With Cats some say one rule is true: get your tickets for Tidewater Players’ production this fall. It is like no other production of Cats ever seen or that will ever be seen. The stunning immersive world of T.S. Eliot and Andrew Lloyd Webber come swirling together in a mystical, magical, Jellicle production directed and choreographed by Bambi Johnson with musical direction by Chris Rose. There are singing cats, there are dancing cats, and there are magical cats waiting to show you their Jellicle delights. It’s an honest must-see of the fall 2022 season.
From the moment you ascend the stairs (or elevated lift) to Tidewater’s own ‘Heavyside Layer’, the urban junkyard of Cats is there to greet you. Trash and eclectic smatterings of life discarded flow down the walls that flank either side of the opera house theatre, spilling its way up onto the stage where the pieces of garbage grow larger than life, creating the masterful image of a landfill where these Jellicles dwell. There’s even a well-functioning slide that gets used on occasion in the performance, which blends right in to the rest of the flotsam and jetsam of the set. Set Designer Benjamin Marsh, along with Scenic Artist Mark Briner (and a construction crew featuring Marsh, Briner, Dickson Teel, Art Porkorny, Janet Porkorny, Chris Ennis, and Joe Harka) spin a fantastical jungle of junk for the cats. Note the oversized ‘Progresso Soup Can’ and box of Twining’s Tea that become seat-stools for Gus the Theatre Cat and Bustopher Jones, respectively. But the most unique feature of this set is the part that fully melds the Jellicle Cats into the world of the audience. A diagonal thrust— one might call it a ‘catwalk’— extends its way out through the entire first seating embankment, enabling the cats to come have an up-close-and-personal encounter with theatergoers all throughout the evening. This comes complete with ‘mystery tunnel’ which allows several cats to ‘pop’ right up unexpectedly all during the performance.
Augmenting this brilliant scenic vision, Lighting Designer William A. Price III creates his own fantasy world of illumination that gives these cats, who prance, parade, promenade, and purr mostly under shadows of darkness and cover of night, their own vivacious liveliness by way of light-work from above. Special nod and shoutout to Bob Denton, the designer of the shadowy feline silhouettes featured during the overture and introduction to the junkyard. The lighting featured during “The Jellicle Ball” is some of the most impressive, and let’s not forget to point out the overhanging faerie lights, a staple in nearly every Bambi Johnson production, that gives the audience even more immersive moments of inclusion throughout the entirety of the performance. While the microphones had some balance issues (Dickson Teel, as house sound designer, will one-day achieve his quest of having the vocal and lyrical mics supersede the output of the speaker system carrying the music) the overall visual spectacle— including some of the wondrous tricks featured during “Mr. Mistoffelees.”
Cats is a show that relies heavily on theatrical spectacle (T.S. Eliot gave us a bunch of nonsense and Andrew Lloyd Webber set it to gorgeous music but as far as plots go, sit back, relax, and just enjoy the wonder and merriment rather than poaching a plot with this production) and its swinging through this particular show in spades, with costumes designed by Joyce Williams and Brenda Kinzinger, wild feline wigs provided by House of Bankerd and masterfully maintained by Dickie Mahoney, and the extravagant make-up plots crafted and cultivated by Tigga Smaller. While each of the cat-performers does their own make-up, Smaller has crafted individually personalized make-up plots to give each cat their own unique look befitting of their personality and type of cat. No two cats are the same— not even Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, the twin-type thieving cats! Williams an Kinzinger follow suit, quite literally, giving each of the cats their own unique body suit (modeled after decades of ‘suggested styles’ from productions previous) which completes the feline couture featured in this production. Whether it’s the electric highlighter orange and yellow stripes for Bombalurina and Demeter, the pure white snow coloring for Victoria, or some of the wilder cat-costume-accessories, like Rumpus Cat’s laser-glow-visor-glasses or the shabby patchwork coat on Asparagus, Williams and Kinzinger round out the show’s flawless aesthetic, giving the audience hours of entertainment just looking at the unique attention to detail.
One can’t even begin to describe the hilarity that ensues for the— calling them theatrical costumes might be a step too far— of the junkyard jumble of ‘accessories’ that Williams and Kinzinger outfit for “The Awful Battle of the Pekes and Pollicles”, with those poodle-bucket-heads and soda-box paw-covers being straight-up theatrical nightmare fuel. (That whole number is hilarious absurd, so this costuming choice tracks 100%.) And the dayglow-outlined, polka-dotted garbage bag bug gowns, meant to represent the tap-dancing cockroaches, are just wild. Williams, Kinzinger, Smaller, and the rest of the aesthetic design teams really pulled out all the stops when it comes to this production.
If choreography could get zoomies, the way real felines do, then scenes at The Jellicle Ball are a perfect manifestation of that concept. Master choreographer Bambi Johnson has brought tremendously articulate dance routines onto the intimately-spaced stage of Tidewater Players but never once does it feel like you’re watching large-scale numbers on a small-scale stage. Johnson, using her vast choreographic knowledge, spreads the dancers out accordingly, making use of all of the space— including the immersive aisles where audience members are treated to the astonishing experience of dancing felines right in front of their faces. The fighting-dancer choreography, featured after “Macavity: The Mystery Cat” (as well as all the swanky saucy dance moves featured in that number) are stunning and breathtaking. The tap routine found during “The Old Gumbie Cat” is energetic and exuberant. There are so many moments of choreographic brilliance, they can’t all be named, you just need to see the show.
Johnson has done a sensational job of accurately representing the world and the world of cats in choosing performers of all shapes and sizes, all dancing capabilities, and fitting them accordingly into appropriate roles. You will not see one unified breed of cat in this production— nor should you; that isn’t real life for people or for cats. There are so many unique things happening in the production, each cat finding little moments to shine whether its sitting atop the junkyard car or hissing at the shunned; one could strongly recommend seeing the production more than once to catch all of the amazing nuance and character development that has gone into this magical endeavor. There are so many little delights in the performance as well— true ‘magic’ in “Mr. Mistoffelees” as well as a wondrously childlike, imaginative ‘railway train’ that gets its locomotion in gear during “Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat”— that it cannot be stated enough, the show must be seen to be believed. Working with musical director Chris Rose to achieve wondrous blended sounds during big group harmonies as well as striking solo moments across the cast, Johnson gets the ‘purrfect’ performance out of this clowder, really making it an overall stellar production.
With 27 felines on stage, it’s impossible to laud the praises of everyone, without taking a full Jellicle year to do so. There’s Victoria (Katelyn O’Connor) who can be seen most often doing splits and high-lifts in her pure-white cat costume; O’Connor even gets lifted during “The Jellicle Ball” by one Skimbleshanks (Stanley Evans) for some lovely twirls. Or perhaps you have your eye on a sweet, frisky kitty— Carbucketty (Suzanne Zacker) who jumps all around with an ever-present smile pushing through the paint on her face? Let’s not forget the tumble-twirling thief-twins, Mungojerrie (Benjamin Marsh) and Rumpleteazer (Kristen Mitchell) who get their own number as they spill over and over one another all across the stage. One of the unique features that director Bambi Johnson has included in this production is a little bit of switching up who does what. “Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer” the song may be danced-through by those named in the song’s title, but it’s sung through delightfully by this adorable pair of cats— Quaxo (Rob Tucker) and Jennyanydots (Amy Tucker) who sit side by side singing like an adorable old married couple. In fact, one might notice that during the initial ‘togetherness’ portion of “The Jellicle Ball” Quaxo and Jennyanydots dance together, and so do Carbucketty (Suzanne Zacker) and Alonzo (Stanton Zacker) and Bill Bailey (Ontel Alcalde) and Electra (Bambi Alcalde.) Isn’t that sweet?
You get prim and proper cats, like the well-heeled Bustopher Jones (Wayne Ivusich), who only has one feature song but spends the rest of the evening sitting prominently in the center of the junkyard, watching, observing, in-taking all that unfolds around him with this curious look of “is it food? No? Ah well, entertainment then,” playing across his facial features. And you get sweet vocal cats, like Victor (Sam Ranocchia) who gets a few featured solo lines peppered prominently throughout Act II. You get sleek, fleet-footed dancer cats like Cassandra (Samantha Jednorski), Etcetera (Whitney Russell), and Exotica (Vera Roell) as well as playful kittens like Coricopat (Jackson Smith),Tantomile (Erin Acerno), and Sillabub (Anne Acerno.)
Anne Acerno doubles up as Griddlebone, the singing aria cat, in a feathery white affair during “Growltiger’s Last Stand” and her superbly soprano voice soars through the air nailing note after note in this musical deluge of beauty. She even gets to showcase a coy and slightly cheeky side of her cat when playing opposite ‘Growltiger’ (who is really just Gus the old theatre cat, reliving his hay-day in an extended flashback musical number.) As Gus, the old theatre cat, Mark Briner brings a pitiable sorrow to the forefront of his performance. His paw does shake with palsy and he looks deeply confused; it’s heartbreaking because it looks so real when Jellylorum (Emily Bell Garner) brings him to the edge of his seat and narrates a tale all about him. Garner’s voice is sweet and dulcet, narrative and warming, which is perfect for “Gus: The Theatre Cat.” Briner also does a fine job of flipping between the decidedly elderly, slightly senile cat and the vigorous Growltiger, who gets up and struts all around with bravado, machismo, and flourish of flamboyance during “Growltiger’s Last Stand.” (And what magical mystery ensemble cat he’s channeling during “Macavity: The Mystery Cat” is anyone’s guess, but it’s wild because he’s sitting on the junkheap, swinging his tail like he’s one of the saucy lounge-cat dancer-girls!)
If you want spring-loaded dancer action, look no further than Mr. Mistoffelees (Sammi Flickinger) who is so sprightly and spry on her feet that she almost floats through the “Mr. Mistoffelees” number. Her dance work in this feature is impeccable and earns loads of applause from the audience all throughout the song. With the polar opposite of motion, Bobby Sullivan settles reverently into the role of “Old Deuteronomy.” With a seasoned voice that sings years of experience, Sullivan delivers “The Ad-Dressing of Cats” with a sense of sageness and wisdom that give this little nonsensical closing number a great deal of heart.
There is quite a bit of cat-doubling in this production and it works surprisingly well. The aforementioned Rob Tucker, whose unmistakable voice carries wonderfully all throughout features and solo-bits of songs (and again pairs divinely with Amy Tucker, the Jennyanydots cat, during “Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer”), plays both Quaxo and the outrageous Rumpus Cat, who is hilariously engaged in the ‘Pekes & Pollicles” nonsense-number. Then you also get the lithely spry Stanley who plays the vile and vicious Macavity (who’s not there!) and Skimbleshanks, the railway cat. Evans patters and rolls with pristine articulation all throughout “Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat” and his footwork in this number is delightful as well. And while there are no sung-words as Macavity, the physicality Evans adopts fully creates the idea of this villainous baddie (that later has a song sung all about him.)
Memory…living bright in the moonlight, it’s the song that everyone immediately associates with Cats, and it is performed with stunning grace and emotion by Ariel Chaillou as Grizabella. What’s more impressive than her songbird (songcat?) voice is the physical gestures that she brings to the table under the auspice of Grizabella. Twitchy and uncertain on her feet, stumbling with her gait, and slightly off-kilter, just like any cast-out cat might be, it’s both heartbreaking and fascinating to watch Chaillou move about the stage in this manner. Victoria (Katelyn O’Connor) gets to sing ‘the other memory’ song, officially recognized as “Daylight” and she sweetly echoes the sounds that you hear Chaillou create the first time around.
Saucy, sassy, sexy, and stupendous, Bombalurina (Lindsay Marie) and Demeter (Erin McArthur) deliver up some serious slinky sounds for the jazzy-blues number “Macavity: The Mystery Cat.” You get hardcore mezzo-jazz belts from both Marie and McArthur and they way they roll and play with the stage, sultry and seductive and totally invested in the number simply defies good description. The pair are bombastic and second in their sexual prowess only to Rum Tum Tugger (Austin Barnes). Both Marie and McArthur have phenomenal voices that just blast that number clear out of the junkyard all the way up to the Heavyside Layer.
As for Barnes, playing the rock-n-roller, sexualized icon cat, Rum Tum Tugger, he’s selling his feature number, as well as every moment he gets to shine in the spotlight. Barnes, like Evans, masterfully articulates during his rapidly paced lyrics of his number and gets all up in the audience’s laps, which makes his stage time that much more memorable. When he’s not prowling for female felines, you can sense a certain fraternal friendship between him and Munkustrap (Andrew Worthington), which is just wholesome and surprisingly mellow.
The narrator cat, the storytelling cat, Andrew Worthington’s Munkustrap has a powerful voice that guides the audience on their Jellicle Journey, which is no easy mine-field to navigate— as we’ve mentioned, the plot is much like Macavity— and does with great vigor. There is this truly haunting moment, that only half of the audience will get to experience because of the placement of Munkustrap when it’s happening, but during “The Journey to the Heavyside Layer”, if you’re in the riser-embankment of the audience, find Munkustrap and watch him; his facial expressions, his body language, and the whole experience for him in that moment is remarkably stunning. Worthington also takes up the position of ‘guider’ of the Jellicles (waiting of course for their leader Old Deuteronomy) and has both the movement skill and the vocal capabilities to be such a role.
Ultimately a sensational show, with so many brilliant moments, vivacious performances, extraordinary sounds and sights, Cats is a wonder, a theatrical gift that Bambi Johnson and her entire cast and crew are offering this fall season. It wouldn’t just be a shame to miss it, it would be a crime. The utter magic— the Jellicle radiance and resplendent theatrical experience is like none other; Cats is the must-see the autumn, if you see no other show— do not wait to get tickets, there are only nine performances available for this extraordinary production.
Cats plays just nine performances through September 25th 2022 with Tidewater Players, in residence at the Cultural Center at The Havre de Grace Opera House— 121 N. Union Street in historic downtown Havre de Grace, MD. For tickets call the box office at 667-225-8433 or purchase them online.
To begin your Jellicle Journey with the cast of Cats…follow the interview links below…
Meet Rum Tum Tugger
Meet Carbucketty
Meet Jellylorum
Meet Coricopat
Meet Tantomile
Meet Griddlebone/Sillabub
Meet Cassandra
Meet Euterpeco
Meet Victoria
Meet Mungojerrie
Meet Rumpleteazer
Meet Munkustrap
Meet Demeter
Meet Alonzo
Meet Jennyanydots
Meet Victor
Meet Electra
Meet Bill Bailey/Ghengis
Meet Quaxo/Rumpus Cat
Meet Pussywillow
Meet Bombalurina
Meet Bustopher Jones
Meet Etcetera
Meet Exotica
Meet Old Deuteronomy
Meet Bastet
Meet Mr. Mistoffelees
Meet Gus
Meet Grizabella
