This trip was a major pain in the toe to organize. After my January excursion I was longing to go back to New York. Cindy, the ringleader from our last trip, consulted with the rest of our traveling companions and came up with the weekend of the 20th and 21st. It was my weekend off at the hospital so it worked perfectly. And Jim, a friend from work, wanted to come along so it looked like it would be an interesting weekend.
Then things started happening. First the closing of Cats was announced and there was a frantic scramble by most Cats fanatics to get seats for one of the final shows in June. I was determined to stick with the May date, though, as I had learned that Rockapella, a band that I am wild about, would be doing their third annual benefit concert for Camp Heartland on that weekend. But my companions were pulling out and it was starting to look like Jim and I would be going alone. Then one of my companions from the previous trip announced that she and her daughter would join us, and Cindy decided to come along, making it a nice little fivesome. Cindy ordered tickets and I went ahead and paid for both Jim and myself. Then Jim told me he had accepted a job at a hospital in Hawaii and he would be leaving at the end of April. Argh! So there I was, short a date and holding an extra Cats ticket in my hand. I eventually found a taker for the ticket, though, and the trip plans settled into something resembling stability.
Arrived in New York via bus with Mary and Liz (mother and daughter) an hour early. We therefore thought that we would be just in time to meet Cindy’s bus, but hers was an hour late. Typical. So we ate a late lunch while waiting for her, then hooked up and took a cab to our hotel. One member of our party had still not arrived. She asked me not to use her name in this report so I will hereafter refer to her as XYZ. She was flying in from the mid-west and should have arrived at eleven AM. She finally showed up at about six PM with a horrid tale to tell: The first plane she was on caught fire, the second one got her to New York okay, but then the bus to take her to the hotel caught fire. The whole time we were in New York, whenever she saw a fire engine go by with sirens wailing she said, "Cool! A fire that I’m not involved in!"
Here’s the itinerary for the weekend: Friday night Cindy, XYZ, and I went to see Cats. Saturday afternoon we all saw Swing! with Michael Gruber, and while Cindy and XYZ went to see Cats that evening and Mary stayed at the hotel to work on her dissertation, Liz and I went to Long Island to see the Rockapella concert. Sunday morning Cindy and I went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and that afternoon we all went to see Cats. (Obsessed? Not us. We’re focused!) Monday it was home again and then collapse.
This show had many swings as several of the regular cast members were out for various reasons. They were: Mark Moreau as Tumblebrutus, Jonathan Taylor as Mungojerrie, Susan Sommerville as Rumpelteazer, Billy Sprague Jr. as Munkustrap, Melissa Hathaway as Victoria, Larissa Thurston as Cassandra, and Amy Hamel as Tantomile. Actually, Ms. Hamel is not a swing, but the new Tantomile, replacing Silvi Aruj. However she’s not listed in the playbill yet, so I guess that’s why they announce her every night.
I had ordered my tickets rather late and so had a seat way back in row U of the left orchestra section. Not much action back there during the overture I’m afraid.
I didn’t have any of the swing announcements in my playbill and didn’t realize that Jeffry Denman wasn’t on stage tonight, but I knew something was amiss when Munkustrap sang his first line. Nothing against Billy S, I do love him in the other roles he’s played. But he just doesn’t have that strong baritone voice that Munkustrap needs.
During Naming of Cats Alonzo, Plato, Mungojerrie, Bombalurina, and I think Demeter were facing in my general direction. I was delighted to notice that when Alonzo’s name was mentioned in the lyrics he gave a little shiver of recognition. It was so cute, and I looked to see if any of the other Cats would do that when their respective names came up. Some did, but none were as pronounced as Alonzo’s.
Hmm, nothing particularly special in Jenny’s number. The lady whom Tugger chose to dance with during his song seemed a little reluctant at first. He talked to her for a minute, then she stood up and they did a little slow dance. I guess she was shy.
Grizabella then Bustopher. As the male Cats were getting organized, Pouncival seemed always to be in someone’s way and was constantly getting shoved aside. Tumblebrutus in particular kept pulling his tail to the point where it wasn’t very secure and Pounce kept reaching back to give it a quick hitch. After Bustopher finishes his solo and the chorus comes in, Skimble was trying to conduct the ladies as they sang, but Jenny waved him off as if to say, "Cut that out!"
As I said, both Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer were played by swings and they seemed a bit…off. Though as intense and energetic as this song is, I suppose that’s only to be expected. The swings did their best. One cute bit: At the end of the song when M&R are trying to get away from the other Cats and their socks with loot are thrown at them, Mungo missed catching his and snatched Teazer’s instead. Then she gave him a look like "Hey, that’s mine!"
Tugger was so cute as Old Deuteronomy was greeting the kittens. He was trying to be noticed, but Old D was still busy with the other Cats. Tugger was obviously getting frustrated and in his shifting from foot to foot on the tire he stumbled almost imperceptibly. Finally he threw his hands up in disgust and started to walk away, but then Old D noticed him and reached out to him and Tugger was happy. He’s a brat, but you gotta love him.
Next is the Pekes and the Pollicles, and anyone who knows of my fondness for the Great Rumpus Cat will be able to figure out that this is one of my favourite songs. Again, I don’t think Billy S was quite up to filling the Munkustrap shoes (paws?), but he still did a pretty good job. Teazer was cute. After Munkus bopped her with his hip she went over to help straighten out Mungo’s pollicle costume. Then she pushed through Munk’s legs and he stepped back and gave her a little kick in the rump. Finally came the Great Rumpus Cat! (whistle, stomp, cheer) Keith Wilson plays a very different GRC from the one in the video. He is more controlled and more menacing. I truly love Frank Thompson’s goofy, somewhat clumsy GRC, but I also like Keith’s sleek, understated version. Besides, the startrap entrance rocks! And when Tugger comes out with his bagpipes at the end of the song, the other Cats turn and wave him off and GRC throws him arms up as if to say, "Can’t you do something with this guy?" Hee hee, he’s so cute! The Rumpus Cat that is.
The song of the Jellicles and the Jellicle Ball were terrific as always. Lenny Daniel as Alonzo has stolen my heart, in this number particularly. He comes out and speaks the lines "Jellicle cats are black and white. Jellicle cats are rather small." He begins the first line in a high, light voice, then on "and white" he suddenly drops his pitch about an octave and a half. Ooh! That sends shivers down my spine every time. On the next line he allows his voice to travel up the scale then come back down again on "small". And he has a gorgeous baritone, both singing and speaking. Damn! What is it about Alonzo? He always seems to be played by someone with a great voice and you want to hear more, but he’s only got a few lines of solo.
Grizabella again, then intermission. During intermission they had Mistoffelees on stage selling autographed posters for $40 to benefit the AIDS walk. I wandered on up to the stage to have a look around and noticed with some amusement that Julius (Mistoff) was dripping sweat on the posters as he handed them out. Hmm, maybe they should have charged extra for that; forty bucks for the poster and a dollar more per sweat drop!
The opening of the second act is one of my favourite parts because this is when you see some of the cutest kitty antics! The Cats that caught my eye this time were Sillabub and Tumblebrutus. Tumble kept trying to sneak up on Sillabub and attack her tail, but she kept whipping it away and turning to face him. They went all the way across the stage doing that.
In Gus’ song I noticed for the first time how the Cats react when he sings about the kittens that do not get trained. They sit up and take interest for the first time in the whole song, and when he finishes with "they think they are smart just to jump through a hoop" they all swat.
In Growltiger the crew reactions are so cute. Griddlebone comes on and sings her bit and they all look excited. Then Growltiger sings and they give him a look like "Oh, put a sock in it!" Gridlebone steps up on the stage and the crew primps. Growltiger tried a few push-ups this time. As she went down the line, Alonzo held out his hook and when she caressed it he went weak in the knees.
Skimbleshanks was played by a new guy, James Hadley. I really liked the way he portrayed him. He was more playful, more like an older brother than an uncle. He was sleeping on a ramp with one arm and one leg hanging off the edge. As the kittens sang "There’s a whisper down the line" he stretched that arm and leg upward, scratched his ear, and curled up a little tighter. And when the kittens yelled, boy did he jump. All his reactions were big and exaggerated, which made him very appealing. Other cute things in this song: On "He gave one flash" Skimble feints back at Alonzo who falls back into Tumble’s arms. But Tumble, instead of pushing Alonzo back up, let him go all the way down on his rump. Alonzo gave him the cutest glare. There is, of course, much place switching when the kittens are pretending to be on a train. One that took me by surprise was Coricopat, who suddenly stood up, picked Pouncival up by the waist, and set him off to one side before taking the then vacant spot. Pounce wasn’t having that. He pulled at Cori’s tail and kept pushing him, trying to make him move, but Skimble came along and made them behave. At the end of the song when the train falls apart, the Cats all laugh at Skimble who just shrugs.
Nothing different during Macavity’s song, nor during the fight. But the fight is always so exciting; kudos to Lenny and Keith for making it look so effortless.
Nothing different in Mistoffelees’ song either, but it also deserves mention. Julius is such a terrific dancer; he dazzles me every time.
Memory, then Journey, and finally Ad-dressing. Again Alonzo was facing in my general direction. Cindy had told me during intermission that he was making faces at her in Naming. (She was considerably closer to the stage than I was.) So I watched him closely now, and he did make some cute faces. Mostly wrinkling his nose and pouting his lips in an attempt to get Cindy to laugh. He succeeded. One of the cutest things he did was when Old D was singing about caviar and Strassburg pie. He did something with his tongue that XYZ described as "French-kissing the air," which should (hopefully) give you an idea of what it looked like as otherwise it is rather hard to describe.
After the show we had our usual ritual of hanging out at the stage door, waiting for the actors to come out. Stephen Bienskie (RTT) was one of the first that we saw and he was quickly surrounded by girls. XYZ was eager to meet the new Skimble, James Hadley. He came out while she was still talking to Stephen and we called to her. She looked over, saw James, eyes widened, and she shouted, "Hold onto him!" before hurriedly finishing her conversation with Stephen. James is a very sweet guy; I enjoyed meeting him.
I got several pictures of Jon Erik Goldberg (Pounce) to make up for the fact that I had somehow missed him back in January. Then Billy Johnstone (Corico) came out and talked to us for a while. He did a Scott Leonard on me by remembering me from the last time. Good memory there. He learned that I’m on the Cats forum at Musicals.net and asked my screen name.
"I’m Delilah," I told him.
"Ohhhhh, you’re Delilahhhh," he said, just like that. From the tone of his voice I wonder what special meaning that had for him, if any.
Then Keith came out and I immediately latched onto him. The last time I came I had someone take our picture together, and that person (whom I am not really blaming, in case she is reading this) cut off the top half of his head. Argh! So I was determined to get a good one of him this time. Also Lenny, who got about the top two inches lopped off of his head in our picture.
I was just telling Keith that I wanted his picture and looking around for someone to take it when Lenny came out. I almost abandoned Keith in my eagerness to hook up with Lenny. But finally I had them both and first Keith took my picture with Lenny, then Lenny took my picture with Keith. Groovy!
That accomplished I stood talking to Keith for a while. In the course of our conversation it came out that Cindy and XYZ would be coming to see the show again on Saturday, and I would be back with them on Sunday.
"So what are you doing on Saturday?" Keith asked. (I guess he thought I would be seeing another Broadway show.)
"I’m going to a concert on Long Island," I told him. "It’s a group called Rockapella."
"Oh, yeah," Keith nodded knowingly.
"You know about them perchance?" I queried, hardly daring to believe that he did.
"Oh, yeah," he said. "I know a couple guys from that group. Scott L-uh…"
"Leonard," I provided.
"Uh-huh," he nodded. "We used to work at Disney World together. And the other one I know is the husband of Amy Splitt, who used to be Cassandra."
"Kevin Wright," I said.
Well, after such a revelation I was so overwhelmed just about all I could say was "Wow! That is so wild!" So much for impressing him. But he asked me to say hi for him and I told him I would.
And as for Lenny, I’m afraid I didn’t talk to him that much because I was caught up in my conversation with Keith. Not long before we left Keith asked casually, "So, would you guys like a tour of the backstage?"
It was all I could do to keep from bursting out "Are you kidding? Of course, we would!" I was trying to maintain an outward composure even after completely blowing my cool with Keith about Rockapella. We made a date to meet him at the stage door at two PM on Sunday.
Then it was time to say goodbye. I think Lenny and Keith were about the only performers left. As we walked away, Lenny suddenly grabbed my purse strap and said, "Bye, sweetie." I was so flabbergasted I couldn’t even reply, much like the time Scott Leonard said he remembered me from the first concert I attended. I’m sure it’s not his intention, but everything Lenny has said and done has only served to endear him to me more than ever. I may need therapy after this!
This was to be a weekend of minimal sleep for me. The night before the trip I think I got a grand total of two hours sleep because I was baking cookies and making catnip pouches for the Cats cast. That’s me, the procrastinator, but I can’t remember when I’ve ever been so productive except when I was on a writing streak. I tried to finish my little personal notes for each cast member on the bus, but sleep beckoned and I had to give in. So Friday night I stayed up till about 2:30 finishing the notes. Saturday morning I skipped breakfast in favour of staying in our room to assemble the gift packages for all the Cats. XYZ helped me with that, for which I was extremely grateful. In each package: a personal note, a notepad with a cat on the front, a metal yo-yo with a cat on it, an iron-on cat patch, a pouch of catnip (a teaspoon of catnip placed in a scrap of an old curtain and tied with crochet cotton), a dreamcatcher pendant (I’m glad I included those, you’ll find out why later), and three cookies. I also had cookies for the orchestra and chorus, but those were already packed.
Having assembled the boxes we left them stacked next to the bed and instructed the maid not to bother them. They still needed lids put on, names written on them, and the kitty stickers I had to put on them. Cindy, XYZ, and I decided we would each get a treat from the Godiva store for our respective favourite Cats. We dropped them off at the hotel, then hurried to the St. James Theatre where we met up with Mary and Liz for Swing! I had cookies for Michael Gruber, too. And I had also painted a T-shirt for him, going on a suggestion from Mary and Cindy. On the front it said "Give it to Mikey…he’ll eat anything!" and on the back "TMGC" which stands for The Michael Gruber Corporation.
Upon arriving at the theatre we boldly entered via the stage door and asked if Michael Gruber had come in yet. He had not, so we went back to the stage door to lie in wait for him. He arrived and we presented him with his gifts. Cindy had gotten him a little something from the Godiva store. I had gotten a bag there to carry the stuff in and I felt the need to explain that while it didn’t hold any Godiva goodies, there were cookies in there and also the T-shirt. He pulled out the latter to look at and seemed to like it from the way he was grinning. I had split a page in half in my notepad and now asked him to sign it, once for me and once for my young friend Caroline. Mine he signed "with love" while Caroline got "best wishes". As he explained with a grin, "See, I haven’t met her so she just gets best wishes. Tell her she has to come see me if she wants the love." I laughed, but I was thinking, I’m not telling Caroline that. (She’s only thirteen and might take it the wrong way.)
XYZ was kind enough to take a picture of us, and as I embraced him for the photo I discovered that we fit each other nicely, our body curves corresponding perfectly. Also he wears a nice cologne.
Since we had seen Swing! before we didn’t feel the need to get close seats (Cats is a different matter) and got cheapie seats. I thought we’d be in the mezzanine, but we were actually in the balcony. The stairs to that level spiraled instead of going straight up and it seemed like they’d go on forever. And when we finally got to our seats and saw how far above the stage we were, someone said, "Uh, did I mention a fear of heights?" We were definitely in nosebleed section. But the show was still quite enjoyable.
I noticed one teeny little mistake on the part of Casey McGill; he seemed to forget one of his lines for a second in Two and Four. As an amateur performer I admit I find it just a wee bit gratifying when I hear a pro make a mistake. Proves that they’re human.
They had added one song to the show since we saw it in January. During Bli-Blip, which has Everett Bradley and Ann Hampton Callaway on a date, Laura Benanti makes a brief appearance as their waitress. At the end of the song the couple walk off together just as Ms. Benanti is coming out with their drinks. She sets the glasses down as she watches them go, examines the rose that they left on their table, and begins singing Skylark. I have this song on a recording by the Real Group, an a cappella jazz group from Sweden. It’s a beautiful number and Ms. Benanti is at least comparable to Margareta Jalkeus.
One other thing of note: Close to the end of the show Michael danced across the stage with his partner from Stop Beating Up Those Drums, both of them wearing their costumes from that number. Michael had left his shirt open in the front and after he had gone Cindy leaned over and whispered to me, "Michael needs to button up his shirt."
I, still salivating, answered, "No, he doesn’t."
"Yes, he does," she insisted.
"No, he doesn’t!" I returned.
Not much else of particular note happened. Cindy wanted to talk to Michael again after the show, so she was already heading down the stairs before the finale was quite done. The rest of us waited for the bows before we followed her. (Michael is notorious for leaving quickly which is why Cindy wanted to start negotiating the stairs early.) We caught him as he exited and chit-chatted a bit more. He had his shirt buttoned crooked, which Liz pointed out to him, but he didn’t try to fix it. I must say I find it kind of hard to believe that he would be shy of unbuttoning his shirt in front of us when he had just danced across a stage with his shirt all the way open in front of hundreds of people. Though of course, they weren’t within grabbing distance. Anyway, we all got hugs from him as we prepared to part company. As he hugged me he thanked me for the cookies, "they were delicious!" Heh heh, I kind of figured he would have already broken into them, probably consumed half of them by that time.
This is where we parted ways. Cindy, XYZ, and Mary went to dinner while Liz and I headed back to the hotel preparatory to going to Long Island. We stopped to get more film, then onward. The trip was horrendous, but I won’t gripe about it here as I’ve already done so in my concert report. ;~) Suffice it to say that Liz and I arrived at the 7:30 concert at 8:05, but since they started late we only missed about twenty minutes, or so we were told. The concert was wonderful (they always are) and Liz, who had never heard of Rockapella before, enjoyed them so much she said she’d be willing to join me for their next concert in Alexandria, Va (whenever that may be).
Got to talk to the boys afterward and told Scott that Keith said hi. His reaction? "I didn’t know Keith is in Cats!"
Not knowing how familiar Scott is with the musical, I just said, "He plays Macavity."
Scott seemed pleased to hear about Keith. "We used to work at Disney; Keith danced with my wife." (Well, that answers the question of how Scott and Lisa met.) I mentioned that I would be seeing Keith again the next day, so Scott said, "Tell him I said hi, and tell him if he ever comes back to Florida to look me up."
I assured him that I would do so. I was enjoying this opportunity to be the go-between.
What with one thing and another, Liz and I didn’t get back to the hotel till close to 2:30 ("What did you do?" Mary asked as we walked in, "Walk all the way from Long Island?"), and I still had those Cats packages staring me in the face. I taped, labeled, and stickered all twenty-two of them, took a shower (which I badly needed by then), and got to bed at five AM. Cindy woke me at eight AM to go to church. (Dear Lord, have mercy on my tired little soul!) I was a little groggy during the Mass, but once I got moving and had my coffee (nurses run on caffeine and adrenaline) I was okay.
At the theatre we met Jack, another frequenter of the Musicals.net Cats forum. I think he had met up with Cindy and XYZ after the show Saturday evening. He had a seat for the Sunday evening show of Fosse, and Cindy talked him into getting an SRO ticket for the Cats matinee so he could join us.
We stood outside the stage door, having already dropped off my presents for the Cats (man, was I ever glad to get rid of those), and waited for Keith to show up. Hector Montalvo was there, of course, and we chatted with him. Today was his six hundred forty-eighth show. Oh my! Of course, if I lived in or near New York and made more money than I do (and didn’t have to buy a new car, darn it!), I’d probably go to see the show more often than I do now. Then I could be labeled eccentric, though my co-workers say that I am already. ;~)
Oops, sorry for the digression. While we were waiting Cindy told us that at the Saturday evening show she and XYZ had screamed themselves hoarse. Some of the cast members told them that it seemed to circulate all the way around the theatre from where they sat. Julius in particular liked it, and he told them that today he wanted a rock concert, i.e. lots of screaming and carrying on. I told Cindy that after the Rockapella concert I was in fine form for such activities.
Since I was keeping an eye out for Keith I was the first to spot Jeffry Denman approaching. He had been MIA on Saturday as well, so I was glad that I would get to see him at one show at least.
Billy J arrived, then Julius, Jon Erik, and Celina, but not Keith. I was starting to get worried. (Remember he had said he would meet us there at two PM.) Cindy kept saying, "I bet Keith called in sick," and I was thinking, no, he can’t! (Well, obviously he can, but I didn’t want him to.)
Finally he came around the corner at fifteen minutes after two and I yelled, "There’s Keith!" Sheesh! No self control. I blame it on lack of sleep.
Keith was running late, evidently, but we still did the tour. He was even kind enough to invite Jack to come along. It was something of a quickie tour, but still interesting. I can’t remember the sequence, but he showed us the men’s and ladies’ quick-change dressing rooms where all the departing actors have signed the walls. Then he pointed out a backstage light that is left on for the "theatre ghost". (What ghost? The Winter Garden hasn’t been there that long.)
Walked by the orchestra pit (how do they fit a sixteen piece orchestra and four chorus singers back there?) and squeezed through this horribly narrow, pitch black corridor that took us to the springboard underneath the startrap. The principle is quite simple: a seven hundred pound weight is released and up goes Keith. A little red light comes on just before so he can get ready. He told us that it was scary as hell the first few times, but now he likes to see how high he can get. Personally, the very idea would scare me witless! I wonder if the startrap has ever gotten stuck. Can you imagine being propelled upward by a seven hundred pound force, only to run headfirst into an immovable barrier? Ouch! That must be why the GRC mask has a helmet under the wig, but still that would smart pretty badly.
Sorry, digressing again. Lessee, what else was there? Saw the pirate boat set on the back of the Jellicle Moon backdrop, and wondered aloud where the door was that Tugger comes through for his big entrance. (Keith didn’t know.) On the way back to the stage door we passed a rack where the Cats keep their glowing green eyes, and that was about it.
We came back out to talk to Hector until the doors opened and met a few other forum regulars who had come in costume. SadieCass was dressed as Cassandra (duh!), Aurora was Electra (from the video), and Kat was Jemima/Sillabub. Very nice costumes, ladies; I applaud you for doing something I wouldn’t have the guts to try.
We were sitting in rows C and D on Tugger/Rumpus Cat side, next to the same ramp where I had enjoyed such proximity with Pouncival back in January. (Ah, the memories…) Several swings in this show, too, but Jeffry was back. Yay! The swings were: Mark Moreau as Tumblebrutus, Kurt von Schmittou as Old Deuteronomy, Angel Caban as Bombalurina, and here’s an interesting one, Billy Sprague Jr. was Coricopat because Billy Johnstone was Mungojerrie. Billy J rocks as Mungo, and Billy S makes a totally cool Cori. More on them later.
I was soooo glad to have Jeffry back as Munkus; it just starts the whole show off right when he sings that first line. I can’t get enough of his voice.
I don’t think there was anything of particular note in Jellicle Songs, but I want to talk about the trapeze: In the video Etcetera is the one to swing down and Admetus is her spotter. However, he’s well back on the stove and it was ages before I ever noticed him, and then only because I was looking for him. On the Broadway stage, though, Tumblebrutus is our little trapeze artist and Alonzo is his spotter. But Alonzo is positioned off to the side and makes sweeping gestures with his arms so he’s well visible. Also, a couple of the Cats, Plato and one other, possibly Pouncival, are doing tumbling runs while that’s going one above them. I thought that was worth mentioning.
I didn’t really notice who was facing us during Naming because I was peering around them to see Alonzo on the other side of the stage. I love that little shiver he does when his name is mentioned. It’s so cute!
Nothing real special in Gumbie Cat, but I do love the full-length beetles’ tattoo, especially the way Jenny is trying to keep them in line. Oddly enough it is Skimble and not Pounce who chases her with his fork. Who would have thought he could be a mischievous one!
Now for Tugger. It was here that I first noticed the marked difference between the Marlene Danielle Bomba and the Angel Caban Bomba. Ms. Danielle plays her very sultry and sexy. Ms. Caban is more sweet, sexy without being sultry if that makes any sense. And Ms. Caban has a beautiful voice, of a different style from Ms. Danielle.
But this is Tugger’s song, right? Tugger did his usual antics, then ran out into the audience for his obligatory dance. Cindy was sitting on the aisle and he started to run past her. Then he must have caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye cos he slammed on the brakes, backed up, and offered her his hand. She accepted (did you think she wouldn’t?), and she had the biggest grin on her face. As they did their little dance he said to her, "See what happens when you sit in an end seat?" Hee hee! I related this to my mother later and she commented, "He probably says that to all the girls." Maybe, but I don’t think Cindy cared; she was clearly smitten! I’m glad she got that opportunity to dance with Tugger; I think she deserved it.
Grizabella, Bustopher, then M&R. I really, really like Billy J as Mungo. He plays so well opposite Tesha Buss, even better than Roger Kachel. (gasp) And I also think that Billy S makes a better Coricopat than does Billy J. He is more of the cool, psychic twin mentality, while Billy J is more of a cute little mischief maker. And I understand that Billy J was Mungojerrie when he was on the tour. It seems to be the perfect part for him. I would like to see the two Billys stay in these roles, but I think it was just for this one weekend. Darn.
Okay, opinion time again, please put down those old boots. First, let me say that I think Stephen makes a great Tugger, full of energy and flair, but I don’t think he’s much of a singer. This is nowhere more obvious than in Old Deuteronomy, where he actually has to sing instead of half-speaking. But what he lacks in vocal ability he makes up for with sheer style and charisma. So you can stop throwing things now.
While we’re on the subject of singing talent, Kurt von Schmittou (love that name) definitely has it. His is a lovely, rolling baritenor voice. Not quite like Brian Blessed, more like the Old Deuteronomy from the Hamburg cast CD.
Now for the Pekes and the Pollicles. Amazingly, it was Skimbleshanks who held my attention for the better part of this song. As it starts he dumps all the costumes out of a big sack with a crash, then struggles with the sack for a minute as it covers his face. Sitting at the end of our ramp a couple rows behind us were a woman with four young children. Skimble and Mistoff ran down the ramp with their costumes, dropped them in the children’s laps, cooed at them for a bit, then ran back up the ramp. The two youngest seemed a little alarmed, but the older two didn’t appear to mind. Later in the song, Skimble and Mistoff were getting the children to help them put on their costumes. (Awww!) I’m afraid I missed most of the stage action because I was trying to divide my attention between that and what was going on behind me. As Skimble finished putting on his costume he sat up on his haunches and went "Woof woof woof!" at the youngest child (a toddler sitting on his mum’s lap) before scurrying back up the ramp. (James is such a cutie.)
