Jellicles Can And Jellicles Do: Meet Old Deuteronomy

And his numerous progeny prospers and thrives, and the village is proud of him in his decline. Ancient and wise and the leader of the Jellicles…he took a little more time to get to you because he’s lived so very, very long… Meow.

Thank you for giving us some of your time, if you would tell us who you are and who you play, that would be great!

Bob Sullivan: I’m Bob Sullivan and I play Old Deuteronomy.

Ah. The Jellicle Leader. Tell us more about Old Deuteronomy.

Bob: He’s the patriarch of the tribe. He’s their leader. He’s somewhat in charge.

And what do you have in common with Old Deuteronomy?

Bob: Well, being a father, one would like to think that they have some wisdom to impart to the younger generations.

Why did you want to be a part of Cats?

Bob: I’ll be honest. I never thought I would do this show. This is probably one of maybe two shows that I thought I would never do in my life, simply because it is a dancer show. That ain’t me! But it turns out, this role— Old Deuteronomy— requires just the singing and the acting. And I can do that. At least, I hope so!

What does it mean to you to be a Jellicle Cat?

Bob: Jellicle to me is just a synonym for feline. I have three cats at home. I take all of my inspiration for ‘Jellicle’ just from watching them.

(front to back) Brie, KitKat, and Snickers the cats.

Excellent. That’s a perfect segue into my next question of ‘do you have cats?’ and now that we know the answer is yes, tell us about your cats.

Bob: We have Snickers, KitKat, and Brie.

That’s two chocolates and a cheese?

Bob: Well, we started with a cheese-theme. We had three cheese cats. Bad things happened. So we switched to a candy-theme this time around.

Aww. Do the chocolates and the cheese cats get along?

Bob: They do. Snickers and KitKat were kittens from the same litter, they were bonded so we got them together. They’re very cute and they’re the best of friends. Brie is the elder-states kitty. She’s the Old Deuteronomy of the family.

We learn that all cats have three names. Old Deuteronomy is your cat’s ‘more dignified name’ and while we can never know the ‘secret name’ that he calls himself, what do you think his ‘family daily use’ name is? What are the humans calling him every day?

Bob: I’ve been giving some thought to this lately. I think it will still have a biblical theme but it is a special name, so I’m thinking Ecclesiastes.

What has been your big personal takeaway from this experience with Cats?

Bob: My big personal takeaway from this is just getting to work with this cast. It has been so rewarding. I am amazed by dancers. I wish I could do what they do. I’m blown away with the talent of this cast.

If you had to sum up the experience of Cats using just one word, which word would you use?

Bob: Welcoming.

Cats plays September 16^th 2022 through September 25^th 2022 with Tidewater Players, in residence at the Cultural Center at The Havre de Grace Opera House— 121 N. Union Street in historic downtown Havre de Grace, MD. For tickets call the box office at 667-225-8433 or purchase them online.

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