November 2, 3, 6, 2017
Directed by Mike Doggett
Vocal Direction by Robert Lewis
Choreography by Chad Adams
AN INTRODUCTION TO CATS:
Based on T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, the show is set amongst a larger- than-life junkyard playground and is alive with our favourite feline characters including Rum Tum Tugger, Mr. Mistoffelees, Macavity,Jennyanydots, Old Deuteronomy, Grizabella and Skimbleshanks.
The Jellicle Cats come out to play on one special night of the year – the night of the Jellicle Ball. One by one they tell their stories for the amusement of Old Deuteronomy, their wise and benevolent leader, who must choose one of the Cats to ascend to The Heaviside Layer and be reborn into a whole new Jellicle life.
CATS, one of the longest-running shows in West End and Broadway history, received its world premiere at the New London Theatre in 1981 where it played for 21 record-breaking years and almost 9,000 performances. The ground-breaking production was the winner of the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Musical. In 1983 the Broadway production became the recipient of seven Tony awards including Best Musical, and ran for 18 years.
Since its world premiere, CATS has been presented in over 30 countries, has been translated into 15 languages and has been seen by more than 73 million people worldwide. Both the original London and Broadway cast recordings won Grammy Awards for Best Cast Album.
The magnificent musical score composed by the legendary Andrew Lloyd Webber, includes the poignant hit song ‘Memory’, which has been recorded by over 150 artists from Barbra Streisand and Johnny Mathis to Liberace and Barry Manilow.
CATS is quite simply a phenomenon. Featuring a fantastical oversized set, a superb score, inspired choreography and mischievous costumes, CATS is a brilliant song and dance spectacular not to be missed.
Based on T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, the show is set amongst a larger- than-life junkyard playground and is alive with our favourite feline characters including Rum Tum Tugger, Mr. Mistoffelees, Macavity,Jennyanydots, Old Deuteronomy, Grizabella and Skimbleshanks.
The Jellicle Cats come out to play on one special night of the year – the night of the Jellicle Ball. One by one they tell their stories for the amusement of Old Deuteronomy, their wise and benevolent leader, who must choose one of the Cats to ascend to The Heaviside Layer and be reborn into a whole new Jellicle life.
CATS, one of the longest-running shows in West End and Broadway history, received its world premiere at the New London Theatre in 1981 where it played for 21 record-breaking years and almost 9,000 performances. The ground-breaking production was the winner of the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Musical. In 1983 the Broadway production became the recipient of seven Tony awards including Best Musical, and ran for 18 years.
Since its world premiere, CATS has been presented in over 30 countries, has been translated into 15 languages and has been seen by more than 73 million people worldwide. Both the original London and Broadway cast recordings won Grammy Awards for Best Cast Album.
The magnificent musical score composed by the legendary Andrew Lloyd Webber, includes the poignant hit song ‘Memory’, which has been recorded by over 150 artists from Barbra Streisand and Johnny Mathis to Liberace and Barry Manilow.
CATS is quite simply a phenomenon. Featuring a fantastical oversized set, a superb score, inspired choreography and mischievous costumes, CATS is a brilliant song and dance spectacular not to be missed.
CAST LIST:
MALE ROLES
Bailey Mallon - Bill Bailey
Brian Starr - Bustopher Jones/Gus
Zian Arzac - Mr. Mistofeelees
Skimbleshanks - to be announced
Travis Uhlman - Munkustrap
Zach Feeney - Old Deuteronomy
Donovan Perry - Growltiger
Christian Ball - Victor
David Beeson - Alonzo/Great Rumpus Cat
Blake Childress - Rum Tum Tugger
FEMALE ROLES
Ashley Bartos - Jennyanydots
Allyson Spottswood - Victoria
Brooke Bailey -Demeter
Felicity Merlin -Georgina
Myia Noble -Sillabub
Grace Gustin -Etectera
Madline Navarro - Carbuckety
Meadow Chase - Cassandra
Hannah Mitchell -Rumpleteazer
Sara Shingler - Bombalurina
Paige Fry - Grizabella
Hannah Arungwa - Mungojerry
Valeria Pecina - Jellylorum
Rhianna McLendon - Electra
Lauren Chancey - Ghengis
Maddie Honic - Macvaity/Admetus
Emma Bus - Coricopat
Emma Anderson - Tatomile
MALE ROLES
Bailey Mallon - Bill Bailey
Brian Starr - Bustopher Jones/Gus
Zian Arzac - Mr. Mistofeelees
Skimbleshanks - to be announced
Travis Uhlman - Munkustrap
Zach Feeney - Old Deuteronomy
Donovan Perry - Growltiger
Christian Ball - Victor
David Beeson - Alonzo/Great Rumpus Cat
Blake Childress - Rum Tum Tugger
FEMALE ROLES
Ashley Bartos - Jennyanydots
Allyson Spottswood - Victoria
Brooke Bailey -Demeter
Felicity Merlin -Georgina
Myia Noble -Sillabub
Grace Gustin -Etectera
Madline Navarro - Carbuckety
Meadow Chase - Cassandra
Hannah Mitchell -Rumpleteazer
Sara Shingler - Bombalurina
Paige Fry - Grizabella
Hannah Arungwa - Mungojerry
Valeria Pecina - Jellylorum
Rhianna McLendon - Electra
Lauren Chancey - Ghengis
Maddie Honic - Macvaity/Admetus
Emma Bus - Coricopat
Emma Anderson - Tatomile
AUDITION FORMS:
Principal characters
These descriptions, in alphabetical order, are based on more recent versions of the show, although there are minor variations from production to production.
These descriptions, in alphabetical order, are based on more recent versions of the show, although there are minor variations from production to production.
- Asparagus – The theatre cat. One of the oldest tribe members. He was once an actor.
- Bombalurina – A saucy red female. A principal vocalist and dancer.
- Bustopher Jones – A fat cat, a “twenty-five pounder.” Dresses in a snappy tuxedo and spats. Respected by all, as the upper class “St. James’s Street Cat”. In most productions, the actor playing Gus also plays Bustopher, though in early productions the part was handled by the actor playing Old Deuteronomy.
- Demeter – A very skittish female cat, principal vocalist.
- Grizabella – The former Glamour Cat who has lost her sparkle and now only wants to be accepted. Grizabella left the tribe when she was younger to see the world for herself; she has experienced the harshness of the world and is a pariah in the cats’ society.
- Jellylorum – A female who watches out for the kittens, along with Jennyanydots. She has a close relationship with Gus. Named after T. S. Eliot’s own cat. The actress who plays Jellylorum usually also plays Griddlebone in Growltiger’s Last Stand.
- Jennyanydots – The old Gumbie cat. She sits all day and rules the mice and cockroaches at night, forcing them to undertake helpful functions and creative projects, to curb their naturally destructive habits.
- Macavity – the show’s only real villain. The character is a literary allusion to the Sherlock Holmes character Professor Moriarty. Usually played by the same actor as Plato or Admetus.
- Mr. Mistoffelees – A young black tom with magical powers, which he doesn’t fully control. His signature dance move is “The Conjuring Turn”, twenty-four fouettés en tournant. He’s sort of a rascal. He’s a bit of a child prodigy of the tribe. Brilliant at what he does but a little wacky at the same time. He’s not really an adult yet, but he’s not a kitten. So he’s in an in-between stage. He doesn’t quite know how to use his magical powers yet, but he’s learning. He has a lot of adolescent qualities. In the UK production, Mistoffelees has an alter-ego named Quaxo, who appears as a general chorus cat throughout the show, and is dressed slightly differently. Occasionally Quaxo is a separate character.
- Mungojerrie – Half of a pair of notorious cat-burglars, with Rumpleteazer. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are most commonly remembered for their featured dance number where at the end, they do a “double windmill” across the stage.
- Munkustrap – The show's de facto narrator. A black and silver tom who is storyteller and protector of the Jellicle tribe. He is thought to be second in command after Old Deuteronomy.
- Old Deuteronomy – The lovable patriarch of the Jellicle Tribe. He is very old and dignified.
- Rumpleteazer – Female half of a pair of notorious cat-burglars, with Mungojerrie.
- Rum Tum Tugger – The ladies’ tom. His temperament ranges from clownish to serious, and often sexual depending on the production; however, he is always flirtatious, and usually portrayed as a feline equivalent of Mick Jagger or Elvis Presley, and recognisable by his wild mane.
- Skimbleshanks – The railway cat. An active orange tabby cat, who lives on the trains and acts as an unofficial chaperon to such an extent he is considered rather indispensable to the train and station employees.
- Victoria – A pure white kitten gifted in dancing. The “official” Jellicle Ball begins with her solo dance. She also does a Pas De Deux with Plato during the Jellicle Ball. She also is the second cat/kitten to accept Grizabella, but the first to touch her.
- Alonzo – A black and white tom cat in most productions; in the Broadway and early European productions, he was depicted as being a black and gold tabby. Sometimes considered the third in command after Munkustrap as he also fights Macavity.
- Cassandra – A mysterious brown and cream Abyssinian queen, with a braided tail.
- Coricopat – Male twin to Tantomile. Coricopat and Tantomile are often portrayed as psychic cats, as they sense the presence of danger before it becomes apparent to the other characters.
- Plato – Teenage male cat; the actor usually doubles as Macavity. He does a pas de deux with Victoria during the Jellicle Ball. Plato is somewhat interchangeable with Admetus.
- Pouncival – a playful, tom kitten.
- Sillabub, the Broadway version of Jemima. Sillabub was a name created for the American productions due to possible racist connotations to “Jemima”. The Japanese, Australian (in particular the Brisbane cast, who have Jemima as just a dancer) and Swedish casts include both Sillabub and Jemima as different characters.
- Tumblebrutus – A playful young adult cat. Tumblebrutus is a brown and white tabby, characterized by a large, flame-like brown patch over his left eye. This energetic young tom is featured in many dance numbers and has many featured solos throughout the show. He is the Broadway version of Bill Bailey.
- Tantomile – Female twin of Coricopat. The name was created by T.S. Eliot for a “Witch’s Cat”