always seen the show as cats taking the on the personalities and habits of their owners. (Of course, if my cats really were acting like me they would probably be two little Skimbleshanks, but in this case they're the ones rubbing off on me and not the other way around!)  

The two stumbling blocks I found with this production were the deletion of Growltiger and Leona Lewis, who was so thoroughly mediocre in the role that it makes absolutely no sense for Old Deuteronomy to select her at the end. My friend remarked at the end that since she's so underwhelming that they should allow the audience to vote Drood style on who gets to go the Heavyside Layer. I bet Ricky Ubeda would be selected more often than not for his exciting turn as Mistoffelees. 

I know Grizabella has never been a dancing role, but you still have to move like a cat. You still must have some feline embodiment, and Lewis walks and moves with such stiffness that you hope she sees a chiropractor after the show. I've been around real life old, sick cats and they still move like cats. Her singing is subpar; she's serviceable in her big moments, but after decades of knowing what some actors can do with that song, the show deserves better. Her acting is weak and quite frankly I thought she brought the show to a halt whenever Grizabella appeared. 

It's interested that Carolee auditioned and Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner (among others) and they went with such a bland option. 

Overall though, Lewis isn't enough to bring down the show and I think this has a chance of being the first musical hit at the Neil Simon since Hairspray. 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 7/22/16 at 11:49am

metropolis10111 said: "When this opens ALW will once again have 3 shows running in both the West End and Broadway. I must say that is quite an accomplishment. Love him or not, the man is a showman 

 

"

What are his other two shows in the west end? I only counted phantom

Updated On: 7/22/16 at 11:49 AM

[Justin D]

Posted: 7/22/16 at 11:52am

Can someone familiar with the show and has seen this new one explain to me how they moved around the Rumpus cat bit into where Growltiger was?

What role does Gus now play in this scene, has he taken over doing what Munkistrap use to do?

How is this done in relation to his character? "I once played Growltiger, etc, etc, is it now I once saw a fight with some dogs? Surely Gus is not now playing the Rumpus cat? IS there still even a Rumpus Cat? and do they still have his entrance through a star trap?

I know it might be spoiler heavy but still, any imput would be appreciated, thanks

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 7/22/16 at 11:53am

"I know Grizabella has never been a dancing role, but you still have to move like a cat. You still must have some feline embodiment, and Lewis walks and moves with such stiffness that you hope she sees a chiropractor after the show. I've been around real life old, sick cats and they still move like cats. Her singing is subpar; she's serviceable in her big moments, but after decades of knowing what some actors can do with that song, the show deserves better. Her acting is weak and quite frankly I thought she brought the show to a halt whenever Grizabella appeared."

 

OUCH! Wow... funny too because when I was reading the review quickly I got to the "she's serviceable in her bowel movements" then stopped reading quickly because it is "big" not "bowel" though from what you described it was a bowel movement performance.

 

I too am a Growltiger fan. Like how it changes things up with the aria, the ship coming down etc. Oh well...' could do it again, could do it again"

 

Thanks for your review Whizzer!

[trpguyy]

Posted: 7/22/16 at 12:12pm

WhizzerMarvin said: " I know Grizabella has never been a dancing role, but you still have to move like a cat. You still must have some feline embodiment, and Lewis walks and moves with such stiffness that you hope she sees a chiropractor after the show. I've been around real life old, sick cats and they still move like cats.

"

This is precisely what Gillian Lynne was huffing and puffing about - that the emphasis would not be on felinity and that the cast would not be taught the proper way to move like a cat. 

And for those keeping track, the Cat Eyes in the overture are now in this production. 

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 7/22/16 at 12:24pm

Well, for the record I thought everyone in the cast had their feline movements down except for Lewis, so I think the production team still did their jobs- I just think Lewis is inept at it and her ineptitude is only magnified by the gracefulness of everyone around her. 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 7/22/16 at 12:26pm

Could very well be, I haven't seen it and I trust your judgement. 

[sing_dance_love]

Posted: 7/22/16 at 12:42pm

*SOME SPOILERS*

Justin- That is indeed the case, Gus now remembers his past performance as The Rumpus Cat. He takes the majority of the main vocal and Munkustrap takes a section (mostly to cover Gus's costume change). And no entrance through a trap, he begins as Gus recounting the story, then Munk takes over, then Gus reappears as the cat as we move more fully into memory. 

 

It doesn't work super well. One of the few moments I felt that way about though! 

Updated On: 7/22/16 at 12:42 PM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/22/16 at 12:49pm

I still don't understand the removal of Growltiger. If they didn't want to use the original version for fear of causing offense it would have been very easy to remove the majority or all of the Siamese lyrics and still have a successful pirate in love story line. They could have skipped the verse about him hating cats of foreign race, jumped to the aria or the ballad after the "sentimental side" lyric, and then staged the battle with music rather than describing the Siamese swarming the ship. They wouldn't even have to be Siamese cats at that point just a rival pirate gang. It could have been done.

[rangersrule132]

Posted: 7/22/16 at 1:18pm

Instead of talking about it, how about you just go and see it? Chances are you are gonna understand it more and we don't have to hear you complain about it whithkut seeing the edit.

Updated On: 7/22/16 at 01:18 PM

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 7/22/16 at 1:35pm

Unless the critics are honest this time around, you can bet that CATS will indeed be here forever. The Times gave the original production a very large pass. It is a one-song score (and I liked that one song more when Puccini wrote it first). Is there any question at this point that ALW is a hack? Each show he has written has one hummable song, and a great deal of dross. Even SCHOOL OF ROCK has only one song ("You're in the Band" which is sung over and over, a clear lack of talent and imagination. ALW has all the money in the world, but I guess it's time to make his pockets bulge even more.

I love musical theatre, I always will, but NOTHING could drag me to see this show again ("drag" being the operative  word).

Updated On: 7/22/16 at 01:35 PM

[rangersrule132]

Posted: 7/22/16 at 1:38pm

Cool

[Justin D]

Posted: 7/22/16 at 1:51pm

Thanks for the explanation, I think my issue was I was thinking that in the past the Rumpus Cat was played by the same person who plays Macavity therefore they needed more of a dancer than a singer for that part. But now that I think about it, there wasnt anything particularly 'dancy' that Rumpus had to do besides pop out of the star trap. Please tell me they changed the costume for Rumpus, that was my main issue with the design of the original.

deep down I hope the show will have a decent run that way I can get to see it when next I come to NYC, only time will tell I guess, Les Mis came back twice and neither of those 2 runs were very long compared to the original, and the same goes for Miss Saigon up in London. 

[angelenroute]

Posted: 7/22/16 at 2:08pm

I knew very little about Cats before walking in to the First Preview, so for those who aren't going to be comparing every last detail to this or that performance, here's my fresh take.

Like others have said, I wasn't sure what to expect. This may be really weird, I remember thinking, but I have a feeling it'll be fun.

The lights came down and the music started. Glowing cat eyes began appearing here and there all around the large set, and I felt like I was on some kind of really cool ride at a theme park. It was Broadway meets Halloween, and with the huge buildup, it really got the whole place excited.

Once the performers began appearing on stage, I was already hooked. These are professional dancers, for the most part, and their movements were just so unlike anything I'd ever seen before. You're watching human beings move around the stage, but honestly, you really do get so sucked in--mesmerized--by the music and the visuals that you start to see these beautiful performers as some sort of crossbred species!

I completely understand what people mean by the no-plot complaint, but I think you're not seeing the bigger picture. These characters are based on poetry. And like most poetry you'll read, they appear in verses, small stories within a larger world. I didn't need one plot, because I actually had 20 or so separate plots that were all related, with just enough yarn to tease me along and keep me interested.

I can't speak to how many instrumentalists were hidden away below the stage, but at no point did they sound anything less than what I expect from a Broadway show. In fact, some of the solos were incredibly perfect, and proof that the pit is made up of some genius musicians!

You've all seen the pictures of the stage by now, but I have to say, it blew me away. I paid a lot of money for what ended up being a front-row seat on the left side (B5), and it was so much fun watching the cats crawl in and out of tubes from under the stage. They walked in front of me, between me and the stage, and my friends in the mezzanine said they came right up to them, too! They even leaned forward on the stage, looking right at me at times, making me giggle with a mix of nervous excitement and awe. None of them broke character, though, so just seeing them act like cats the WHOLE time was amazing!

I know so many of these elements have been done before in previous stagings of the show, but for this first-timer, and all the MANY people who will be seeing this for the first time too, it was just mind-blowing. The show just feels huge and other-worldly, and honestly I think the music alone transports you and your suspension of disbelief.

Since others have asked, I'll also add that when I tried to get Leona Lewis to sign my Playbill, she just clutched her bouquet of flowers and smiled politely as she skipped most people, pausing only for selfies and the odd signature. I was disappointed, and I hope she learns to be more generous with her time, but even saying that, I recognize she'd just performed her first preview of a Broadway show, and God knows if she was feeling ill or what. Time will tell.

I was able to do a backstage tour after the show too, and as I stood on the stage, it was so much smaller than it looked from the audience! I don't know how they don't crash into each other more, especially with those tails!

Anyway, I really loved this show! A+ all the way, and I will definitely be seeing it multiple times, though probably from a less expensive seat next time. :)

-Sean

Updated On: 7/22/16 at 02:08 PM

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 7/22/16 at 2:20pm

Sean (Angel) - fantasitc! Being transported by a show is what it is all about! Great review! Thank you