RETURN TO THE JELLICLE BALL: MEETING THE NEWEST 2024 ADDITIONS TO THE CLOWDER OF COCKPIT IN COURT’S CATS: Rum Tum Tugger

Curious Beast! The RTT— which has TWO T’s, which rhyme with P and that stand for…Cat? (The ‘p’ is silent in cat? There’s nothing more TROUBLE than a cat, let’s be honest.)

Thank you for joining us! Can you tell us who you are and who you play?

Adam Goldsmith: I’m Adam Goldsmith and I’m Rum Tum Tugger.

Adam Goldsmith as Rum Tum Tugger in Cats at Cockpit in Court

Ooh. So you’re Rum Tum. Got it. Tell me all about him!

Adam: I am. Sure. He is the main Tom-cat of the clowder. He definitely has his eyes on a couple of different female cats in the group and maybe some of the male cats as well…just a couple. He’s got his eye around everyone. He’s lazy until his name is called and then he’s the star of the show.

How are you and Rum Tum Tugger similar and or different?

Adam: Oh man. So I’m definitely extroverted! So that I get when Rum Tum Tugger is called— I can definitely be a little lazy too, so when he’s off that can be me as well. I would say he’s a little bolder than I am in his choices, but you know what? I get to lean into that side of me for this and that’s the part that’s really fun.

I love this. Is this your first Bambi show? And what has that been like?

Adam: It is my first Bambi show and it’s been awesome. She’s been really great to work with. Clearly she loves the material and so I’ve gained an appreciation for the show just in listening to her talk about it, which I didn’t really have before. I’ve really come around on Cats as a whole just by being in the show.

Well that certainly primes my next question, why did you want to audition to come out and be a part of Cats?

Adam: I was doing Hello, Dolly! at St. Demetrios (St. Demetrios Suburban Players, Hello, Dolly February 2024) and a couple of the people from that show kept talking about Cats, and I kept saying “no, no, no…” but then I watched some recordings of the show, and it actually looked like fun. There was so much dance, so many group numbers, and I saw a Rum Tum Tugger performance, and I said, “well, okay, I want to do that! I want to strut my stuff on stage!” So I auditioned and the cards aligned, I’m here, and it’s been great.

Excellent! Now do you consider yourself to be a dancer?

Adam: I’d like to think so. If you’re a guy who can move sometimes you get labeled a dancer whether you’re actually a dancer or not! I’m really happy to be in a show with so many great dancers because some of the dancers in this show are phenomenal. I’m definitely looking around a bit to make sure where I am in line, but it’s really fun to be so physical in a show like this. Especially for community theatre, because it’s hard to get a big group of people dancing, in unison, with some really challenging material. And it’s all original Bambiography!

Bambiography. WOW. I’ve interviewed people over the years, many of whom have worked with her and you might be the first person I’ve heard call it ‘Bambiography.’ I LOVE THAT. Now, what does it mean to you to be a Jellicle Cat?

Adam: That’s a great question. A Jellicle Cat, sure they’re black and white and all of that good stuff that’s in the show, but really I think a Jellicle Cat is a cat that knows who they are. And that’s what’s really cool about this show. All the cats have such distinct personalities and roles that the most Jellicle of the Jellicle Cats know who they are and are comfortable with who they are and they exist to be aided by and support other people and get support from other people. At the end of the show, when— well spoiler— a certain Cat gets chosen— that cat finds their role and I feel like that makes that cat THE MOST Jellicle.

That’s a wonderful way of phrasing it. Now do you have cats at home?

Adam: I had two cats growing up that I loved. I don’t currently have cats, but I am taking a little bit of inspiration from those two rascals because one of them really liked to strut their stuff around the house. So my Rum Tum Tugger is slightly modeled after my cat Snuggles. Aptly named.

Mia the border collie; used for "Pekes & Pollicles" inspiration — Mia the border collie; used for “Pekes & Pollicles” inspiration

I love that though I am sad you no longer have the cats.

Adam: I have one dog. I do get to play a little bit of that in “Pekes and the Pollicles.” Her name is Mia. She’s a border collie. She’s the exact opposite of a cat. Instead of lounging around, she is staring at you at all times. But she is pretty dumb. So when I do get to make fun of dogs in this show, I get to pull some inspiration from that.

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 Rum Tum Tugger?

Adam: In the show, in the song I think they say that his name is Victor. But then he’s got a secret name as well. I don’t know that he’s disclosing that to anyone on the side. And personally, I don’t know that I would name him Victor. Maybe something like Bowie. I’m taking a little David Bowie inspiration for his creation, that androgynous sex icon. I think Bowie is a much more apt name than Victor.

What has been your big personal takeaway from this experience?

Adam: The power of a big, spectacle show like Cats. I’m a huge introspective, reflective theatre, small-scale theatre person. But there is something to be said about getting more than 30 people on stage, singing their dang hearts out and dancing that when you see it? Even just in rehearsal? It really knocks your socks off. So once this gets on stage, in costume, I have no doubt it’s going to be phenomenal.

I am thrilled to see this version of it. I’ve been fortunate enough to have seen both of Bambi’s previous cats— the cat-ears I’m wearing right now were actually a gift to me when I showed up at the 2016 production from Bambi herself, and then I got to see it again in 2022 at Tidewater Players. Having the vision to reinvent this show for a third time, at this incredible community theatre that is a powerhouse staple of Baltimore is really going to be something.

Adam: Wow. Yeah this show is definitely going to be phenomenal.

I cannot wait. 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?

Adam: If I can’t say Jellicle—

Nobody says you can’t— you won’t be the first and likely not the last!

Adam: Well it does seem apt! But I would say it has been transformative.

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: