I Just Saw CATS For The First Time...

[CyCoSpAz2]

Posted: 3/4/07 at 3:47pm

After hearing some horror stories about how terrible the show is, I was a bit resistant, but my Mom has wanted to see it for "twenty-five years" so I bought her tickets for Christmas. Though the show was not terrible, it was definitely... not that good.

Now in saying that, I must mention that everybody was incredible. Angie Smith's "Memory" was astounding, and though it is the stereotypical song that everyone knows from CATS, I had never heard it before. The show was worth sitting through just for this performance (and of course... my mom won't stop singing it, though she has no idea what the words are). The cast, overall, is solid.

As for the show... I am still not sure what I think of it. I am not a huge fan of the major dance shows, so the entire show just seemed a little awkward. Act One was dull, aside from Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer's choreography, and "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats" cannot help but to be catchy. Cara Michelle Fish was too adorable as Jennyanydots.

After the entire Gus bit in the second act, the show picked up tremendously, and ended quite enjoyably. "Skimbleshanks" was easily the most memorable show, and Felix Hess gave a great performance. The first cat who sings in "Macavity" (Demeter?) was also great.

Other than that, I cannot see myself sitting through this show again voluntarily. It was just too awkward and dragged too much. The people in the box next to my seat brought their little child who insisted on meowing throughout the entire show... needless to say, it was pretty annoying. She also screamed in the very beginning when one of the cats came into the box.

[Kringas]

Posted: 3/4/07 at 4:09pm

Was this the one with the fat chick in it?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/4/07 at 4:10pm

Of all the things waiting for in life, Cats does not automatically spring to mind

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/4/07 at 5:48pm

Unless you saw CATS at the Winter Garden Theatre during it's original 18 year run, you NEVER saw CATS.

Due to the complete reconstruction of the theatre's interior to resemble an actual junkyard, with the semi-in-the-round stage and the glistening lights in the ceiling, there was NO other way to experience CATS -- for all it's good and for all it's bad.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/4/07 at 7:11pm

I see your point, but to say that a show is only good in its original incarnation is not a compliment to the show. I think the show as a whole relies heavily on spectacle and the show itself is rather dull and boring and pointless. It's just a random dance show where the people are cats. I don't see the point in it, nor do I understand the point of most of the songs.

Cy, could you post a cast list? I think a friend of mine was just cast in this show and I'd like to know if he's indeed in this version. Can you give the u/s and standbys also? thanks.

[purpleprince101]

Posted: 3/4/07 at 7:14pm

It was a magical expierance at first but i saw it again in the year it closed and it was.....i'll leave it at that

[CyCoSpAz2]

Posted: 3/4/07 at 7:33pm

No, it was not the one with the fat girl... all these cats were slender and bendy.

I am sorry I never got the entire CATS experience... whatever version I saw I didn't enjoy that much. If CATS is as "timeless" as it is acclaimed to be, I would think that the current tour is at least a feasible adaptation of the original. So even if I didn't get a junked-up theatre, it was the story that put me off, which I would imagine is similar to the one that ran for 18 years.

I don't remember who was out, but here is the cast list:

The Cast:

Alonzo - Luke McCollum
Asparagus - Christopher E. Sidoli
Bombalurina - Delaine Andrzejewski
Bustopher Jones - Christopher E. Sidoli
Cassandra - Casey Hill
Demeter - Lisa Karlin
Genghis - Mark Donaldson
Griddlebone - Anissa Hartline
Grizabella - Angie Smith
Growltiger - Christopher E. Sidoli
Jellylorum - Anissa Hartline
Jennyanydots - Cara Michelle Fish
Macavity - Wesley Seals
Mistoffelees - Ryan Patrick Farrell
Mungojerrie - Mark Donaldson
Munkustrap - Ian Laskowski
Old Deuteronomy - Philip Peterson
Plato - Wesley Seals
Pouncival - Trevor Downey
Rumpelteazer - Joanna Silvers
Rum Tum Tugger - Dave Schoonover
Sillabub - Samantha Shafer
Skimbleshanks - Felix Hess
Tumblebrutus - Nicholas Mcgough
Victoria - Sara M. Reardon

Swings:

Amanda Bay
Rodrigo Ignacio Cruz
Julia Lancione
Stanley Allyn Owen
Ryan Richardson
Beau Speer
Molly Winter Stewart
Samantha Strum
AJ Wilson

All the Understudies have already been listed, as they play the minor cats.

Hope that helps.

Updated On: 3/4/07 at 07:33 PM

[gymdudeva]

Posted: 3/4/07 at 7:46pm

Brody: The *original* semi-in-the-round, lights-all-over, etc. set-up was in London (that's where I saw it). So there!

