A knockabout cat. Rough and boisterous. If you delve into the source material for this particular kitty-cat, T.S. Eliot and his lovely book of poems will tell you that he made up the name Carbucketty! And so, are you ready today, dear readers, as we continue on with introductions in the clowder— to meet— Carbucketty?
Thank you for joining us! If you’ll tell us who you are, we can go ahead and get started!
Katie Sheldon: I am Katie Sheldon and I am playing Carbucketty!
Do tell me a little bit about Carbucketty.
Katie: So Carbucketty is actually typically played by a man. Although Bambi (Director Bambi Johnson) said she had cast the role with a woman the last time she had done the show (Suzanne Zacker, Tidewater Players 2022.) So typically when you see it, he’s a boy, but this time around he’s a girl. Carbucketty is a rambunctious kitten that’s always causing trouble, that’s what I’ve read on the social meeds, as they say.
I mean this sounds like you, Katie.
Katie: Yeah it feels pretty accurate.
Perfect segue for you to tell me how you and Carbucketty are similar and different, surely though rambunctious you’re not running around causing all the trouble, right?
Katie: I think I have a very youthful spirit so I think it makes sense that I’m playing this kitten. And I love having a good time, making rambunctious fun, so it feels like a good fit.
Why did you want to come out and audition to be a part of Cats?
Katie: Cats has a very special place in my hearts. Cats and I are about six months apart. I was born and the show Cats was born about six months after me. It’s pretty much been a part of my life forever. I can remember listening to the Barbara Streisand version of “Memory” as a very, very young child. I remember getting the double-CD set in middle school. I mean, the first CD I ever bought— it was sixth grade, I remember it— it was a “highlights of Andrew Lloyd Webber” CD. I have been obsessed with Andrew Lloyd Webber basically since I was a child. But I remember vividly getting the double-CD set for Cats, it came with the libretto inside and I tried to learn all the words. It was the very first show I saw on Broadway my sophomore year of high school, and I walked up on the stage— that was back when they would just let you walk up on the stage! I was just in heaven.
And I thought, “I’m never going to get to do this show because it’s never going to close on Broadway.” And I thought that they would never release the rights. And then lo and behold, it did and they did. And I thought, “Well, no community theatre is ever going to get to do this. They’ll never be able to get the dancers to do this.” And then of course that happened, but the first two times Bambi did it, it was being done way too far away from where I live for me to audition. But then when this came up, I thought “this is my one and only shot to do Cats so I’ve got to try for it.” Luckily I got cast and here I am!
Congratulations! So happy you’re a part of the Jellicle magic! Now, Katie, you’re not like a dancer or anything, right?
Katie: Me? No. Are you kidding? Of course I’m a dancer. I have danced since I was seven. One of my first couple of years in dance I danced to “Mungojerrie & Rumpleteazer.” So this is really full circle for me because that was one of my first jazz dances. I love to dance. I consider myself a dancer. I’ve been dancing since 1987.
That’s fantastic! What does it mean to you to be a Jellicle Cat?
Katie: I think it’s just bringing that spirit to the stage. There’s so much energy in this show. This show gets a lot of hate and I am determined to get all of those haters to come and see this show and give it one more chance because I feel like there is some magic to seeing it live. There’s magic to seeing it with people that you know live on stage. That’s why I enjoy community theatre so much, because I know the people. I get more out of it. I feel like we’re bringing a newness to it. Don’t think about it as a show without a plot, think about it as a ballet with words. That’s really what it is.
Now I’m fairly certain that I know for a fact that the Sheldon household does not have cats. Right?
Katie: We do not because my husband is allergic. But I have always been a cat person. I had a cat when I was seven, named Mindy after Mork & Mindy because that was my favorite TV show. Unfortunately, Minday passed when I was in eighth grade. Then I got another cat, my sophomore year of high school, named Charlotte, who was not named after Charlotte’s Web, but was named after the Betty Davis movie because that’s the kind of teenager I was. I have always had cats. And Charlotte only just passed not too long ago, she lived a long, long life, though she was living with my mom because of the allergic husband. I’ve always been a cat person. But I now have a dog. Scarlett O’Hara Sheldon. And ironically enough, she has actually been a big inspiration for this performance because Scarlett is very catlike. She’s a puppy but she’s acting like a cat. And my first cat was actually very doglike because she was raised with a dog. She would fetch and she would come when you called her. So it works that this dog is turning out to be more like a cat.
I love this. I love all animals, mostly cats, or other creatures who think that they are cats. Speaking of cats, we know that cats have three names. The name that the humans call them or their daily use name, their more dignified name, and their third, secret name that we can never know. What do you think the humans are calling Carbucketty?
Katie: Well, when I was first cast, I didn’t have a name. Carbucketty came about a few weeks later, Bambi offered me that name and I took it. I was going call myself Mary Pawpins before I was given Carbucketty.
Oh goodness. Of course you were. For those unaware of Katie Sheldon’s illustrious history on stages across the Baltimore-tri-county area, Sheldon has played the titular role of Mary Poppins in at least three productions of the flying-nanny-musical (September Song 2015, Glyndon Area Players 2019, Suburban Players 2023.) So now that you’ve all been caught up to speed with Katie Sheldon, the fact that she wanted to name her cat MARY PAWPINS should come as no shock. Now Katie, what has been your big personal takeaway from getting to do this production of Cats?
Katie: As dancers, as we age, we start to not be able to do the things that we used to be able to do in our youth. But I have never felt stronger and never felt better dancing on stage. I don’t let age stop me from doing the things you dream about.
Now this is your first Bambi show, yes? What’s that been like?
Katie: It is! She is a delight. I really hope she can direct a little closer to home so that I can audition for her again.
That’s always a delight to hear. Now, if you had to sum up your experience of doing Cats here at Cockpit in Court with Bambi and this amazingly talented cast in just one word, what’s the word that you would use?
Katie: Purrfect.
Cats plays July 19th 2024 through August 3rd 2024 in the F. Scott Black Theatre of The Robert and Eleanor Romadka College Center at the Community College of Baltimore County Essex Campus— 7201 Rossville Boulevard, Essex MD. For tickets call the box office at (443) 840-2787 or purchase them online.
Follow along in the “Return to the Jellicle Ball” Series here:
