Memory! All alone in the moonlight! I can dream of the old days…life was beautiful then…

I remember the time I knew when Cats was on stage…

Now it’s time…for it to be back on stage again!

For those not yet privileged enough to experience one of Broadway’s longest running musicals, the Andrew Lloyd Webber sensation, Cats, you once more have your chance! Appearing live on the main stage at Cockpit in Court this summer, the iconic and infamous Bambi Johnson brings her vision of the show to exuberant life and all they’re waiting for is you to join them at The Jellicle Ball. Consider this your official invitation.

Johnson and her tour du force production capabilities most recently set Cats on a uniquely intimate play-space in September of 2022. With over 25 new additions to this cast and production team, TheatreBloom has taken time to ‘meet the Cats’ of Cats (at the very least all of the new faces to the production, with a couple of more familiar ones too) and are bringing you their unique perspectives on this production, the overall Cats experience and exactly what it’s like to be a Jellicle Cat.

Join us every day— starting today Thursday June 27^th 2024— as a new cat (and some days two!) appears online leading up to the show’s opening on July 19^th 2024. Can you guess which cat will appear next? Can you spot them all? Most importantly, do you have your tickets to this wondrous extravaganza that is The Jellicle Ball of Cats?

Thank you for being our kick-starter in what we’re affectionally going to call the “Never-ending Story of Cats.” If you could tell us who you are and who you play for our readers out there, we’ll get things going!

Lizzy Jackson Fleischmann: I’m Lizzy Jackson Fleischmann and I am playing Sillabub.

Delightful! Can you tell us a little bit about Sillabub?

Lizzy: Sillabub is a very playful cat. She has a lot of energy. She’s kind of the goofy, weird cat. And I think my backstory is that she is sort of the annoying little sister of Demeter and Bomb. And she really wants to be like them and be with them but she’s not quite there yet. But she’s not a kitten! She’s not as young as a kitten. Sillabub is that awkward in-between— like a teenager! She’s a young, awkward, annoying-little-sister teenager kitty!

I love this. Sillabub sounds very fun. Now how are you and Sillabub similar or different?

Lizzy: I think that I’m a very playful, goofy person by nature so that kind of works out for me to be playing a character who is playful and goofy.

Very cool. Why did you want to come out and audition to be a part of Cats?

Lizzy: Cats is my all-time favorite musical ever! EVER! I have seen many Bambi (Director Bambi Johnson) shows and I have never had the chance to work with her and I really, really wanted to work with her. I am ecstatic because I cannot dance— well I shouldn’t say it like that, I should say I don’t think I can dance. This is really challenging me in the best possible way.

I love this— because those were basically the next two questions, “What’s it like working with Bambi?” and “Are you a dancer?”

Lizzy: Haha! I am not! I feel like by the end of the show I will be one. Hopefully. That’s the goal! And I love getting to work with Bambi, I think she’s making me a dancer!

That is fantastic to hear. Bambi would never let anyone fail, so your dancer-goal will certainly be achieved. Now, what does it mean to you, Lizzy, to be a Jellicle Cat?

Lizzy: I think a Jellicle Cat has a regalness about them. And a sass that normal cats don’t have.

So true. Do you have cats at home, Lizzy?

Lizzy: I do not at the moment. But I grew up with one. I’ve always had cats. I had a sole-cat, Dixie, who I am trying to embody. My parents got her for me when I was two. And she lived until I was 24 and in college. What is really special is that I knew I wanted to dedicate this show to her and she was a gray, scruffy-looking cat, and when we got our leotards, my Sillabub cat leotard is gray! And I didn’t plan that— so I think it’s a sign.

THAT is incredible. Definitely a sign. I think your Dixie sent you that sign from the Heaviside Layer. What a wonderful way to make this production extra special. Now Lizzy, we know that cats have the 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 Sillabub on the daily?

Lizzy: Pickles.

What has been you’re your big personal takeaway from this experience so far?

Lizzy: It has been fantastic. I can truly say this— this is actually my 20^th show and this is the most talented cast I have ever worked with. Seriously. The most talented. And the most fun. I just feel like I’m learning so much from this amazing cast.

 

I truly love hearing that. 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?

Lizzy: Incredible.

Cats plays July 19^th 2024 through August 3^rd 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.