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lesmisboy

Amusement Park Set

Hi, this has probably been posted before so apologies in advance, but I read that some productions of 'Cats' have been set in an abandoned amusement park and that Grizabella ascends on a ferris wheel. I would love to see some pics of this set - can anyone please post some pics or a link? Many thanks x
FinCat85

Re: Amusement Park Set

www.opera.se

There is a link to Gothenburg operas page where
you can see the information about the show and some pictures!
I've seen the show and it was great!
lesmisboy

Wow! That set is beautiful - the gates to the park especially look very Tim Burton-esque. Thanks very much for your help xx
Moongewl

That's not the only one set in an amusement park--there's at least one other that ran in Chicago. Carb(or someone else responsible like that) might have info on that one and possibly others.
lesmisboy

Thanks! I'll have to try and find some pics of the Chicage production. Do you know when this set was first used? x
Moongewl

Carbucketty said in the Gothenburgh thread that the Chicago Mariott production was the first time Cats was set in an amusement park, but that Gothenburgh was better. I don't know if there are any pictures from Chicago.
It seems like there was one other amusement park version, but that might just have been Gothenburgh buzz that came up a couple times.
lesmisboy

Thanks for the info. Also, (again this has probably been asked a thousand times), what is the 'inflatable' set? Just curious x
Carbucketty

Moongewl wrote:
Carbucketty said in the Gothenburgh thread that the Chicago Mariott production was the first time Cats was set in an amusement park, but that Gothenburgh was better. I don't know if there are any pictures from Chicago.
It seems like there was one other amusement park version, but that might just have been Gothenburgh buzz that came up a couple times.


Well.... The Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre in Chicago is a small theatre that's 100% in the round. (The New London Theatre on the other hand is 3/4 in the round.) This makes it so they could not use any major set without blocking the audience view. So, they had to build major parts of the set to the back walls of the theatre and incorporate catwalks and such over the main set. (You can see this in the tugger video.)


Marriott's 'Cats' is pick of the litter, Chicago Sun-Times, February 7, 2003 Friday, FEATURES; THEATER REVIEW; Pg. 44, 721 words wrote:
"Cats," of course, is about pretty much absolutely nothing. Its book is a ball of string--a long parade of cat characters who continually act out and strut their stuff, while every now and then recalling their past lives or considering their rebirth. (The real coup will occur when the musical is trimmed to 90 minutes and performed without an intermission.) Yet from the moment you enter the Marriott space, where set designer Thomas M. Ryan has created a spectacularly evocative amusement park world of corrugated tin and steeply angled bridges and catwalks"


'Cats' from scratch ; Off Webber's leash, felines frolic freely in new production, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin), February 12, 2003 Wednesday, ALL EDITION, Pg. 01E, 989 words, DAMIEN JAQUES wrote:


A catwalk stretches around the theater's back wall and out above the audience to the stage. Five perches, suspended from the ceiling, hang over the corners of the stage. Colored carnival lights replace the glowing cats' eyes.

Performing cats dangle, often upside down, from the catwalk and perches, pawing at the audience below. The kitties still have their sleek costumes and whiskered faces. Theatergoers here often find a cat sitting on their laps or crawling along their legs during the performance.

The Marriott's configuration -- there are only nine rows of seats -- makes the "Cats" experience unusually intimate and heightens awareness of T.S. Eliot's light verse from "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" that is the basis for the show. The poetry is more in our faces here.

All previous productions of "Cats" bore the fingerprints of noted British director Trevor Nunn. Marriott chose director-choreographer Marc Robin, who has worked at the Skylight Opera Theatre, to stage its version, and he makes "Cats" more of a dance show. From Oscar Campisi's explosive athleticism, playing Mistoffelees, to Camille Y. Turner's (Victoria) suppleness and cute expressiveness, we see a corps of serious dancers in a range of styles that stretches from ballet to tap.

Lara Moffett (Demeter), Christine Brooks (Bombalurina) and Michael Lindner (Old Deuteronomy) have big-time singing voices, and Susie McMonagle possesses the tragic gravitas and vocal firepower to deliver an effective Grizabella. Craig Ramsey needs to cut a bigger figure as Rum Tug Tugger, the rock 'n' roll cat.

This production marks the debut of a new orchestration for the musical, and it sounds thin. The lushness is gone, and that's a shame.



Some of the things that I take umbrage at is the over-blown praise of the choreography, set, and costume. Most of it is the usual effervescent praise that local theatre critics will heap on their local productions.

'Cats' dazzles in Marriott production, Chicago Daily Herald, February 6, 2003, Thursday All, NEWS;, Pg. 14, 544 words, Jack Helbig Daily Herald Correspondent wrote:
Robin and company have made the show warmer, cozier and more intimate than the razzle-dazzle behemoth it was on Broadway. What seemed improbably overblown at a larger venue, like the Winter Garden Theatre in New York, especially Grizabella's ascension into kitty heaven on a garbage can lid, now merely seems like an interesting climax to the show's rather thin plot.

And what worked before, the pure eye-popping eye candy of the show's many dance numbers, is doubly dazzling in Marriott's more intimate space. Robin accentuates the show's accessibility by staging some numbers in the aisles and others literally in the seats of the auditorium.



I think Marc Robin's Tour Regional production was licensed by a few local productions around the country and they recreated it in those theatres. The Prather Dinner Theatres were in Ft. Meyers, FL; Lancaster, PA; and Mesa, AZ. (Robin also directed a regional in Houston, but it used the Junkyard set. Linda Balgord and Ken Page starred in the show. The newspaper reviews are a bit too harsh to put here. One suggested neutering Tugger. )

Broadway Palm theater's 'Cats' is audience-friendly, Sarasota Herald-Tribune (Florida), January 7, 2006 Saturday, CHARLOTTE EDITION, B SECTION; Art Beat; Pg. BCE3, 721 words, Marilyn D. Carpenter wrote:

While usually set in a junkyard, the Fort Myers show takes place in a derelict amusement park. A faded yet magnificent, towering carousel horse flanks one side of the stage, providing a perfect platform for mischievous kitties. A dilapidated roller coaster extends into the dining section from the other side, allowing high vantage points near the audience for climbing felines. Staging placed against the side walls of the theater allows wandering cats to pounce and perform amid their observers.

http://www.broadwaypalm.com/showphotos-cats.htm

They also used an Amusement park at the Dutch Apple theatre in Lancaster Pennsylvania. (http://dutchapple.com/photogallery-cats.htm)

Finally here are some vids that were posted to the Marriott Theatre's Website back in 2003: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Shiroyanagi
lesmisboy

Carbucketty - thanks for the detailed info! I appreciate you taking the time to post that reply x
Rumblepurr

Inflatable Set

lesmisboy wrote:
Also, (again this has probably been asked a thousand times), what is the 'inflatable' set? Just curious x


I hope you are eluding to the US Tour V (25th Anniversary) set. The set walls are constructed very much like an air mattress with the individual shapes sewn into cells. Air is pumped constantly into each set piece to maintain the shape of the item, and the "walls" are supported by aluminum struts. Certain objects are "solid" where the performers need to walk or stand as well as some platforms and walkways. Here are a couple of examples:

At left, this is the back of the Stage left panel that has an Oil Drum in it. Note the number of shapes and the holding strut. At right, this is the upstage section from the old car across to the Oven. The Old Car, the Tire and the Oven are solid and everything around them is inflated. Notice the soft appearance of the oil drum in the upper right.

Respectfully submitted,
Rumblepurr Cool
The Writer Cat.
lesmisboy

Fantastic! Thankyou VERY much xx
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