A fancier, sensible cat. T.S. Eliot might have even named this one in that one poem about naming the cats! Are you ready to meet another Jellicle Tom? No, there are no cats called Tom.
Thank you for joining us! Could you tell us who you are and who you play here at Cats?
Michael Shipman: I am Michael Shipman and I play Admetus.
Tell me a little bit about Admetus.
Michael: Admetus is kind of like an ensemble cat. He’s described as a bit of a goofball. He doesn’t really like controversy or strife that much. It’s really nice to be cast as an ensemble character. Because it’s nice to get to mold him to my own character and how I think he might be. I have the freedom to mold Admetus to the kind of character or cat that I want him to be.
I completely understand that. Now how are you bringing yourself to Admetus and what might be a difference between you and Admetus?
Michael: How might I be different? I don’t know. I’ve always tended to think of myself as kind of a goofball, so to speak. I’m very chill when the situation calls for it. I don’t really like conflict either. Me and Admetus, now that I think about it, we have a lot more in common than we do a difference.
That’s wonderful. Why did you want to come out and audition to be a part of Cats?
Michael: I remember liking it a lot. I also take breaks between shows, I have a wife and I have a daughter, so I take breaks to spend time with them. My daughter is three. And she’s a big fan of the show. She loves it. She practically eats, sleeps, and breaths it right now. We were sitting at home one day and my wife found the Facebook post for the auditions for Cats and she showed it to me. At first I said, “I don’t dance. I cannot do that type of physicality.” And she persuaded me. She looked at the character breakdowns, and pointed out that there were a couple of characters that didn’t require a lot of dancing. We talked through it and I came out. I love the show. I love the songs, I love the music. I know it’s a show that a lot of people don’t get because there’s no plot. But the music is great, the spectacle is awesome, and I wanted a challenge this time. I wanted something to really challenge me.
Now you’ve never worked with Bambi before, right? What has it been like getting to work with her?
Michael: That’s correct. It has been very amazing. I’ve heard a lot of great things about her in the past. Her reputation before we started rehearsals really precedes her into a room. And from day one, she has been one of the best directors I have ever worked with. Her vision, the way she runs things— it’s her vision. It’s just unmatched for this show. And her patience with the cast is extraordinary. I love how patient she is with everyone as we’re all coming from different experience levels with both theatre and dance and she is just so patient.
What does it mean to you to be a Jellicle Cat?
Michael: I would think that it means family. You get to be yourself. But you’re also looking out for each other. There’s camaraderie with the festivities at the Jellicle Ball and everything. Everyone is just having a great time. It’s the camaraderie, the family, and the connection as one, that’s what it means to be a Jellicle Cat.
Do you have cats at home?
Michael: I have three. And two of them are rescue cats. We have Han, who I named after Han Solo from Star Wars. He’s the only one of our cats that wasn’t a rescue cat. He was born six or seven years ago; he was the only one in his litter so he’s a very special cat. Then we have Ohio, or Baby Kitty, as my wife calls him. He’s my wife’s baby cat and he was a rescue cat. We found him in the back of a dumpster a few years ago. He’s come a long way. And then we have Captain. We rescued him as a kitten, he was just a couple weeks old when we rescued him, and that was two years ago. And that little guy was malnourished, he was near-death, he had an infected eye that was coming out of his socket, and he wasn’t expected to recover. We took him to a clinic and they actually recommended that we put him down. My wife fosters and raises kittens as a hobby, so we just took him home, sort of hoping that maybe we could help him pull through. We have a vet who is a family friend, we took him there, the vet surgically removed his eye and got him back to health and now Captain is the fattest cat we have. He’s healthy, he’s happy. I’ve looked at him as my inspiration for Admetus. Captain is kind of the biggest goofball of all of them. He’s orange. And Baby Kitty is brown-black-ish-gray and Han is more gray and black.
I love hearing this wonderful rescue story! Melts my heart! Now 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 Admetus?
Michael: Now what would the humans call Admetus. I’ve never thought about that, actually. It’s a good question.
Well how did you come up with the names for the three cats you have?
Michael: I’m not sure how we came up with Ohio and actually my wife calls him Baby Kitty more than Ohio. We call Captain Captain because of his one eye missing. And you know Han because I’m a Star Wars nerd. So I guess if Admetus had a human name…they might call him Popcorn? Or maybe Rusty.
What has been your big personal takeaway from this experience?
Michael: It’s been an experience! It’s been challenging, it’s been fun, it’s been exhilarating, it’s been magical, it’s been unlike anything I’ve ever done in community theatre. I’ve done a lot of community theatre but this is unlike anything I have ever done. It has been quite the experience and I mean that in the best way possible. I have learned so much about myself these past few months it has just truly been a great experience.
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?
Michael: Exhilarating.
Cats plays July 19th 2024 through August 4th 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:
