Upon arrival at the Centrum we started looking for a good place to eat. Vince had already satisfied his need for food (and burritos) at the Taco Bell at Patch Barracks nearby, so while we stood in line at a small café he went and got a beer each for himself and Dad and found a table for us. The café had these lovely little individual-size quiches that were perfect for a quick meal. Triskell was very kind and helped Dad and me order.
Having sated our appetites we made our way into the theatre. I noticed the ushers no longer wear those cute faux leopard jackets with tail. (Pity.) We were in the second section of orchestra seats, about two or three rows back and a couple seats off the outer aisle. Sachmet and I were in row 13 while Triskell, Dad, and Vince were in the row behind us. For the Ouvertuere Skimble came over and sniffed at Sachmet and myself before flashing his green eyes and moving on.
Alexander Wengel as Munkustrap delivered the first line well and he was quite a handsome silver tabby. I thought the Alonzo was good, too, once I’d spotted him. I sometimes have trouble telling him apart from Plato; their colouring is very similar. Since we were closer this time I saw that some of the wigs were very fluffy with a clearly defined part down the middle. Mistoffelees was our trapeze artist, with Tugger as his spotter. As he got to the highest point in his swing he touched the toes of one foot to the bar. There were tumbling runs being done below that, by Tumblebrutus (who else?) and I think Plato.
Sachmet and Triskell, our German-speaking companions, have commented that they don’t like the German version of the text, as opposed to the Austrian version. While my ignorance of the language prevents me from judging whether it is an accurate and understandable translation, my rhythmic ear is offended by the way the text and music are out of sync in Das Benennen von Katzen. But at least the performers stayed together for the most part, which is more than I can say for London. Mungojerrie came and visited us toward the end of the recitation.
Victoria was very cute in Einladung zum Jellicle Ball, and Mistoffelees had a nice voice. We later discovered that he was being played by Cary Chennell, who is normally Skimble, so it naturally follows that he would have a decent voice. Munkustrap continued with his clean-cut performance.
And again with Die Gumbie Katze. Everyone did well, but I’m afraid I can’t remember anything that was different from last year. We even had the same lady playing Jenny Fleckenfell and she was every bit as good as last time. So moving on…
Tugger, played by Rob Fowler, came out with a yell as is typical, but we are in debate over what he yelled. Dad, Vince, and I all heard “Whassup!” a typical American cool guy expression. (Mr. Fowler is from England himself, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have heard it before.) It took me completely by surprise and made me laugh. It fit the character well even if it was rather un-German. Triskell and Sachmet think he said something else, though.
I have neglected to mention in my Broadway reports (shame on me!) that Cassandra swoons into Plato’s arms rather than Etcetera as in the video. Here it was the same. Our Tugger was very high-spirited and energetic, almost like he was on a sugar high. His voice was nice. Instead of leaning back against Pounce, he put his arm around the kitten and sat on his knee. At the appropriate time Tugger pranced out into the audience to choose his victim, er, partner. He found a lady he liked and tried to pull her out of her seat. She came very reluctantly, and once he had her on her feet she sat right back down. I nearly died laughing! But Tugger was insistent, pulling her up again to tango down the aisle. Then back to the stage. For the second “abou-ou-ou” I was rather surprised when Tantomile started screaming her lungs out. But it was Teazer that Tugger turned his attention to in the end. He twirled his tail in her face as she squealed. Then he stopped and blew her a kiss, and with a little sigh she fell over backwards. Mungo seemed nonplussed by this.
Grizabella arrived, interrupting Tugger’s fun. There was much hissing from the adults and curiosity from the kittens, but nothing remarkable sticks out in my memory.
Bustopher Muerr started with an interesting sequence from Tumble and Pounce; they just couldn’t keep still. Starting from a hands and knees position Pounce sprang straight up in the air while Tumble rolled across the floor underneath, then Tumble sprang up and Pounce rolled under him, and so on for several bars. It looked like something out of Cirque du Soleil. They kept it up until Skimble came over and scolded them. After throwing his flower into the audience, Bustopher came to sit on the top hat. He insisted that it be dusted first, which Mistoffelees did, albeit reluctantly, with his tail. Mistoff then made a show of delicately picking lint from the tip of his tail with forefinger and thumb. When the Macavity scare came Bustopher and Jenny ran off the stage together and shared a kiss in the aisle before going into hiding. Meanwhile Tumblebrutus was living up to his name by doing back handsprings across the stage.
There was silence with the Cats gone from the stage, suddenly broken by an adorable giggle. It went on and on until it was finally stopped by a frantic “shh!” Then out popped the terrible twosome. They were delightfully naughty, especially Teazer who seemed ready to burst into giggles any minute. She did spare an “uh oh” when the Ming vase fell. Oddly enough, even though she was significantly smaller than Mungo, she still initiated the double cartwheel as was done when we saw it last year.
Mistoffelees was sent off to fetch Old D and Munkustrap began to sing about the Jellicle leader. He really has a lovely voice, and he was perfectly complemented by Tugger. And Jonathan Agar as Old Deuteronomy has absolutely the most beautiful voice; I could sit and listen to him all day.
Now for P&P, my all-time favourite after Growltiger. Munkustrap delivered this piece as the perfect narrator, being very unobtrusive. M&R were the first Pollicle and Peke, and Mungo appeared more stupid than mischievous; he just couldn’t get the bark right to save his life. In the meantime we had Mistoff and Skimble not too far off, changing into their Pollicle costumes, though there seemed to be a lot of goofing off involved. Gus, with a pair of scrub brushes like epaulettes on his shoulders, led the marching line until he was stopped by Munkustrap, causing a considerable pile-up. I loved the Rumpus Cat when he finally showed up. His full-face mask had whiskers that stood out stiffly from his muzzle. He had all the fierce posings I would expect from him and he terrified all the “dogs”. And for I think the first time I saw a Munkustrap who didn’t look like he was anticipating the over-the-head kicks. Well done.
Das Lied der Jellicles was done beautifully. Alonzo came on sexy as ever, and Triskell later informed me that he actually said “Jellicle Katz sind braun und schwarz” (Jellicle Cats are brown and black). I suppose that’s appropriate, seeing as he has more brown than white in his costume. Then onto Der Jellicle Ball. In the couples dance I seem to recall Mistoffelees dancing with Sillabub and Pouncival with Tumblebrutus (how cute). And for a switch in the macho tom bit where the guys come up behind the girls, it was Plato who lifted Bombalurina while Tugger had Demeter. At the mating dance Tumble lifted Victoria then laid her across Mistoff’s abdomen. She formed an arc with her body, he forming one underneath. Then he slid out from under her and placed a hand in the small of her back, seeming to ease her down onto the stage. Interesting. The rest of the Ball was very high energy, but more or less the same as what I am used to. I did notice Tugger up on the car grooving to the beat. And Bomba and Munk were on the tire doing some heavy petting.
Then Grizabella arrived and the mood swiftly changed. Before long she found herself alone on the stage. Frankly I didn’t care a great deal for this actress’ portrayal. It felt like she was trying too hard. To make matters worse she had a terribly inappropriate grin (which Triskell aptly termed a “toothpaste commercial smile”) that she flashed as she held her paw back to be touched. A bit over the top, I thought; Grizabella should be more understated.
At intermission we all went out to the souvenir booth. I was remarkably restrained. There was only one item that I felt I couldn’t do without, and that was a large black vinyl shoulder bag with the Cats eyes on it. I had been thinking I was about ready for a new purse and this seemed perfect. After making our purchases we looked around the foyer a bit. As well as the mannequins and the old boat set from Hamburg, they also had the “Growltiger’s Last Stand” curtain from Hamburg displayed at the top of the stairs to the mezzanine. It was nice to get a good look at it for once.
We returned to our seats and waited for the second half to start. I remembered Tumblebrutus’ entrance from last year and so was watching out for him. I could hardly miss him. He walked by in the aisle in front of us…on his hands. Then he started climbing over the first section of seats to the stage and M&R copied him. Teazer found a bald man and stopped to polish his head with her tail. And Mungo got a little too into his part when he snatched a lady’s purse. He did give it back, though not after teasing her by dangling it just out of her reach for a bit. Old D started singing, but I’m afraid I was distracted by Tugger who was settled in a niche somewhere between the stage and the mezzanine. There was a giant bra hanging just underneath and he was having a lot of fun playing with it. Naughty kitty!
Gus went well. Jelly had a lovely, clear voice for her solo. In the background the other Cats were barely paying attention. In fact Victoria and Sillabub had their backs to Gus as they tried to peek under Old D’s shaggy coat. The others were cleaning themselves or goofing off in some way. I think only a couple reacted to the “diese Kaetzchen” line.
Growltiger was hysterical! It was one of the best I have ever seen, very energetic and totally goofy. It all started at the end of the first verse when Growltiger sang, “Den Schrecken von der Themse,” then turned and knocked poor Alonzo over the railing and into the “drink”. Halfway through the second verse Lonz managed to haul himself back up. Then with all the tossing that the ship was doing poor little Mistoffelees got seasick. I could hear underneath the singing of the third verse someone retching loudly. I looked and there was Mistoff tossing his kibbles over the railing. I couldn’t believe it, it was too funny! And here, as I already noted in the US Tour V, Alonzo delivers an extra line “Sie versteckten alle Huehner, sogar die Gans blieb stumm.” As before the crew laugh was cut off by a look from Growltiger, all except for Mistoffelees who had an insane little giggle reminiscent of the Red Caboose from Starlight Express. He stopped when he saw his captain glaring, though. Then Griddlebone showed up. As the crew went to greet her we heard that giggle from Mistoffelees again; Munkustrap had to bop him on the head to make him shut up. Griddlebone could not be bothered with the attentions of the crew, but they took full advantage when she swooned back against them. Then the crew was shooed below deck, all but Munkus who stretched out on the poop deck for a nap. The duet was adorable. Griddlebone was irritated with Growltiger for not paying proper attention to her and she stomped his toe on the third line. In his own turn Growltiger obviously thought she should be attending to his every word and occasionally you heard a growl in his voice as he sang. Griddlebone got bored and started to crawl away, but Growltiger stepped on her tail and she crawled in place for a few seconds before he lifted his foot and she fell forward on her face. She had her revenge when she scratched him, though, and he let out a string of weird little yelps. Their singing was wonderful, their voices going together perfectly. Then the Siamese showed up. I watched closely this time and I saw that they drove the recently awakened and badly frightened Munkustrap to the railing and he jumped over with a yell to get away from them. When Growltiger realized the Siamese were upon him he grabbed Griddlebone by the ankle and dragged her on her belly back to the poop deck. But the Siamese didn’t want her and she was allowed to escape. Growltiger, on the other hand, had to fight Genghis. He knocked the Siamese down and held up his sword in triumph, laughing, “Ha ha ha HA!” But Genghis was not down and out. He laughed, “Hee hee hee HEE!” as he aimed his sword at a tender area just below Growltiger’s belt. The pirate hurriedly back away, only to impale his rump on a toasting fork. After that it was all over for Growltiger, though he did make an attempt to wrest control of the ship from the Siamese. Inevitably, though, he was forced over the side with a yell.
Skimbleshanks opened with an amazing move by Pounce. As Skimble was coming down to the stage the kitten jumped onto Tumble’s back just as the other kitten straightened from a crouch. This sent Pounce into a backward roll ending in a handstand (with assistance from Munk and Old D), and from that he flipped back onto his feet. Wow! Later when Sillabub forced Cass to switch places with her Skimble took the errant kitten by the ear and put her back in her spot. The train was like the Broadway affair with the metal roof and the teapot that toots every other line. There was an almighty clatter as the train fell apart. After the final drum beat there were a few seconds of silence, suddenly broken by another toot from the teapot; it was quite unexpected.
Demeter and Bomba set each other off beautifully singing Macavity. There were no toms dancing with them in the background, but as the song progressed most of the toms came back and just watched. The cutest part came when Demeter sang, “Wie zum Beispiel, Mungojerrie.” Mungo was lying on a stage ramp close to Demeter and she pointed at him when she sang that. Mungo then turned to the audience with a wounded look that said, “Does she mean me? She can’t mean me!” Then Macavity returned and the fight was on. It was staged very similarly to the Broadway version; the main difference was the absence of the lift/spin.
Mistoffelees was very good as far as singing and acting went, but I could tell the magic Cat was being played by a swing. His dancing did not impress me, but again this guy is usually playing Skimble. When Mistoff went to choose his victim, er, assistant, Cassandra was on the tire unconcernedly washing her ears in a terribly catlike manner. The spotlight fell on her just as she raised her hand. (How unfortunate.) She wasn’t too happy about being coerced, but didn’t have much choice. She was ushered back to the pipe where she sat nervously washing herself before she dropped out of sight behind the red cloth. Before doing his conjuring trick Mistoff did a cool guy hand slapping routine with Tugger, presumably to boost his confidence. At the end of the song Mistoff was lifted by two toms, but his perch seemed rather unsteady.
Erinnerung was unmemorable. Nor was there anything of particular note during Die Reise zum Heavyside Layer or Ueber das Ansprechen von Katzen. Except Jonathan Agar has a beautiful voice that I just can’t get enough of.
The Finale was almost like a second Jellicle Ball. First the Cats came out into the audience and danced around, encouraging us to clap. Alonzo spent a lot of time close to us, something I was quite happy about. He even reached over and ruffled Sachmet’s hair. Then back up onstage for bows. I noted with interest that Plato did a little of his Macavity choreography, the bit where he crosses his arms in front then flings them out, so we’d know who he was. Then they did a second round of bows, this time in pairs. It started on a cute note as Skimble and Sillabub came out together, each holding the other by the ear. We also had Alonzo and Demeter, Victoria and Cassandra doing acrobatics together, and Cori and Tant doing a multi-armed Indian god. The best, though, was M&R. Teazer came out and did a spectacular no hands cartwheel. Mungo came on after her, and looking very timid got down on the floor and did a simple forward roll. Then the orchestra came out for a bow. Those that could were carrying their instruments so we’d know who the heck these folks dressed all in black were. Once they were backstage and playing again the Cats started having a free-for-all. Tumblebrutus was doing the most eye-popping tumbling stunts. He was the last one off the stage.
After the show we went back to the café and got coffees, and then sat there for a while chattering about the show. It happened to be Mom’s birthday so we called her on Vincent’s cell phone. The trip back to our hotel was uneventful. Sachmet was somehow able to sleep in the back seat of Vincent’s rental car, but neither Triskell nor I could manage it so we kept talking about the show, comparing with London, Broadway, the video, et al. I think we bored Dad and Vince out of their minds. They’ve had their fill of Cats for a while, but no matter. I’m already looking forward to seeing Cats at the Westchester Broadway Theatre in New York.