Double…double…toil and trouble…something meowy this way comes?
Thanks for joining us this morning! Tell us who you are and who you’re playing in Cats.
Anthony Case: I’m Anthony Case. And I’m playing Coricopat. You know, the one whose name I could not pronounce for a straight month.
I feel you. I feel like I also still cannot pronounce Coricopat…and I’ve interviewed a Coricopat before! But tell me about Coricopat!
Anthony: So he is one of the twins along with Tantomile, played by Lisa! (Lisa Rigsby Geiger) and we’re the twin ESP cats. We can sense when things are coming.
Hooray twins! Now how are you and Coricopat similar or different?
Anthony: I think that Coricopat is somebody who is a little bit silent but also can have a little bit of a goofy side to him and I think that’s me in a nutshell, actually.
I think I agree with you! Now why did you want to come out and audition to be a part of Cats?
Anthony: Honestly I just haven’t done a dance show in a while. At least not one where I got to dance. I just wanted to do one again, that’s how I built this up for myself and I just came out and here I am.
So you are a dancer then?
Anthony: Yes. That’s how I started. I started dancing— or taking lessons in high school. I’ve always been somebody who understands how my body moves in rhythm and things like that. I would always get called on when somebody needed a dancing kid when I was growing up. I was the one that they called.
I love hearing that. What does it mean to you to be a Jellicle Cat?
Anthony: As a Jellicle Cat…well, we have a lot of things that the script lists— a lot. A lot. A Lot! Including things that seem completely random— like they’re black and white! And I mean, my cat’s orange! I think a Jellicle Cat is the heart of community. They help others to build themselves up. And I think that’s a good thing that we should all be striving towards.
Absolutely. Now do you have cats?
Anthony: I have two. I have one cat, her name is Gizmo. She’s a little wild but she’s about to be 14. But she’s still very tiny— and she’s a tortoise shell. She has a bunch of different colors but mostly dark gray. My other one is a Maine Coon and he’s a big one. He’s called Scooby Doo. He is a lot. At this point I think he’s— wait…he was three when we picked him up in 2021…so he’s…I don’t know, I’m an English teacher, not a math teacher. Six. He’s six. But he’s huge. They’re both very loving and great and I love them both.
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 Coricopat?
Anthony: We haven’t worked it out officially. But if I had to guess? I don’t know. Let’s see…he’s a twin… he’s grayish tanish orangish thing…I don’t know. Let’s go with… Tony. They’re calling him Tony.
What has been your big personal takeaway from getting to be a part of this experience? And what has it been like getting to work with Bambi?
Anthony: It’s my first time working with Bambi even though I’ve auditioned for a few times before, they just didn’t work out. I’ve had to drop two shows of hers, I wasn’t cast in a few others, it just never worked out until this point— it happens. But just getting to work with her has been such an amazing experience. This cast is amazing— you can hear them singing right now*— they sound amazing, the dancing is incredible, and I am just so happy to be a part of it.
If you had to sum up your experience here at Cockpit in Court with Bambi and Cats using just one word, which word would you use?
Anthony: Jellicle.
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.
*sadly, dear reader, you cannot hear them singing in the interview tapes as these are transcriptions…but they sound AMAZING. Don’t take my and all of these amazing interviewees words for it— GO BUY TICKETS and hear how amazing they are in person!
Follow along in the “Return to the Jellicle Ball” Series here:
