[enkeli-kitten]

Double posting here and on the CCDB

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY CATS WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3 *so happy*

It's a bit similar to the Swedish and Polish productions in design and costume. I like the new designs, though I do prefer the original look. When I went to the information night, the director said he would be "moving away from the leotards and legwarmers look" and more like the Polish production so I knew it would be different But even so, I do think that some of the costumes were kind of bad taste and I think they forgot something important - they are supposed to be CATS!!! I've scanned in my programme pictures. I liked some of the costumes, but some were really not good in my opinion! ^^

Grizabella
Victoria
Bombalurina and Demeter
Bustopher Jones
Jemima, Exotica, Old Deuteronomy, Coricopat and Tantomile, unknown
Group I had to stick 3 pics together for this, the programme is bigger than my scanner! My photobucket resized it so it's small now ^^
Group this was too hard to stick together
Group 2
Group 3
Growltiger and Griddlebone
Gus and Jellylorum
Mistoffelees
Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer
Munkustrap and Jennyanydots Yes, he is wearing a corset *cries*
Skimbleshanks
The Rum Tum Tugger

TRIP REPORT

I've critiqued as much as I can. It's very long!! I hope you don't all die of boredom!! Feel free to skip parts, of course I just want to say before you read this that I enjoyed the show so much, it was so exciting to see Cats for the first time!! I'm hoping to go again later, I can't afford another good ticket so I'll get to see it from above this time!! ^^

OVERTURE:

The orchestra was excellent. The cats didn’t come through the auditorium as there was no easy way to get to the stage. It started with the curtain, which was a grille of metal bars, closed, it was decorated over with a ripped old image of a clown’s face and something behind so you couldn’t see the stage. On the first beat of the overture the clown’s eyes opened, which was pretty scary!! Then the grille and backcloth went up revealing the set. This is set in an abandoned fairground called ‘Luna Park’ and on each phrase of the overture, part of the set would be lit up. First it was a rollercoaster right at the back of the stage, then each piece of set was lit up coming forwards. The set is incredible, so intricate and beautiful and gave an amazing feeling of depth, like there really is a whole fairground. About ¾ of the way through a black starcloth at the back began to light up, which was so beautiful, and then slowly the golden moon rose! It was so funny, because it rose straight up not on a slant like a real moon does! On the very last beat, a parachute-like cloth that was lying on the stage – you could hardly see it – whizzed up into the flies and up popped all the cat’s heads!! They had all been lying under the cloth, and my attention was so on the lighting and set that I hadn’t noticed!!

JELLICLE SONGS FOR JELLICLE CATS

At the beginning the Cats were still all clustered together, so they didn’t come in one by one like they do in the movie. They were very jerky, I think they overdid the twitching cats thing and lost some of the grace because of that. They did some poses and some giggles came from the audience, they were quite startling epecially with the modern costumes! Rumpelteazer was upside down on Mungojerrie’s legs and when she came down, she acidentally kicked another girl in the head! The girl didn’t react though! When the actual dance started they still stuck together in a big group – it was a huge cast and they filled up most of the stage. The choreography was not that great I thought, not really making use of the dramatic phrases in the music which was a little odd. They moved back for “the mystical divinity” (the singing was just stunning) but after they said “what…” and there is that big change of tempo, they all just stood there for the next few lines, and when they did move it was quite tame!! The singing was excellent though, the harmonies were so tight and strong and just beautiful. Munkustrap and Asparagus’s solo was really good, but the cast entirely overdid the “what’s a Jellicle Cat?” they said it about 5 times and sounded really aggressive and hysterical.

THE NAMING OF CATS

This was paced fast and didn’t have any of the crescendo – they were at a loud whisper the whole time. For Victoria’s solo, the rest of the cats were sitting at the front of the stage and completely blocked her out!! I was in the front row and could see only her fingertips, I’m sure that nobody in at least the first 10 rows would have been able to see a thing, which was really stupid. I was quite disappointed about not being able to see that. Misto didn’t sing the solo, the whole cast did. Munkustrap had a very good voice. His costume was one of the worst, he was wearing a corset, which I was very unhappy about!!

THE GUMBIE CAT

The Gumbie Cat was pushed in on a huge chair with a staircase of books, which was pretty cool! Munkustrap climbed up to help her down. Her costume was HORRIBLE, I actually couldn’t watch her. The dress itself was quite nice but it had two huge, droopy breasts with red nipples!!!! *shock* It’s terrible!!  Poor Jenny had a fixed grin on her face during the whole tap dance. They were really horrible. Jenny did really well though. She had a very motherly, bossy voice though she’s quite young, she used to go to my school about 4 years ahead of me. The tap dancing sequence was quite good – and they didn’t take the dress off, sadly. The cockroaches costumes were fun, they held a huge pinwheel and wore a green tabard.

THE RUM TUM TUGGER

This was great!! The Tugger was rolled in on a huge R with red flashing lights, and there was another cat on top of it imitating him ^_^ He was really brilliant, his costume was one of the best and he had this MASSIVE mohawk!!! He sang really well and all the cats were falling over him. Unfortunately there was an almost complete lack of cute kittens due to the costumes, but at the end they did the miaows very well and Tugger was so funny, they were all clustered round him and he did a few pelvic thrusts to each side and they all fell over squealing. He was rolled back out on the R again.

GRIZABELLA THE GLAMOUR CAT

This was pretty good, Grizabella has such a beautiful voice and Demeter is also an amazing singer, she had just the right mixture of scorn and compassion. The cats all scuttled away when Grizabella came near. Her costume was really nice, but I think lacked that old, motheaten look – she was very white. Demeter and Bombalurina’s costumes were actually prostitute costumes, which was not so good! Both were black, a bodice-leotard with feathers, fishnet leggings and elbow gloves. Their headdresses were not too bad, a sort of helmet-thing with two cones and lots of curls coming out, that was the only way to tell them apart, Demeter’s were golden and Bomba’s black.

BUSTOPHER JONES

This was so funny! While the stage was all dark and quiet from Grizabella, a cat marched across the stage holding a huge umbrella!! All the cats onstage – about 10 – watched him with a really puzzled look. Then, Bustopher Jones came down from the roof sitting in an umbrella!! And to my great surprise and delight, he was my old singing teacher!!! He was great, such a funny old Bustopher and his costume was very similar to the Swedish one, pinstriped trousers so we lost the funny walk. He sat on a blown-out speaker. Jennyanydots was great, rid of her awful dress thank goodness!

MUNGOJERRIE AND RUMPELTEAZER

There was a huge smashing noise and all the lights went red…Demeter’s “Macavity” sounded so frightened! Demeter really was a brilliant singer, actress and dancer. Most of the cats cleared off, but some were still sitting on the set at the back. A huge framed sign, labelled with “Trespassers will be prosecuted” and similar things trundled across the stage as if by magic. Then, Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer’s heads popped through!! The canvas of the sign was made in vertical strips so it looked like their heads were detatched, and as they sang the first verse they slid their heads up and down!! It was sooo funny and there were quite a few laughs from the audience. Their dance was great, acrobatic and full of circus balances. They were actually lip-synching to some people singing backstage, it was very well done, but I knew because there was no way they could do such weird positions, singing upside down and things, and not even be muffled or out of breath at all. They were really good and very enjoyable, though again the choreography didn’t make much use of the music phrases and relied a lot on the acrobatic tricks – it was very exciting and fun to watch though. Some of the Cats were on the set at the back the whole time, and they didn’t chasing Mungo and Teazer off when they sang “and there’s nothing at all to be done about that”, though when Mungo and Teazer saw them they ran away, it was a bit weird since they’d actually been there the whole time! Costumes were interesting but not the worst, Mungojerrie had lots of ties hanging off his belt which was fun and Teazer had a little black tutu skirt.

OLD DEUTERONOMY

The singing by Munkustrap and Tugger was wonderful, they both have beautiful voices. Old Deuteronomy however was kind of scary!!! When he came out from the back of the stage, I was like, “oh my gosh…it’s Denethor!!” (from the Lord of the Rings) he looked exactly like him. He came out and the cats were very courteous, though only one of them hugged him – I wouldn’t have!! His costume was like Grizabella’s except brown, with a big collar-headress and scraggly brown coat. He didn’t look very big. Then he sang the “Jellicle cats and dogs all must….like undertakers come to dust” and he sounded so dark and gloomy, and all the lights were down and it was kind of scary! He was also quite fast, despite having tottery legs! They didn’t do the Pekes and the Pollicles, which was strange because it was actually listed in the programme as one of the songs!

THE SONG OF THE JELLICLES AND THE JELLICLE BALL

All the lights went down for the song of the Jellicles. It was pretty cool, because every time a cat sang a line, they lit up their own face with a hand-held torch! It was a really neat effect as the torchlight went from place to place, but it was a pity to miss the dancework opportunity there.

The Jellicle Ball was quite weird, the choreography was…lacking! It just didn’t really fit the music, they only had a few big group dances. At the beginning Victoria did a solo which I was glad for, because we couldn’t see her first one, she was good but a bit jerky, like they all were. Coricopat and Tantomile did a short solo, and so did Exotica, who wore a black unitard with blue ribbons attached, one of the better costumes, and she was very good too. At various intervals Mungojerrie, Rumpelteazer and Tumblebrutus would cross the stage with big cartwheels and backflips, and Mungojerrie did some back somersaults, that was really good because at times the choreography was so mild that it started to get a little flat. The choreography just didn’t seem big and exciting enough, and it definetely didn’t make use of the flow of the music.

INTERVAL

The interval was great because Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer came into the audience! Mungojerrie was up on the first balcony so I couldn’t see him, but Teazer was playing about in the corner near our seats. Some kids went to look at her, and she picked up a little girl, put her over her shoulder and ran all the way up the aisle with her!! It was so funny! Then she was climbing over the seats and swiping at people. She walked down the aisle next to a guy holding an ice cream with her nose right next to it, trying to get a bite! She stole another man’s ice cream too, he was teasing her by holding it out and then snatching it back and eventually she just leaned over and took a big bite out of it! She stuck her legs out and stopped a lady getting back to her seat for ages, then the lady ducked under her legs and Teazer looked so offended! She stole another lady’s necklace and paraded up and down the aisle with it, and then she stole a drink bottle and squirted some into her own mouth, then into it’s owner’s mouth! About halfway through cats started creeping back onto the stage and just watching the audience.

MEMORY I


The house lights went down and Grizabella came on to do her dance. It really wasn’t that great! If I hadn’t known already, I wouldn’t have figured out what she was doing, she barely moved. However Memory was excellent, she has an amazing voice.

MOMENTS OF HAPPINESS

Old Deuteronomy moved fast again, to the front of the stage and sang the moments of Happiness, again he was quite scary and depressing. Jemima fluffed her first note completely, sang “moonlight” on two different tones, both not the right one, and “face” was completely flat, she picked up after that though and sang okay. She wasn’t particularly good, though it might have been nerves after the awful start! I felt really sorry for her, she just couldn’t find her note.

GUS THE THEATRE CAT

This was excellent. Jellylorum and Gus were both great and made it really interesting. A group of Cats were clustered round their feet and they were telling it like a story to them. Then, when he sang “I once played Growltiger, could do it again….” Misto ran down from the back of the stage and struck a pose behind him, the lights flahsed and a big curtain came down!! I loved how Misto had granted his wish, it was so cute! Misto was tiny, too small for his unitard which was a bit baggy at the knees

GROWLTIGER

Growltiger was so fun!! There was a curtain that took up the centre of the stage, and around the side you could see cats lined up on the set behind, watching! In front of that was a piece of the front of a barge and a cabin, Growltiger popped up out of the cabin hatch. The pirates were brilliant, so fun and their costumes were great, really piratical. They were really comic and funny.

ITALIAN ARIA

I was so happy they did the Aria! The audience loved it, it’s even funnier because the show was in the Isaac Theatre Royal, and opera is ALWAYS put on there! When they sang “the tender moon was shining bright” a girl in Siamese made tiny steps backward across the stage on demi-pointe, holding a big shiny crescent moon on a stick! She then did it on the spot holding it for the entire Aria, her legs must have been so tired by the end! The Aria was amazing, Growltiger had such a lovely operatic voice and Griddlebone (the same girl who played Jenny) was so funny, wincing every time he held a high note right in her ear. Though it was funny, it was also beautiful and really well done. The Siamese costumes were brilliant, they had what looked like a huge rod on their backs, but when their time to attack came, they pulled two strings and down flapped huge fans! They were so big they could only move sideways! Something interesting was that the Siamese sang “the foe was armed with toasting forks…” and the pirates held them, I’d always thought it was the Siamese that were armed with toasting forks and carving knives! The forks did look very sharp and pointy ^^ Gilbert was great.

SKIMBLESHANKS

Again, this was just incredible! So lively and bright, the singing was as usual incredible and Skimbleshanks was wonderful! His costume was quite nice, except it was all grey! The train was brilliant, it looked so much like a real train it was incredible! They used Jenny’s chair, huge spinning plates and some wooden planks at the front, a golden headlamp, and coloured lights were flashing everywhere. One cat was sitting right at the top with a popcorn bag over his eyes, it was adorable! I loved this number, this and Growltiger were the best in the whole musical I think. Also, long strings of cats were running sideways round the back and it looked really cool, like the train was moving!!

MACAVITY

This was…unusual! The smash, evil laughter and red lights came on again, and Demeter ran and warned the other cats away. Bombalurina at the back did some kind of walkover up the steps! Then, seven ropes came down from the flies, the centre one was the white kind they use for circus acts, and more ropes draped in curves with strings of diamonds hanging off. It was all lit purple and so it was really dodgy, like some sleazy nightclub, especially with poor Deme and Bomba’s prostitute costumes. Despite the costumes they did really well, not too ‘sexy’ and out there. Demeter did a very good job espeically of scared kitten despite her costume, and they both were amazing singers and dancers, some of the best in the show I think. The female cats were sort of pole-dancing with the ropes, and Rumpelteazer climbed halfway up the white one and did the same thing up it, which was pretty cool, but unfortunately the whole nightclub effect rather spoiled the scene for me.

MACAVITY FIGHT

This was so, so cool! Macavity came down on a wire from the flies and writhed a bit and went back up, and all ran away. Demeter was the only one left onstage, she was running about really scared, and then Macavity appeared right in front of her! She ran to the other side of the stage, and bam! There he was again! She ran to the back, and there he was again! There must have been at least four guys dressed as Macavity, it was very effective and frightening. The fight was a bit nondescript though, Munkustrap jumped onto his back and was thrown off, then all the cats ran at him and he ran up to the back of the stage, grabbed the electric wires and put them together with a huge electric spark and a tiny, tiny “pop!” I actually started laughing, it was so anticlimatic after the drumroll and everything! I wonder if there was supposed to be a bigger bang! There was a silence, and I suddenly thought, “hang on a minute! He was supposed to steal Old Deuteronomy!” So I looked, and he was gone! I hadn’t even noticed!!! They sang “we have to find Old Deuteronomy” and neither me nor my friend had noticed he was gone! It must have been so confusing to people who didn’t know the story well.

MR. MISTOFFELEES

The Rum Tum Tugger was awesome again! Misto didn’t come down from the roof, though both Macavity and Bustopher had – he came from the back, dressed in a lovely sparkly black unitard that fitted him this time He was very graceful and lovely to watch, and though his dance wasn’t up to professional standards, it was still very good. When he did his round though, he did 3 jetes and then crashed into some cats who hadn’t got out of the way in time. He stumbled onto the back of the set and then jumped forward and did another one. It was so sad, because he looked so little and of course he couldn’t see where he was going doing jetes like that and those cats should have gotten out of the way! He magicked a cloth down from the roof and it landed on him! Poor Misto, he wasn’t having a good night! Old Deuteronomy came up through a trapdoor. There wasn’t really enough delight amongst the Jellicles. Misto looked really pleased with himself though. Then the Cats brought a big hoop draped with cloth in and held it up over him and Misto disappeared! All the cats holding the hoop just stared at the floor where he had been, it was so cute! One of the swings looked so shocked, his jaw just dropped and stayed that way for the rest of the song!

MEMORY

Memory was good, Grizabella has a beautiful voice and Jemima sang well this time. I keep wanting to call her Sillabub, because her costume is so pale! It was quite confusing because there were actually 3 white cats – Victoria, who was bright white, and then two whitish-blue cats one of which was Jemima, and it was quite hard to tell who was who! Sillabub had long fluffs down the side of her legs which made it look like she had three tails :3

UP TO THE HEAVISIDE LAYER

Grizabella was attached to a wire at the back of the stage, and was lifted in a shaft of light diagonally up. It looked really nice, I liked it better than the traditional staircase, I’ve always thought it looks like a dragon coming to eat her!

THE ADRESSING OF CATS

Old Deuteronomy finally lost some of his scaryness He was a good singer though I prefer them with less vibrato! The audience enjoyed the lyrics, and he acted it up a bit. Still didn’t look exactly huggable though! The singing in this, as usual, was top-notch. The bows were well done and some gave a standing ovation, I think they deserved it, the performers were really, really excellent, it just was the costumes and choregraphy that let it down a little. Overall the show was excellent and I loved it, and I'm hoping to be able to go again in the next few weeks!!! ^____^

[Carbucketty]

<-- Me on opening the Bomb & Dem photo.



Some of them are good interpretations.

Growltiger and Griddlebone work very well. Griz is very interesting. Reminds me of the White Witch from "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. " Or.. One of those elaborate feather head-dresses they use at Mardi Gras--only "torn and stained with sand"

Demeter and Bombalurina... umm... wow... umm..

Nice trip report. Glad you had fun.

[Reeza]

I also like the Griddlebone costume. Some of the others are iffy...especially the corset, and Mungo and Rumple.

But as for Bombalurina and Demeter...
Noooo nooo nooo nooo no.

I am now frightened. Looks like they came out of some bizarre Rocky Horror cast. Someone tell them they are in the wrong show.

~Reeza

[Spanish_Rumple]

the only thing I regret about their costumes is their lack of cat-like ears and make-up. Apart from that I've found their costumes creative enough. I've enjoyed Tugger's huge mohawk and it reminded me of Electra from Starlight Express. I also liked Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer costumes.

They all look more like circus actors than cats, and I've noticed that the setting looks like a circus, so... Well it's a change but I think it is not that bad. But I miss ears and make-up, because that's what gives the cat appearence... Instead of Cats this show could have been called Life in Circus.

Mungojerrie reminded me of the huge narcoleptic fighter that sings Roxane's tango in Moulin Rouge...lol

And well I don't mind Bomba being characterised like that but not Demeter!!

[Jemima57]

I like how Griddlebone looks ^^ out of that... hum... I honestly don't like those costume and I can't write here what Bombalurina and Demeter remind me

[darkmage]

Ugh. I don't like the costumes AT ALL. They don't look like cats, they look like refugees from a bad sci-fi movie.

Give me Classic Cats, please.

As for the rest, I'm glad you had a good time!

[Belle]

I think I can see where they were coming from with the costumes - being set in a fairground, going for the fair/circus/cirque du Soleil look. Only, done by someone who'd once seen a few Cirrque costumes and hadn't really *got* them. And then got carried away and forgot about making them Cats! And they didn't consider how they'd look onstage and under stage lighting - things like three tails, too many similar pale costumes...

I read the comment about "getting away from leotards and warmers" and opened the pic of Victoria - leotard? check. Warmers? check. Do these productions think that the original style costumes fail, do they not portray Felinity to these directors and designers? Or do these people simply want to put their own egos onto the production by changing it? If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

[antigear]

I love the modern take on CATS, especially how its set on a fair ground, but it kind of takes away the "magic" of it. It reminds me alot of Cirque du Soleil (which I love), but I definitley prefer the classic CATS. Some of the costumes are great though, like Grizabella and Griddlebone, while others are a little much, like Bombalurina, Demeter, and Munkustrap.

[ultra_lilac]

Most of these costumes look nothing like Cats, but that said they are all pretty awesome.
It's nice to see something new being attempted, even if it's not 100% successful.

[Nedame]

Well the costumes were a bit interesting...but some of them weren't that bad

[Mungostoffelees]

I dislike the costumes too. Griz looks like the ice queen though lol and Tugger appears to have a sound boom/bog brush stuck to his head!
There is very little even remotly cat like about them.

However still interesting to see, thanks for posting and glad you had a good time!

[Little_Nell]

Those. costumes. are. shocking!

The only one I even vaguely like is Griddlebone... it looks as if they were going for a Marie Antoinette look crossed with some sort of wild west wench!

[VictoriaTWC]

Hate hate hate the costumes. True, its a visit to the Rocky Horror Picture Show!

Please keep the CATS as CATS!

VTWC

[enkeli-kitten]

Thanks for sharing your opinions everyone

[Little_Nell]

[Reeza]

Can't speak for anyone else, but as for me, I didn't mean to insult the Rocky costumes. I've been in the Rocky Horror community for a long time, having done a shadow cast, and a regional production.

I just thought they were going for a Rocky look with the whole fishnet thing.

This is OT, but Little Nell, are you in a cast or anything? I was just curious. Always nice to meet more Rocky people.

~Reeza

[mlp-nz]

Hello Cats Lovers. . so great to see a commentary on our production.

Just a couple of explanations about the production,
Its basically an amateur production, and with that comes the "non replica" contract. The only thing we are allowed to copy is the poster.
Thus a totally new design of everything. Direction, Choreography and Costumes. (een included is a new score with some odd changes that very much irk me - I have been a Cats fan since 1987 when I bought the LP Tape when I was in 3rd form. - Mungojerry and Rumpleteaser has had another going over and instead of the fun and quirky 7/8 section - its is 12/8. very odd. (I was lucky enough to be asked to record the voice of Mungo for the show - so the Circo-Actors who perform M & R do indeed lip synch, but to click tracked vocals)

The production is part of a consortium in New Zealand, several Musical Theatre societies all pay into the making of the set and costumes and that tours around NZ.

There is about 4 or 5 different societies all doing it in NZ, and as far as I've heard, they all have different Directors, so it will be totally different in each town.

When I first heard that they were going to mount the production, I was very dubious - How can you make something completely different from the original when the poster is the same. The public will surely be expecting the 'Cats' that toured NZ 12 years ago?!
I was asked to play Old Deut, and I thought what a great addition to my CV, as I am heading to Australia a month after Cats closes to tour with Phantom Of the Opera. Anyway - I saw the costume and set design, and was thrilled that something completely different had been thought of, and I thought, now theres a production of Cats I'd like to see.

Sure, there are things in our 6 week rehearsal production that I'm sure the director might change if he had a chance to direct it again, but the public are the ones who really show what they think.

As you can gain from the review that Emily posted, there are some top notch performers in the production, quite a few with professional actors/singers doing it for the joy of doing it. Admittedly the dancers are not all professional, and if they were, I'm sure they wouldnt be in Christchurch doing Cats, they'd be overseas earning a living from Dance.

So I just offer my comments to add to the mix, 1, it is an amateur 'non replica' production and 2, all of the performers are doing it for the love of theatre.

I too love Cats - I have the Mexican, German, Broadway, OLC and Australian recordings. Thus I would'nt want to be involved in a production that was going to dessimate the show. I am proud of our new and different production. But as we are all intitled to our opinion - I also agree with some of what you Cat lovers have written...

Much Moments of Happiness to you all,

Michael, Old Deut in Christchurch.

[darkmage]

Well, I understand the 'no replica' clause. That's done to protect copyright.

While I can't say anything as to the quality of the singing/dancing, and I'm sure it was good, there's a way to still do feline costumes and work around the no-replica clause. Just because you can't copy RUG's designs doesn't necessarily mean anything--it just means you might have to work a bit harder at coming up with new cat designs.

[Belle]

Now, I know that this clause does exist ands must be respected - but I don't get it! Amateur companies are allowed to perform the show, they must use the logo, so they must sell "Cats" to their audience. But they are contractually FORBIDDEN from making the show LOOK like Cats?

WHY???

It's like it's saying "you can do this much, but you're not allowed to do it all properly..." Maybe they're afraid that a good amateur production would be more successful than, say, a cheap non-equity tour?

[mlp-nz]

I have no idea.. why no replicas - s'pose it supposedly stops wannabe amateur directors from ripping off the original and claiming it as their own.. I saw a recent produciton of JC Superstar which completely copied the recent DVD of the english production. To every hand movement the actors made, costumes, set! was truly awful! and the worst part was she claimed all the direction as her own!!

anyways - altho the costumes in our production are not the typical 'cat' look, you can be assured that the director created the feline elements thru movement and acting. and no one is at risk for a second that they are watching dogs or something else. (well in our production anyway - dunno about the other societies who will create their own work using our set and cossies.. )

[Moongewl]

[Carbucketty]

[kitty17794]

...wtf.

Thats all I've got to say. W.T.F. It looks like a really bad school production.

[Mieow]

Hi

I am in the "Cat's" production in New Plymouth due to show from 15th June - 30th June. I know that we have had to also have a change in costume design as not to replicate the original "Cat's" production. I know that some of our set is also coming from Christchurch too.

How successfull was the production in Christchurch, as we are a much smaller town, adn I feel that all the nights playing (14 in total) will not be full or even used. I think 14 nights might be abit of a high expectation for filliing for such a small town.

Byeeeeeeeee
Sas

[waterdancer]

hey sas all the costumes and set are travelling the country for all the perfromances...what part are you playing in New Plymouth i am in Palmerston North Production

[musical lover]

Hi Sas,

From what I’ve heard Cats N.P. is selling well, so your fears may be unfounded. I don’t live in N.P. but have family there and have been to many NPOS productions over the years and have always found them to be top-class amateur theatre. I have already purchased tickets for NPOS Cats.
Regarding the costumes, I’m going to keep an open mind about that one. I’ve seen the London production and an amateur version, and the DVD is one of my favourites. Sometimes it’s a good thing to do a fresh visual take on an old faithful. For me one thing that does set apart the amateur from the professional is whether they get the characters right, because Cats have some very special personalities that should be present. We all expect the soloists to sing and personify their parts well, but I will also be looking out for some of my non-solo favourites:

Victoria shoud be innocent, dainty and pretty , a classical dancer

Cassandra should be mesmerising, a true queen with that unique sensual movement

Etcetera should be playful, kittenish and mad about Rum Tum!

Tantomile and Coricopat are Siamese twins, joined at the hip (harder than it looks).

Thankyou for the Christchurch review enkeli-kitten it sounded like an impressive performance. I expect the dancing will be very good in the NP show as it has a strong dance community there and I've heard hundreds auditioned. I might try writing a review after the NP show if anyone’s interested (?), will probably see the Palmerston one as well – yes I am a Cats fan!

All the best for opening night Sas, break a leg and swish that tail!

[frankieboy]

my friend told me about this site, it's really cool!! i went to the chch show and loved it!! don't know what all the fuss is a bout the costumes - i thought they were really fun and different and yeah...cat-like. maybe i'm a bit younger than the guys dissing the costumes lol i can understand you wanting to see some of those characters you listed - i didn't know cats at all but thougth i'd watch the dvd before going and get to know the songs and story abit. Well i got smitten and now lOOOve the show and the different characters. Chch had a real good victoria - pretty and a nice dancer. i don't think they had a cassandra which was a shame as i really like her too....tho it was really hard to tell cause they didn't do the jellicle songs for jellicle cats very well (they were just a sort of huddle, and you couldn't tell who sung which line). i'm not sure who etc. was cause there were heaps of cutie kittens....i was looking forward to her doing the screaming at the end of rum tum but it didn't happne i think coripocat and tantomile were pretty good - though can't really remember as it was a while ago now! anyway just jealous i cant see it again - hope it's not too long before it comes to chch again!!!!!!! can you write a review of the palmerston or new plimouth show - i'd likde to know if they are better haha!

[musical lover]

Hi Frankieboy,

Happy to review the show for you. Though I'm not going to opening night of Cats New Plymouth, so someone might beat me to it!

[waterdancer]

Anyone in the cast of teh New Plymouth Production or the Palmerston north show

[frankieboy]

hiya! can anyone tellme if cats has opened in np or palmerston yet??? tah!

[waterdancer]

Hey Frankisboy cats opens in New Plymouth this friday being 15 June and it opens in Palmerston North start of august

[frankieboy]

cool thanks for that! hope some one reviews the shows cos since i saw the chch one i'm smitten lol!

[musical lover]

I'm going to CATS tonight in New Plymouth and will endeavour to write a review of the show. I think I might review it as a new topic rather than placing it under the Christchurch show banner however.