Feline Ready For A Good Night Out? (Cats)

Member Name: karenuk

Product:	Cats
Date:	07/12/06 (1039 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Entertaining, brilliant staging, great dance

Disadvantages: Not everyone's cup of tea

Last night, I took my daughters to see Cats at the Bristol Hippodrome. Its three week run there finishes on Saturday. We were lucky enough to get really good tickets and to sit on the second row of the stalls, so we had a great view. But a good night’s entertainment at the theatre doesn’t come cheap. Tickets range from £17 to £34, so it’s an expensive night out, but we loved it and I would definitely recommend it.

So what is Cats about then? Musical fans will probably know already, but if you don’t, Cats is a musical written by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The lyrics are from T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, which I remember reading at school. All the characters in it are cats of various sizes, colours and ages. We get introduced to them, with a chance to learn more about their lives through song and dance.

We find out about the old cats – Grizabella, Old Deuteronomy and Bill Bailey – and hear about their former glories. We are introduced to bad cats (Macavity), mischievous cats (Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer), sexy cats (Rum Tum Tugger) and camp railway cats (Skimbleshanks)!

The first thing to say about the production is that the set, costumes and make up are amazing. I don’t know if the set changes at all, but last night, the stage was filled with oversize rubbish (as obviously the cats here are, er, human size!). This included several brand names like Whiskas (of course!) and Ribena, plus bigger things like bedsteads and pipes which are used for the cats to hide in, climb on and jump around.

As for the costumes and make up, each cat has their own look and each look fits their character – for example, the old cats have threadbare coats and Rum Tum Tugger has an ostentatious fur mane. Most of them wear tight-fitting Lycra catsuits which leave very little to the imagination! But of course, it means the dancers can show their flexibility. They jump, pirouette, tumble and leap around the stage and I know young gymnasts enjoy this musical, because quite a few of my daughter’s gym club were going!

The production utilizes all the skills of musical theatre training with excellent actors, singers and dancers. While most of the cast were obviously highly talented in all three, some roles were more obviously for actors and singers – such as Grizabella and Old Deuteronomy – while others were for those who had the experience of years of dance training.

The songs are an integral part of the production, especially as no dialogue is spoken outside of the lyrics. We have the CD and DVD, so we knew the songs anyway, but I think the one that most people associate with Cats is the beautiful Memory, made famous by Elaine Paige. In this production, it is performed by Dianne Pilkington as Grizabella and she was superb, receiving enthusiastic applause and even some cheers. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one there who shed a tear or two. Musicals get me like that, there’s usually a teary moment and this was mine in Cats.

The production has a great energy to it and involves the audience really well, much more than I was expecting. The cats run up and down the aisles, appear from various points in the theatre and interact ‘up close and personal’ with the audience. As we were sitting near the front, we had a few close encounters, which was great, it really enhanced our enjoyment.

I was especially impressed with how the cast stayed in character all the way through. Even when they were standing at the back of the stage, they would periodically swish their tail, rub their noses, wash their ears or crawl around the stage. They were really believable because of this and it must have taken so much practice to get the cat-like behaviour so perfectly. I have a cat myself and could recognise so many of the gestures and expressions.

There were often twenty cats on stage at a time, so they must have been pretty short of space, but they used it very well and utilized every inch of space. I was amazed that no-one got kicked by another dancer or fell off the stage, but they timed everything so well, those months of rehearsal really paid off.

So, as you probably gathered, my daughters and I loved Cats and I would definitely recommend it to most people. It doesn’t really have disadvantages if you like this sort of thing. But my husband and son probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it. They don’t think much of the CD, haven’t once sat through the whole of the DVD and showed very little interest in going to the stage show.

It is very dance-orientated for a musical and while other young dancers and gymnasts would love it, I think many teenage boys and middle-aged men would find it wasn’t their kind of thing. But we loved it! If you think you would, try to get to see it. It regularly tours the country, so look out for it coming to a theatre near you and have a night out you’ll never forget!

Summary: A great musical for the family