Then came the Rumpus Cat. Jeffry and Keith play well off of each other. Keith is doing his best to look fierce and menacing, and Jeffry acts a little disconcerted by it. Every time he found those great fireballs glaring at him he gave a little shudder and quickly turned Keith out to face the audience. (Hee hee!)
Okay, now it’s nitpicker time, so skip the paragraph if you don’t want to hear my somewhat anal views. It has been brought to my attention that the line sung at the end of this song is in fact "All hail and all power to the Great Rumpus Cat" and not "All hail and all bow to the Great Rumpus Cat" as I had previously thought. This bugs me because the latter line sounds better, grammatically speaking. In the latter, the "all" refers each time to the Cats who should all hail and bow. But in the other line the "all" is changed mid-line into a modifier of "power". A better line might be "All hail, for all power goes to the Great Rumpus Cat." ‘Course, that puts an extra syllable in there. Hmmm, well, let me end the English lesson now before I get in over my head.
The thunder crashes again and Demeter goes spastic. She breathes, "Macavity!" and runs down to the end of our ramp and hides herself, curled up under a seat. There she stays until well into Song of the Jellicles, creeping back up to the stage for her line about the Jellicle Moon appearing. Then the Jellicle Ball. At the beginning it almost seems like a ball. There’s a part not in the video, shortly before the shooting star thing where they all pair off, man to woman, and in a big circle, do a medieval ballroom-style dance. I have yet to figure out all the pairings, but I think two couples are Plato and Demeter, and Munkustrap and Rumpelteazer.
Grizabella and Memory, then intermission. This time Demeter was selling the posters, and she wasn’t dripping sweat on them either. Liz and I wandered up on the stage to look around. I realize I said the last time that I didn’t really feel the need to do that, but since the show is closing (sniff) I figured I might as well do it while I had the chance. I made a small contribution to the AIDS walk; I’m afraid $40 for a poster was a bit too dear. Then I decided if I couldn’t get a Cat to nuzzle me, the next best thing would be to touch someone’s wig. So I asked Celina (Demeter) if I could touch her wig and she charmingly allowed me to. I commented on its stiffness and she told me that it was made of yak hair. (Which I already knew, but I pretended that I didn’t.)
Then a young lady nearby said, "So they don’t make you style your own hair that way."
"No, thank goodness!" Celina laughed.
Kitty antic of the night involved Alonzo, Tantomile, and Tumblebrutus. Alonzo and Tantomile approached each other and were doing the sniff and nuzzle greeting when Tumble came over and swatted Tant aside. Then he sat up and grinned at Alonzo, who gave him a look like "What did you do that for?" I was distracted for a moment, though I can’t remember what by, and when I looked back Tant and Alonzo had Tumble pinned down. (Ha! Serves him right, the little brat.) They let him go when Old D started singing, and he sat up with a look of abused innocence.
Nothing different in Gus, or Growltiger either, really, except that Billy J did a great job as Genghis. I do love the fight between him and Growltiger. They dance across the stage clashing their swords; Growltiger covers his good eye at first, then seems to gain confidence. He knocks Genghis over and turns to give a triumphant laugh, but when he turns back Genghis is on his feet with his sword aimed at Growltiger’s groin. Growltiger yells, "Whoa!" and hurriedly backs away, right onto the business end of someone’s toasting fork. The fight is pretty much over at that point. Growltiger runs up on the deck looking for an escape route, but there is none to be found. The Siamese pen him in to keep him from getting away, but they also prevent Genghis from getting to him. In this show when that happened, Genghis threw up his arms in annoyance then began filing his nails with his sword. (I nearly bust a gut laughing!)
For Skimbleshanks I need to relate something that happened at the Saturday evening show that Cindy told me about. It concerns the train-riding section where Coricopat picks Pouncival up and sets him aside. That night, as in this show, Billy S was playing Corico since Billy J was Mungojerrie. And that night Cori didn’t just pick Pounce up and set him down, he picked him up and threw him. Cindy said Pounce’s eyes got as big as saucers so apparently he wasn’t expecting it. After he landed he sat there for a moment, stunned, before he jumped up and tried to scrap with Cori. On this day, I couldn’t help but notice that Cori didn’t pick Pounce up at all, he merely pushed him aside. Perhaps someone had a word with him. And speaking of things that didn’t happen the same, this time when Tumble caught Alonzo after "He gave one flash," he pushed him back up as he was supposed to.
Macavity was excellent. I love the combination of Celina Carvajal as Demeter and Angel Caban as Bombalurina. They do very well together.
Throughout the show we had been screaming our lungs out, rock concert-style. Now when Mistoffelees came on a couple of my companions began chanting, "Misto! Misto! Misto!" We could tell Julius was pleased. After he brings back Old D he does a little spin and goes down on one knee, arms outspread. Then the other Cats come forward and catch his hands on either side, bringing him up. But Julius was too busy basking in his glory, so when they grabbed him up he looked startled and stumbled a bit. Hee hee! Pride goeth before a fall, Julius. ;~)
Backtracking a little here, during intermission Cindy and XYZ agreed to switch seats so that XYZ could be on the aisle. I mention this because somewhere, either at the end of Macavity or the beginning of Mistoffelees, Skimble came up our ramp and rubbed his head against XYZ’s arm as he went by, then turned and grinned at her. Also, as Mistoffelees was preparing to bring back Old D, Tugger came over to the right front row and told the people there "This is the best part!"
Grizabella came on and did Memory, then up we go to the Heaviside Layer. Alonzo at one point got so excited that he slid down the ramp to XYZ and rubbed his head against her shoulder before running back up on the stage. Oooooh! If only he’d slid down one seat further to me. I would have died of happiness on the spot!
Again, during Ad-dressing I don’t remember who was in front of us because I was looking around them, trying to see what Alonzo was doing. I’ve really got it bad for this Cat, don’t I? To me he’s like the Admetus of the Broadway show, which should explain everything.
Show’s over, so outside we go to meet the actors. I didn’t try to get anymore pix of me with cast members; after getting Keith, Lenny, and Jon Erik, I was content for this trip. But I did snap several pix of others with the cast. Just about all the performers who frequent the forum (Keith, Celina, Jon Erik, and Billy J) thanked me for the little gifts I had put together. I was touched. Actually I was a little startled because amazingly enough I had all but forgotten about them. (Out of sight, out of mind.) Billy J actually gave me a hug (melt) and asked me what kind of cookies they were. They were chocolate chip graham, but next time (yes, next time; I can’t get enough of this show!) I think I may bring shortbread.
I don’t think Jeffry knew who I was when he met me that day (and I didn’t have the presence of mind to tell him), but he did thank me on the forum, the sweetheart that he is. I was feeling a little self-conscious about giving him all those kitty items since I know he prefers dogs. (Munkustrap a dog lover! Can you imagine?) So you can just guess how delighted I was when he told me that he collects dreamcatchers. How serendipitous! I knew I was right to include those.
Lenny doesn’t go on the forum, so he wouldn’t know me as Delilah. But I kind of wanted him to know whom to thank so I asked quite innocently, "Did you get your package?"
"Oh, did you make those?" he exclaimed.
I nodded.
"Yes, I did! Thank you," and he hugged me. (Whoooo!)
We talked for a bit and I asked him if he owns a cat since he’s so very good at acting like one. He told me he doesn’t, which frankly surprises me. I guess he’s very observant of his friends’ cats. Then he asked me if I would be coming to see the show again. It was all I could do to keep from wailing aloud, "I want to, especially since you asked!" I told him that I really wanted to bring Vince, my army brother to see the show before he gets shipped off to Germany, but I’d have to pry him away from his sergeant first. I’m still working on that, but it’s starting to look promising for July. We talked a little more, and when he left I got another hug. Groovy!
Julius was the last cast member to leave, and that was because he kept running backstage to check on the status of the Knicks game. They must have won because he finally came out jumping up and down with a big grin on his face. I displayed my complete ignorance of sports by asking Hector if they were a hockey team. "No, basketball," he told me, and he was kind enough not to make a big deal about it.
We stood talking to Julius for a while. He told us how he’d had a cold for weeks and couldn’t seem to shake it. I was only halfway paying attention, but suddenly XYZ pulled me forward and said, "Well, she’s a nurse; she can tell you what to do."
I glared at her, but Julius was looking at me expectantly, so I told him firmly, "Go home and go to bed."
"But I’ve got to go to soandso’s birthday party," he protested.
"Well, at least get out of the cold air," I insisted.
In retrospect I wish I’d told him to go see a doctor if it kept on not getting better. Colds that won’t go away too often develop into something more serious. Julius, if you’re reading this and you’ve still got that cold, for Pete’s sake, get your butt in gear and go see your doctor ASAP! The Magical Cat should keep himself in the best of health so he can do the conjuring turn. :~)
Had dinner with Hector and a few other friends. It was a great pleasure meeting with him again. I wonder what he’s going to do with his Sundays when Cats is finished.
Walked slooooowly back to our hotel. I was on autopilot by now, the adrenaline having fully dissipated. We swung by the St. James and the Winter Garden to take pictures, and had a long, interesting conversation as we walked that I’m afraid I can’t repeat. Girl talk mainly. All things considered it was a thoroughly enjoyable weekend and I look forward to my next trip.