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 3/4/07 at 10:14pm

My problem with Cats is that from the audience standpoint, it's a show completley based on spectacle - and it's smash popularity has, i think, led musicals away from what originally defined them - the intergration of music, dance, and acting to further a plot. Nothing moves forward in Cats, the whole show feels to be at a standstill. To me, it's like watching a circus.

The only thing that does move forward is Grizabella's story, which, imo, is the reason that "Memory" is remembered and has become the most recognizable song in the show. Because it achieves what musical theatre is supposed to - it moves a story forward.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 3/5/07 at 12:36am

I agree with Brody. This Cats feels like a totally different show than the one on Broadway. It was better then.

I hated Grizabella when I saw the tour. She was too young and whiny. Sounded very much like someone singing it on "American Idol." She didn't connect to the words or really get the character into her body. She sounded like one of the young cats instead of one of the aging ones. Poor casting in my opinion.

~Steven

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 3/5/07 at 12:37am

I saw it in Boston and thought it was okay.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 3/5/07 at 12:40am

Yup, I saw it in Boston too. Tumblebrutus was my favorite part of the show.

~Steven

[jimnysf]

Posted: 3/5/07 at 2:37am

"Cats". I hated it and I saw it at the Winter Garden. One of the most over rated shows ever. The night I saw it, no one in the audience seemed to speak English. I think it ran for so long because it appealed to foreign tourists.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 3/5/07 at 2:52am

Of course that's the reason. I also do believe that it's one of those shows that you have to see to believe. You have to see it at least once in your lifetime so that you can say that you actually saw it.

~Steven

[StageManager2]

Posted: 3/5/07 at 2:52am

Apart from the cats mentioned in certain songs (i.e. "Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat", "Bustopher Jones"), how do you know which cat is which? For instance, I could never tell who was supposed to be Demeter or Alonzo or Victoria.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 3/5/07 at 3:01am

Demeter sings the first part of "Macavity."
Victoria is the white cat.

I don't know, you just have to know who's who. There are some people who have studied the DVD; there are others who have done the show and know all of the back stories of every cat. For example, there are clues in the different cats' makeup and costumes to signify whether Munkustrap is their father or Old Deuteronomy was, and other things of that sort. It's kind of pathetic, but there really is more to each cat than different colored leg warmers, and there's more to playing each cat than just learning the silly choreography.

~Steven

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 3/5/07 at 6:38am

As much as it may have *looked* great in its original run, it still isnt much of a score. It's all style over substance, much like every big time musical has been.

But isnt that the point? It's supposed to be *entertainment*, not War and Peace. And if people are foolish enough to drop serious bucks on a show's name because the original ran for 18 years simply on its physical production values... well, remember no one ever went broke underestimating American tastes.

[JRybka]

Posted: 3/5/07 at 8:54am

amazingly enough as I have seen the show again and again and again --- the first time i saw CATS was one for the memory books. (pun intended)

It was the one and only time I met one of my favorite crushes...

Laurie Beechman

I saw it and then waited for her to come to the stagedoor and then got to meet her and she signed my program

"To a Future Cat on Broadway...Meow, Laurie Beechman"

I still have that -- I though that was the coolest thing IN THE WORLD.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 3/5/07 at 10:30am

I think the purpose of naming the cats, even if you can't tell who's who, is to give each cat a life rather than merely labeling them ensemble members. The show is sort of an ensemble piece even though most of the cats have his or her shining moment.

[lisaleela]

Posted: 11/24/14 at 9:07pm

Resurrecting this thread from the dead, to ask: Is there a soundtrack available for this particular incarnation of Cats that's being discussed here? I saw one on iTunes "The New Musical Cast", released Jan 1st 2008, and am wondering if that is the same.

[Lovinbroadway2]

Posted: 11/24/14 at 9:49pm

Funny that people really hate Cats. I, myself, LOVED Cats when I saw it...

[Pootie2]

Posted: 11/24/14 at 11:40pm

I saw it as a child (not so young that I'd be making much noise), and loved it back then.

But later when I read more about its background--what a weird thing to make into a musical. It's just a collection of random cat poems with no overarching storyline. It could never have a particularly solid and understandable plot that way.

[That Groovy Guy]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 12:12am

If you're saying that the Winter Garden theater was the best thing about the show you're basically admitting that the show itself is a pretty crappy show.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/26/14 at 6:04pm

"Unless you saw CATS at the Winter Garden Theatre during it's original 18 year run, you NEVER saw CATS.

Due to the complete reconstruction of the theatre's interior to resemble an actual junkyard, with the semi-in-the-round stage and the glistening lights in the ceiling, there was NO other way to experience CATS -- for all it's good and for all it's bad. "

Funny, most people who saw the original London run felt that the Winter Garden's staging was a let down. It was far more immersive in London and many have said that for New York, due to the setup not being able to be quite as much, upped the volume and acting style.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/26/14 at 6:08pm

My favorite review of this said it simply

"Watching Cats is like having a cat pee on you for 2 hours"