My CATS Experience *Getting to the Wintergarden Theatre is a story in itself. I suggest you read it but if you don't, skip the orange text.* Written 9/9/00 Wow, well today has been the best day of my life! I saw CATS again, live, the last day it's open to the public. It's been an experience I will never forget. Just getting there is a story in itself. We left at around 11 am for a 2:00 show and got to NYC at about 12 or 12:30. We couldn't get into the parking garage we needed because all the streets were closed off and everywhere we went there was no place to park. Not only that, but we were stuck in about the worst traffic I had ever seen. I've never seen the city like this before, it's been crowded, but never like this. Finally, we decided to park in any garage so we went down all these streets trying to get close to the Wintergarden. But every street we turned down we kept getting further and further away from the theatre because all the streets we needed were blocked off. By that time, it was already1:30, just a half hour 'til showtime! We were no where near the theatre and were stuck in a gridlock. We couldn't move! Everyone in the car was upset and completely stressed out. My 6 year old sister was close to tears and kept saying "We're going to miss CATS!" (I turned her into a CATS fanatic too so she was pretty upset) I was close to tears myself, even my mom didn't think we would make the show. Finally, at 1:55 we pulled into a parking garage. I jumped out of the car, grabbed my 12 year old brother's hand, and yanked him out onto the concrete. By then, I was so excited that there was a chance we might make the show, I literally slammed the car door, just missing my brother's hand. I looked him and started cracking up; he had this expression on his face like, "OMG, I almost just got my hand cut off by the car door and you're laughing?!" I'm laughing right now, just thinking about it. We got on an elevator and when we got to the street we ran as fast as we could to the theatre. When we got inside I got the chills because I realized that in a few minutes my dream would be coming true...I would be seeing CATS live again! (The first time I hardly remember because I was really young. All I remember was trying to count the Christmas lights in the Wintergarden, lol) We finally got to our seats at 2:03 and the second we sat down, we hear, "The show will be starting in 3 minutes." I breathed a huge sigh of relief because I had honestly thought we were going to miss the show. So I relaxed in my seat and waited for the show to begin... The lights grew dim, there were christmas lights strung up all around the theatre and they instantly began to glow. The Overture started playing and I blinked hard to keep my contacts in when my eyes started filling with tears. It was what I had been waiting forever for and I knew I would never be seeing it again, neither would anyone else for that matter. I was crying out of pure happinessand from that moment on, I knew that this would be the best day of my life. The first notes of Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats started playing. This has always been one of my favorite songs and today it was especially good. Everyone put everything they had into this performance and it really showed. The whole show was great. I think the highlight for me was Mr. Mistoffelees. I kept screaming "Misto" the whole time. The people next to me must have thought I was crazy! I was mouthing the words to all the songs and literally dancing in my seat. They must have thought I was some crazy obsessed CATS fanatic, but then again...I am. Anyway, after the show was over, me, my mom, and my brother and sister went out to the backstage door to get autographs. We were the first people out there because I kept rushing everyone. I knew it would be a mob scene and I was right. I was so glad to be near the front! The first cat to come out was Plato/Rumpus Cat/Macavity. I got his autograph even though I'm not a big fan of any of those cats. Finally, the one cat who I had been waiting for the whole time came out...Misto played by Julius Sermonia! I wish it had been Jacob Brent playing Misto but Mr. Sermonia did a great job too. (And anyway, I met Mr. Brent at Access Broadway that January but that's another story...) Julius was mobbed like you wouldn't believe. Everyone wanted his autograph and they pushed and shoved me out of the way to get it. Finally though, I managed to squeeze back into the crowd and shoved my playbill and a pen in his face. I kept trying to tell him what a great job he did and what an inspiration he had been to me, but he didn't seem to be paying attention. I asked if he would mind taking a picture with me and he said "tomorrow." I think I gave him an odd look but he didn't seem to notice. He was awfully busy trying to manage the mob that had surrounded him. Dejected, I turned away, only to see another one of the cast come out. I asked who he played and he said Skimbleshanks. Well, Skimble's never been one of my favorite cats, but this one was really great. And he was so sweet too! I got his autograph and asked if he would take a picture with me. He said sure and out his arm around me. My mom took the picture while I stood there with a huge smile on my face. Thank you, James Hadley, if you're reading this, for taking the time for a picture with me! After I had gotten a few more autographs I asked my mom if we could go to the Brodway store to get the CATS shirt she had promised me I could get. (I babysat my sister a lot to get that shirt so all I was thinking was that she better not go back on her promise!) The Broadway store was right next to the Wintergarden but the only size CATS shirts they had were xl. They were down to my knees! I was dissapointed but asked someone who worked there if they were sold anywhere else within walking distance. He told us a store on 47th street carried them so we walked there. By that time it was starting to rain but we went anyway. It's a good thing we did because that store sold them in my size! I bought a shirt and then we all went to find the parking garage so we could go home. At first, we went to the wrong garage but after a few minutes we found the right one.and went home. Thank you so much, Mom and Dad for the best birthday present ever! This has been the best experience of my life and one I will never forget. CATS and this day will live on in my heart now and forever. *pictures coming soon!* home |
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