Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Last of the season

That would be Redding's Broadway series season...the last play of this series was tonight. It was Cats, that wonderful Andrew Lloyd Webber musical based on TS Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.

I think I've seen this play about five times now and each time it's been a little different. It was in Redding a few years ago too, and we agreed that that production was better than the one tonight. It seemed like there were a lot of glitches -- slight, but there -- and the actors simply didn't transform well into cats through their mannerisms and expressions, with a couple of notable exceptions.

The Growltiger sequence is one of my favorites, and Growltiger and Griddlebone were simply wonderful, posturing all over the stage, singing fake Italian opera beautifully. But the attack by the Siamese just didn't have much effect -- no bright blue eyes, no sampans and junks. It seemed fairly unchoreographed.

Mr. Mistoffelees, the magical cat, wasn't very. Oh, he was glittery and could dance, but I've seen productions where he does magic tricks, entertaining the audience far more than merely spinning and jumping.

All that taken into account, I still just loved it. It is imaginative, the music is wonderful and tells these cute stories, the singing is marvelous-- and Grisabella's Memory was just knock-your-socks-off tonight.

The lithe, flexible, young bodies that prance and pounce and slide and slink all over the stage send a youthful energy into the audience, and while you know they're not cats, they ARE young people having a wonderful time.

Some of the cats tonight reminded me very much of my own cats -- especially Grizabella, who limps, is tattered and tired. Our little grey Hermione -- always the most fragile of the kitties -- is not doing well. Her back legs don't work right, she's lost weight, her eyes are nearly blind, and she valiantly goes from one place to another, simply resting where she is when her legs fail. I cuddle her daily and talk to her, and she responds -- and just when I think I'll find her dead, she appears at the back door, stretching up on the screen and asking for her wet food (she's the only one who gets it). Both Grizabella and Hermione are little fighters, survivors in spite of difficulty.

There were bits and pieces of McMurphy and Cheswick, the much loved, very pampered inside boys, in various of the characters. And we recognized character traits of Weasley, the affable ginger manx, and staid Lulu too, along with skittish little Muggle who has become even more of a recluse.

It was a nice evening. We will look forward to the new season in September -- it's always a treat to go.

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