Ever since Cats first opened on the West End stage in 1981, it has been one of the world’s best-known and best-loved musicals. Based on T.S Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Cats was set to music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Recently, additional material, written by Trevor Nunn and Richard Stilgoe, has been added. To this updated version of an old favourite, Ian Westrip and his team have brought fresh ideas in costuming and presentation.
There’s not a lot of plot in Cats. The Jellicoe tribe is having its annual get-together to choose one cat for the privilege of ascending to the ‘Heavyside Layer’ to be prepared for rebirth. Other than that, the show relies on music and spectacle with some commentary and acting out of Eliot’s verse.
In this production, we have very human cats. They wear clothes, and their catlike antics are superimposed on what are obviously real people. Work has been done on strengthening the relationships among the cats as well as that between the cats and the audience. The result is an exhilarating new interpretation of this well-loved show. One of the most exciting things about it is that as a pro-am production it gives several relative newcomers a chance to strut their stuff.
And strut it they do, with flair and confidence. Chrissie Parrott has given the show new choreography, every bit as effective as Gillian Lynne’s original. While it incorporates many of Lynne’s ideas, they have been rearranged and augmented in a fashion that emphasises the essential humanity of the cats. In like manner, Steve Nolan’s costumes are not of the cat suit and whiskers variety, but are individually designed people-type garments. Certainly they included tails, and the facial make up, although modified from the original style, nonetheless retained a cat-like quality. The compromise is actually very credible.
Chatting with the choreographer after the show, I learnt that 200 hopefuls had turned up to audition for the 30-odd roles! Even so, it was difficult to find performers of sufficient versatility. The entire cast must be able to act, sing and dance. Even though there was so much interest from potential performers, there was a very slight, but noticeable, variation in skill levels, mainly on the choreographic front. It seems they could all sing, however, for the chorus work was beautiful and expressive, with excellent timing.
I was reminded of a talk by Professor Robert Quentin, first director of NIDA, in which he assured his students of 1962 that within a few years, all performers would have to be able to sing, dance and act. He was thinking of musicals of his day, notably My Fair Lady and West Side Story, but these days the limited dance technique required of those actor-singers would not get them a guernsey. One might question the wisdom of over-specialisation in performing arts courses. A more general course of study, at least in the first year or two, might better prepare young performers for an industry that now demands incredible versatility. Circus skills should definitely be included, for these days many productions demand that performers be gymnasts as well as actors and singers and dancers. This was obvious in Cats. There was some fine aerial work by six cast members, and some pretty nifty dancing involving difficult technical tricks such as revoltades and grand pirouettes interspersed with fouettés, together with acrobatic feats that demanded a leap by one performer from a platform a good three metres above the working area.
Which brings me to the set. It was clever and attractive with its scaffolding and cave-like up stage area, somehow reminiscent of a Christmas crib (relevant, perhaps, to the underlying theme of re-birth) but it was possibly just a little too big for the available space. In places I felt the performers were a tad cramped.
It is not feasible to mention the entire cast name by name, but I will mention the familiar names Ronald Macqueen (Old Deuteronomy) Erin Hutchinson (Grizabella) and Donna Williams (Jennyanydots) as well as the incredibly linear Simone Kerr (Cassandra, the elegant Egyptian cat) and the very versatile Samantha Bruce (Victoria, the white cat). They, and the rest of the cats, deserve medals.
And the orchestra? Fewer than 20 players gave the effect of twice that number. They were simply brilliant! All hail Ian Westrip!
If you do it right, $10 of your ticket price will be donated to a very worthy animal shelter. Contact Robin on 0416 251 265 or email rr_evans@hotmail.com and mention Cat Haven.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
ICW Productions, by arrangement with Hal Leonard Australia Pty Ltd presents:
Cats
Executive Producer and Musical Director: Ian Westrip, OAM
Director: Mark Barford
Choreographer: Chrissie Parrott
Set & Costume Design: Steve Nolan
Lighting Design: Jenny Vila
Sound Designer: David Keys
Production Manager: Rupert Sewell
Stage Manager: Stephen Carr
Makeup Design: Marian B. Peck
Regal Theatre, Subiaco
11–20 July
