Aside from the artists’ inspired choreographic movements and ear-pleasing vocals onstage that captivates the audience, what really makes the Broadway musical show Cats, which runs until the 15th of this month at the Venetian Theatre, so appealing? One simple answer; the elaborately designed costumes, wigs and, of course, the show’s set.
On a backstage tour this week, Maykayla Bishop, Company Manager of the musical team, shared with the Times some secrets lying within the shows mise-en-scene and on how the artists turn into active and energetic Jellicle cats all by themselves.
The two conspicuous junk piles resting on both sides of the stage, according to the show’s manager, are indeed comprised of rubbish collected from this city intentionally to create a local sense. Therefore, the destinations the show tours bring different indigenous elements to its set. Besides, another noteworthy part of the stage set is a plate bearing “J-AR-12” placed next to the gargantuan tire. The letters there basically stand for the name of the show’s director and choreographer – Jo-Anne Robinson while the number that follows indicates the number of prop edition, meaning that the plate has been changed 12 times since the first performance.
As Maykayla Bishop revealed, the coated-surface stage enables the Jellicle cats to perform swift dancing moves, and its slightly inward inclination allows the audience to catch sight of all performers packed onstage. If you ever look meticulously at the patterns on the stage, it’s not that difficult to find the word “Seoul” written right above the roaring tiger, as the team brought the entire set to the Venetian Theatre from its previous tour stop in South Korea.
Taking into account the actual size of the props and the set, “everything, from the broken cellphone or even to the drain pipeline was devised and created from a kitten’s perspective,” she said.
Asked if the performers have adequate rest for the show, the company’s manger said that full-day rehearsals only take place before the musical officially begins its season. “When we first started the show, when we were bumping in and having new cast members, we did the full-day rehearsal. Once we were up and running, we didn’t have to because we’re doing eight shows a week,” she said.
Wearing the right cosmetics and wigs are essential to making up the vivid appearance of the Jellicle cats for the show. The latter is done by a group of specialists who take care of the wigs carefully before each show starts, while the former is what the performers themselves are responsible for.
It took more than applying hairspray and combing to make the wigs characteristic. “Firstly, we need to wash the wigs completely before drying them up, the fragile laces on the exterior of the wigs have to be pinned in order to find the right position for setting,” said one of the specialists, stressing that the “cat ears” are the hardest part to form with hair tips that had to look “slightly transparent” under the spotlight.
For the first few run-throughs, there were make-up artists on set who would do half a face of make-up, for the performers, leaving them to learn how to wear make-up by finishing up the rest. As Maykayla Bishop revealed, initially it would take almost one hour for them to finish the task as they were too cautious, yet now they only need roughly fifteen minutes.
Every single costume was handmade and tailor-made according to the artist’s body size. Some of them even have padding on the knees for sliding. The clothing and the wigs represent different characters and styles of the Jellicle cats, which are portrayed as certain humans in society. Staff reporter
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