Did anyone see Cats?

I saw Cats in Detroit this past weekend. It was a mess. Mr. Mistofelees killed the show. I knew it was a non-equity tour....but I thought the cast was really talented. Until Mistofelees came out. It was like a really bad competition number. We all gaged!!!

Did you know they have an inflaitable set??? It looked so cheap.

i was just listening to the cd actually! i've never seen this show live, though i'd love to.

you'd never know they were inflatable by looking at the pictures... but yeah, they are, very old news as well...

http://www.troika.com/mktcats.html

i saw CATS on Bway and it was terrible too..don't worry.

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It really bugs me when people rip CATS apart. Ok maybe it doesn't have huge value as a traditional musical. But as a dance concert it is incredible. The talent of those dancers and the level of commitment they have to becoming actuall cats onstage is worth your respect as performers.

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Thanks for the link btw, too bad you have to have press credentials to look at the full versions of the pictures, I can't really make out the sets. Any other links would be appreciated.

I'm with you best12. Maybe it was just the magic early on, but Cats will always hold a special place in my heart.

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I've said this a few times on posts, but CATS was one of the best experiences I've ever had as a theatrical audience member.

That said, I KNEW at the time I was watching it that this show was "fragile." The show itself is poetry set to music and dance. On paper it is "paper thin." That is not to say it's bad at all, but it can't go on auto-pilot and rely on the writing. I KNEW this when I was seeing it for the first time. These poems and dances are constructed to showcase PERFORMERS, each stepping out of the group to tell a personal story. As long as you have performers that are incredibly talented, and (even above that) FOCUSED and dedicated to the magic of the material, the show will be brilliant. If you take away this laser-beam "focus," or the dedication (as a group), or the talent... well, then you don't have much left to mesmerize. Then you're left with a simple (or strange, depending on how you look at it) poetry reading set to music.

With the cast I saw, on the night I saw it... it was theatrical magic at its absolute best.

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I saw the show with the original cast and found it to be a shallow, superficial, trite and boring spectacle that I couldn't wait to leave -- and I was a kid at the time. Yes, the dancing was impressive, as were some of the design elements, but even then, as a teenager (who had seen several dozen Broadway shows since the age of 4 at that point) I felt is was all flash and style and no substance. It had all the meaning and depth of a theme park ride. I didn't care about any of the characters or the "story," as it were. For me, it was all much ado about nothing.

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About 10 years ago when Cats was touring in my city, my acting teacher was shopping at the mall... she happened to notice a woman lick the back of her hand and then use it to push back her hair at the side of her head.
"Excuse me... Do you happen to be in 'Cats'"? My teacher asked her.
"Ummm... did I just do what I think I did?" The woman responded.
Talk about commitment to becoming actual cats, Carl!!!

I saw the tour when it came through two years ago. Still had fun, even though we weren't terribly close to the stage, and I couldn't tell the set was inflatable.
But nothing compared to seeing it at the Winter Garden. I mean, the *entire theater* was decked out like a junkyard, the actors would walk right by you, the audience was allowed on stage during intermission and I even got to pet Rumpleteazer. You just don't get that from the tours.

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I love CATS.

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I saw it on Broadway unfortunately. MEOW

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I saw it in Detroit as well. It was my first time seeing the show. We were sitting in the tenth row and I definitely could not tell that the set was inflatable. Maybe, having not seen it before I was just overstimulated by how wonderful I thought the dancers were. To me, save a few minor things, the set appeared to be the same as what was on the DVD. But knowing now, I understand why some things were changed. I thought Mr. Mistofelees was great. It didn't seem like a dance competition at all. But my overall favorite was MUNKUSTRAP!

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