[Rumblepurr]

CATS is taking place as a regional show at the FULLERTON CIVIC LIGHT OPERA from February 17th through March 5th. Some good seats are still available and can by bought online at the link above, or by calling (714) 879-1732. Show stars Mary Gutzi (US/Canada 4th National Tour - April 1993 to July 1994) as Grizabella.

Program brouchure

Respectfully,
Rumblepurr
The Writer Cat
(information courtesy of vtwc)

[Soloque]

The costumes/Makeup/Wigs look wonderful! I hope the talent is there as well

[MrsJemimaMistoffelees]

[pkitty663]

*squeals* I'm going! I can't wait!!!!

[Cassandra]

VTWC sent me some pics of the show and asked me to post them for everyone to see. Sorry some of them are so small, but I had to shrink them in order to upload them to VillagePhotos.

The costumes and makeup on this production are phenomenal! It's gotta be the best-looking regional I've seen. Also, I was amazed at the authenticity of the set (look at the pic labeled "fullstage1.jpg"), and read that they actually rented it. Is it the same one used in Westchester shortly after the show closed on Broadway? The set pieces look awfully authentic.

http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?folder_id=1606359

EDIT: Ah, apparently they got the set from Walnut Street in Philadelphia.

[MsJellicle]

Those are beautiful!

Cassandra, if you are willing to send me the full size pictures, I'd be willing to host them on my site for a little while so that people can see more of the fine details of the costumes.

~MsJ

[MsJellicle]

Here's some nice pictures from the website:

http://www.cabaret.org/store/catalog/category.php?id=110

~MsJ

[Belle]

Very nice pics! Only, is it me or is Bomba wearing Rumple's song gloves?

[MsJellicle]

Hmm....it might be that they were designed that way for her? She's wearing them in all the pictures from what I can tell.

~MsJ

[Cassandra]

Actually, I think Bom was wearing Rumple's song gloves for the press photo shoot. If you look at the live action pic below, you can see Bom in the middle of the trio. Look closely at her gloves... one is white fading into red, and the other is black fading into white; just like we're used to seeing.



EDIT: Okay, so the image feature doesn't seem to be working at the moment. Guess you'll have to use the URL instead. Sorry about that.

Admin edit: Sorry about that. Fixed it.

[Jemima57]

Costumes and make-up are gorgeous !!! Their Victoria is so cute !

[MsJellicle]

Thanks Cassandra for sending me a larger picture. Here it is for everyone to see.

http://www.msjellicle.com/temp/programcover.jpg

~MsJ

[Gintora]

Ahhh I miss that tiger, I hope they come back up to Seattle

Gintora!
*Grinnin' tiger*

[Smudge]

Skimble kind of reminds me of Billy Johnstone...

[Cassandra]

Funny thing... I'm pretty sure it is Billy Johnstone. I remember reading that he was going to make the wigs... and play Skimble. Busy lad.

[VictoriaTWC]

In reply to everyone's posts I have to be short and sweet.

The press photos were taken early in Feb. about two and a half weeks before opening. Bom's gloves were done by me, they just had the wrong ones tagged up at FCLO's main shop. Bom's wearing Rumpleteazer's number gloves.

All the tails, warmers, and painted unitards were done by Cristine Armstrong (she's at the Cats Costume Forum) and me. Painted only, two other ladies did the fuzzies.

Grizabella was done by another lady and she did a faboo job! Tugger as well. All the "basics" were done by us. Total knitting and tailing by me.

For the whole show we had at least 7 or 8 people working full time to get the costumes done. AND THE SIAMESE, THE SIAMESE! I have to get a full pic of them, they look dead on to the National Tour/Bway style.

Bom's got her real gloves worn now in the show. Cristine took those pics at the dress rehearsal night.

Yes, Billy Johnstone is playing Skimbleshanks in the production. Dana Salimando is playing Victoria. She was also the director and makeup supervisor. She wore three hats thru this whole thing, directing, performing, and keeping the makeup on target.

We did this all in less than a month which is why I'm exhausted.

I have more larger pics up at my site:

http://www.project737.net/cats/FCLO_CATS/

You can see the details of the costumes up close in those.

Purrs,
VTWC

The talent and production values rate this version of a regional show two steps down from the Troika tour! Everything is on spot here, except the orchestra. There were a lot of flubs the opening night! LOL! But they should get more familier with the music as time goes on. Its fabulous, and Cristine and I will have more after March 3rd. More about that later on.

Two "CATS Costume Days' for fans are going to be held. One next weekend at some street fair, I forgot the details, and another held at the theater on March 3rd. If you come dressed up in costume as a Cat you can enter the drawing to win 150 bucks. Cristine and I will be going as Bom and Dem, (not to enter the contest but to enjoy the fan fun and spirit of the show). This will be my first time going to see the show in costume, so I'm nervous. But it should be fun, thats on Friday night, 8pm March 3rd, CATS COSTUME DAY!

Should be tons of fun, and we both have aisle right side front row too!

Many happy purrs again:

VTWC

[Nemi]

Those costumes are posatively beautiful...

And Bombalurina does looks silly with those stripes, indeed. But I enjoy Jellylorum's costume a great deal.

