Jellicle Cats are Scenography Cats! And Scenography Cats are Jellicle Cats! I don’t think T.S. Eliot or Andrew Lloyd Webber had any idea that cats could build sets! Or maybe they did and just wanted to keep that a secret…like a hidden third name…from all the rest of us!

Thank you for giving us some of your time today! Tell us who you are and how you fit into this Cats configuration!

Sammy Jungwirth: I’m Sammy Jungwirth and I’m the Set Designer…and technically master carpenter. I’m here 9 to 5, every day, working on the set.

Why did you want to be a part of this particular project?

Sammy: Well, anything with Bambi, obviously, I’m down for 100%. But really because this set is like nothing that I’ve ever done before. Her and I put this new spin on it. It’s such a new concept. It’s not just a normal set for a musical with things that fly in and out. I’ve actually been talking to Lisa (master-of-too-many-things-to-name-but-know-she-is-very-important-and-also-box-office-manager Lisa Boeren) about changing the credit in the program to Scenography because a few shows have taken that route instead of saying ‘Set Design.’ When you say ‘Set Design’ people tend to think of just the background. And Scenography is a way to better describe how this particular show was designed and conceived.

No detail goes unnoticed. We spent many hours talking about everything that we could do to try and make this world our own and try to craft this environment. It’s a very specific environment. Something very cool that we’re doing is that we’re not having any legs or tabs in— everything is going to be flown out. So you will be able to see wall-to-wall of the theatre. We’re decorating everything to make it fit into this environment, which is the inside of a factory.

Holy wow. That sounds incredible. Cannot wait to see it. Now how does this compare to other projects that you’ve worked on in recent history?

Sammy: It’s very large. That’s one big difference. I rarely get to do shows where nothing moves. It gives me an opportunity to— on the tech side— to be able to ‘dead-hang’ things. It’s sort of an interesting thing when it’s a completely stationary set because it provides you with more resources and lets you use more creativity as you’re figuring out how to fill that stage up. You don’t hide anything, there’s nothing that has to fly in or move or track in and out. We spent a long time just crafting everything in order to make this environment our own and original to this specific production.

Now you said, ‘any show with Bambi’ but is this your first show working with Bambi? Surely not…

Sammy: Actually, as Director-Designer, it is. Now she brought me on to do Sweeney up at the Opera House last year but she wasn’t directing and she’s brought me in again to do design for Jekyll & Hyde at the Opera House this year, but again she’s not directing.

I see! What is it like getting to work with Bambi, one-on-one, in this director-designer dynamic?

Sammy: I told her this the other day, Bambi is probably one of the greatest directors I have ever worked with because I’ve never seen someone who has such a specific vision but is also so open to hearing everyone else’s ideas. The word collaboration is really how to describe her. We first met about this show back in late February or early March. And the first thing I said to her was “I’m not interested in doing the junkyard.” And I know I’ve said this to you before, Mandy, for me as a Set Designer I hate just copying whatever’s already been done. I hate doing whatever the Broadway production did, I mean that’s great but that’s their thing. Even if it’s something small, I try to bring my own vision to it. In our first meeting, we went through 10-15 ideas about locations. It eventually morphed into this factory idea.

We’re using a lot of pieces that Cats’ enthusiasts will recognize, a lot of stuff from when she’s done Cats and pieces that she likes, but we’re also making it our own. The Cockpit production will be original in that way. No idea has been shot down, she’s always open to talking about things and discussing things. It’s really been nice taking her vision and her ideas from what she’s done and working with that. And then we have Thomas (Lighting Designer Thomas P. Gardner) who is going to come in and refocus everything as he makes a new plot for this show, he has the same collaborative style. He’ll talk to Bambi and she’ll say “I want this, this, and this” and he brings his ideas into it and they meet somewhere in the middle. The collaboration between everyone has been great. She’s a great leader.

I love hearing this and I cannot say enough how much I love hearing this; I hear it from everyone I’ve ever spoken to who has had the privilege of working with Bambi. Now, Sammy, we know you also have a performing side, even if Set Design is more your true calling and passion…but if you had come out to audition for Cats on the performance side of things, who would you have wanted to have been?

Sammy: That’s a very good question. I am a performer but I probably would not have auditioned to perform in this show because— in seeing their dancing after about five seconds I would have been on the floor!

But Bambi can make anybody a dancer.

Sammy: She can! So maybe…hmm. You know what my favorite song in the show is? The Railway Song. I think I’d at least want to be in that number if not be Skimbleshanks, even if I only came out and stood there for like five seconds. If anybody could turn me into a dancer, it would be Bambi.

I’m sure she could! What does it mean to you to be a Jellicle Cat?

Sammy: I think being a Jellicle Cat is making your own identity and making your own personality as a cat. That’s really what the whole show is about. They all tell their tale, for lack of a better word, and see who comes out the victor at the end.

Lovely! Now, do you have a cat at home? Or a dog?

Sammy: No. No cats. No dogs. Though I prefer dogs, I just don’t have any at home.

What has been your biggest personal takeaway getting to work on Cats?

Sammy: A lot of people on this team, I haven’t worked with before, and that’s really been a joy. Both Bambi and Becky (Stage Manager Becky Flickinger.)

I love Becky. She is the knower of things and the doer of things.

Sammy: Yes. Everyone loves Becky. Now, Thomas and I have worked together for years and we can finish each other’s sentences but all of these new people have just really been a joy. So it’s a mix between that and relearning the show. I saw it years ago but I didn’t really remember too much about it. The set for this has so much detail in it. That’s the key to crafting a really good set. Nothing goes unnoticed. Everything is so planned out and specific to fit our vision, to fit Bambi’s overall vision, it’s wonderful. We have to make enough room for the dancers, we have to see what levels there are, what people can stand on. It’s been a mix of learning all that and it really just has been a joy.

Now if you had to come up with a Cat name for your Scenography persona, what would we be calling Sammy the Scene Cat?

Sammy: How about Gaffer? Short for Gaff Tape, of course.

That’s ridiculously perfect! 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?

Sammy: I would say creativity.

Cats plays July 19^th 2024 through August 4^th 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:

Sillabub

Carbucketty

Plato

Bill Bailey

Electra

Saffron

Aria

Pouncival

Coricopat

Tantomile

Etcetera

Griddlebone

Skimbleshanks

Starla

Queenie