CATS PREMIERE | ‘Everybody takes their own interpretation from the show’

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit show Cats has been performed over 7,000 times across the world. However, such a time-loved musical never fails to bring something new to every night, the cast – now performing at The Venetian Theatre – said in a media call ahead of the show’s Friday premiere.
With a season running until March 15, director and choreographer Jo-Anne Robinson believes that “people will not necessarily see the same thing” night after night. “The storyline, music and choreography is all the same; what happens is that you get spontaneous performances from the different characters,” she told reporters.
Actor Earl Gregory, who plays Rum Tum Tugger, shared a similar opinion, stressing that although the show’s storyline and choreography remain intact, performers have a broad opportunity to improvise. “From evening to evening the show is never the same, because our interactions with our fellow performers evolve and change from night to night,” he reiterated.
The South African actor, who’s been performing in Cats for over a year, stressed that “it is not like a normal show, where you have spoken dialogue and every night you [deliver the same lines].” It’s a show that retains the same choreography and songs, but in terms of interactions it varies, which “keeps the show fresh.”
According to Gregory, one of the reasons Cats remains so successful lies precisely in its ability to capture the audience’s attention: “People kind of need to watch the show more than once, because the first time it’s so overwhelming, so much to look at… many performers, incredible makeup and sets. You need to come more than once to get a sense of what the story is,” he stressed.
The show’s plot and characters are drawn from T.S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” (1939), offering audiences the tale of a tribe called the Jellicle Cats. The show is all about the crucial night when they decide who should ascend to the Heaviside Layer to start another life. The musical, which first opened in 1981, ran for 21 years in London and 18 on Broadway.
Ms Robinson recalled how the numbers have been updated since then, although the foundations set by the original creators remain. “That’s the blueprint we come from, but Andrew [Lloyd Webber] changed the show musically,” she said. For instance, the show has been updated so that now Rum Tum Tugger performs a rap song. Cats returned to the West End in 2014, after an absence of 12 years, when Andrew Lloyd Webber decided to update the show.
The Macau cast assured that, regardless of any updates, the music still entails its original concept and storyline, with T.S. Eliot’s use of metaphor to portray each cat as a certain human in society.
Ms Robinson acknowledged that T.S. Eliot’s anthology does reflect parts of society. She recalled that some in the audience will “see a deeper meaning” in the storyline and in each character. At the same time, some will just prefer “to sit and enjoy the show.”
“Eveybody takes their own interpretation away from the show, as well as having a wonderful time and be entertained, with the music, the lighting, the set, the costumes and all the choreography.”
For Martin Croft, who plays Old Deuteronomy, who chooses which cat will go to the Heaviside Layer, every audience across the world relates to the musical in a very similar way. “There’s the young kids who come to see the show and have their favorite cat, the older ones who get more involved, and a lot of dancers in the audience as this show started a lot of careers.”
For actress Marise Mishan, becoming a Cats character was the fulfilment of a childhood dream. “I saw this show when I was about thirteen and I decided at that moment: that is what I want to do when I grow up. So it’s literally getting to [live] the ultimate dream every night,” she acknowledged.
When it comes to the fulfilment of the cast’s and audience’s dreams, there are challenges as well, Ms Robinson recalled. When asked how difficult it is to find humans who can portray cats, the choreographer acknowledged that “the challenging thing is to break them out of a choreographed mode as, after doing a show eight times a week, you can’t help but have a routine you get into.”
On the other hand, it’s not always easy to balance it onstage, so that performers’ freedom to interpret the story does not go too far. “You have to be careful, when you give them the freedom to interpret as they see fit, that it doesn’t take the storyline off direction. So [when that happens] you just have to bring them back,” she added.
Nevertheless, Ms Robinson stressed the cast are, “a great bunch of people, really lovely to work with.”
She has been involved with Cats since its inception, helping the original choreographer, Gillian Lynne, to create the feline movements for British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber’s songs.
Maintaining that felinity is exactly what Earl Gregory thinks is both challenging and gratifying about Cats. “It’s very rewarding, and one of the hardest choices in musical theatre because you use your body in a different way. You’re a human portraying a cat, so you’re not just staying there as yourself. Maintaining your felinity all the time, you really are in strained positions, so your support plays a big role for your voice. I think achieving that is something we strive for on a daily basis.”
Composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, “Cats” premiered in London on May 11, 1981, at the New London Theatre. The following year, the show premiered at Broadway’s Winter Garden Theatre. The musical would remain on Broadway until September 2000, having been performed 7,485 times. This gave Cats the title of longest-running musical in Broadway’s history for almost ten years, until the show was overtaken in 2006, by Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera.”
Cats will run Tuesday to Friday, at 8 p.m., and 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, until March 15 (no show on March 9).