[littlgriz]

[littlgriz]

[Rumblepurr]

Entering the theatre, you could tell that this set was constructed... much better than an inflated one. A big painted tiger on the floor... They had a "fence" of rough wood that had the "Cat's Eyes" that went from the arch to the edge of the stair going out into the house. No pipe exit and no "oven" - in its place was a Kelvinator refrigerator.

The orchestra was in the pit (which was "mostly" covered except the far sides and right down the center where the Conductor sat.) 2 reed players, cello, French horn, three keyboards, electric guitar and bass, and a percussionist... A percussionist is someone who handles more than just a drum set... He looked like he had two sets together with all sorts of other sound instruments. Oh, yes... LADY Bass player... (reminded me of a certain PREQUEL story...)

At the overture, I knew this production was not as technologically advanced as either the Troika or UK Tours. The UK tour has almost ALL intelligent lights. Troika has a goodly number whereas this one had none at all - just dimmer-operated lekos... The weakest loss of technology was the lack of sound on the orchestra. However, the microphones on the cast were excellent and well managed. I think I only detected an off mike twice... Even without the mikes, this cast was excellent in the vocal department.

The show was defintely the type you want to see more than once and maybe more than twice. The cast featured three "stars": Mary Gutzi (4th National) as Grizabella, Dana Solimando (4th Natl & Broadway) as Victoria; and Billy Johnstone (4th Natl & Broadway) as Skimbleshanks. Practically all the rest of the cast were either stage professionals, Disney performers, or from the Cruise ships. From the moment they entered the stage until the Trailer, something was going on and your eyes would be darting everywhere to try and pick it up. They also had a interesting blend of ethnicity among the cast.

Unlike the Troika tour, this regional included Broadway Coricopat and Tantomile, and they had more red in the costume than the original. And like the Troika tour, "Pekes & Pollicles" was cut. The only set change for "Growltiger" was a ship's wheel, and a drop that resembled a ship's sail. And this version had a large tennis shoe for the pyramid...

The members of the cast who impressed me were:

Stephen Diaz and Nickie Gentry as MJ and RT: These two had fun together all during the performance. Their double cartwheel was not as good as some I have seen, but their height difference had some effect (he was very tall...). These two were one of the background distractions you would watch during a second or third viewing...

Bradley Baker as Old Deuteronomy: His bio includes performing in opera, and his voice control proved that. Soft & yet powerful... and a good high range. During the Rise to the Heavyside Layer, his gesture to raise the tire was pure Old D. He had the regal quality of the Leader, which was difficult to maintain during intermission when they allowed people to look over the set... and him...

Elijah Reves as Rum Tum Tugger: Elijah had fun with the role which included coming out into the audience during his number along the front row. He also loved to use his tail as both an air guitar and a microphone. His biggest weapon was the pelvic thrust...

Katherine Stein and Paul Martinez as Griddlebone and Growltiger: Although Paul did great as BJ, I liked his Growlie. The interplay, and slapstick, during the number kept a few of us in the audience in stitches. Katherine's Grid was precious.

Ashley Cowl as Demeter: Her shining moment was her part of "Macavity", which I thought she did better than Bombalurina (Jenn Aedo) - which is odd for me. During the discovery of Maccie as Old D, she realizes the switch the moment she touches him. In "Macavity" - there was no Shadow Dance, which was done more like the UK version. In the discovery, the Dark Twins (Cori & Tanto) sense the danger at the same time Demeter does...

The only real weakness I saw was that everything seemed rushed... The transitions between numbers seemed rough - more in the way they felt rather than what they looked like. Part of the problem could have been solved had the orchestra had been been sounded.

All in all, the Fullerton Civic Light Opera production was definitely worth seeing. For the trivia minded, the license plate (tag) for the Old Car was 615PB (Set Designer for FCLO was Peter Barbieri, Jr. (PB))

[pkitty663]

I saw it yesterday and I agree with Rumplepurr on M&T. I loved them though so I didn't mind the cartwheel thing. Rumple's laugh was kickarse! Elijah Reves was hilarious as Tugger. I'm glad I got to see it..I also met Jellylorum from the costuming board. She's cool and so was VTWC...though I really wish I got to talk with her more..I sort of felt like I would be bothering her if I did..I really wanted to but..I be too shy...so I bugged Jellylorum instead lol. She was nice and patient with me. I wasn't surprised when she won the costume contest,the other girls didn't stand a friggin chance, and I thought it was adorable when two little girls went up to her and said "Hi...whats your name?". It was just too cute. All in all I loved the show...except for two girls behind me who just would not shut up. It was all whisper whisper and straight out talking during the parts when the music was loud. Skimble hissed at them when he passed by with old D. but I don't think they saw him. I was like "I know how you feel Skimble...". Anywho, it was all good in the end.

And the costumes...*squeal* don't get me started. They kicked ASS...and when I say ass I meant seriously. I really liked Misto's jacket and his costume was so cool. I also liked Grizabella's..it was just beautiful. Griddlebone's costume was also beautiful...I want that costume lol. Jennyanydot's was my favorite one though..The actress was adorable too. Oh hell I loved all of the costumes. I am SO glad I got to see this one..oh..I wanna see it again.