Love him or hate him, Andrew Lloyd-Webber has been for several decades at the forefront of British Musical Theatre writing, from the very beginnings of a rising star dream-team with his collaborations with lyricist Tim Rice right up to more mature and perhaps more niche offerings of recent times, including successful forrays into contemporary classical music composition too. Along with Starlight Express, Cats is one of his more abstract shows, and rather than present a linear narrative, he has taken the poems of T S Eliot, surrounded them in the briefest and scantiest of storyline, and made, not a musical as such, but a piece of 'song and dance theatre'.
It was a hugely brave and avant-garde move when he first wrote it (starting work on the piece in 1977), and it still stands alone in the contemporary musical theatre repertoire as being an enigma, and indeed a truly 'Marmite' show! Despite the several revisions and rewrites the show still continues to be hugely popular and each generation finds delight in watching the anthropomorphic all-singing, all-dancing 'cats' as they gather to await their leader's judgement and find out which of them will be reborn in a new 'jellicle' life. [yes, the sum total of the plot!]
I have seen this musical probably more times than any since my (now ex) girlfriend was involved in the West End run at The New London Theatre years ago. I have seen the professional show countless times, and in more recent years have seen talented youth groups tackle the show too. I had not, until this evening, seen an adult amateur version. It was a revelation and a hugely pleasant surprise.
The first thing you noticed as you walked into the auditorium was the open set. Traditionally set on a rubbish heap, this production was announcing already the fact that they were doing things differently, and instead we were shown a series of rooftops, complete with slanting roofs, chimneys and a large omnipresent circular moon high above. [I sort of secretly expected the show to start with the chimney-sweep dance from Mary Poppins, but obviously it didn't!!] But this, together with some creative lighting, was the constant setting throughout, and provided an interesting arena for the very athlectic ensemble to play on and in.
I heard someone in the interval describing the musical as 'a one-song show' and I suppose they have a point. 'Memory' is the only song to have made it outside of the musical as a stand-alone song, and it is also the only true solo ballad within the show. This evening it was sung sonorously and with real passion by Vicky Clarkson as Grizabella (the glamour cat). In general the singing was of a very high standard, but most unfortunately the mic levels were not balanced correctly this evening meaning that some voices boomed out much louder and some were almost inaudible, and we also had some feedback and crackle too.
Undoubtedly a strong and multi-talented cast all deserving of praise. I would like to make a couple of special mentions though... Greg James' Munkustrap was a delight. All too often this role can become for both actor and director nothing more than 'narrator', but here he had a clearly defined character and role within the show too, and had a sparklingly clear and articulate singing voice. I enjoyed the interpretation and the note-sliding vocalese-style voice of Kevin Senduwala's Rum Tum Tugger, and Michael Gardiner's superb rendition of Skimbleshanks, danced and sung with elan and aplomb. Other inmpressive voices came from Lauren Massey's Jellyorum, Rebekah Davies' Bombalurina, and Wayne Holt's very young looking Old Duteronomy, whilst my favourite characterisation came from Caitlin Medcalfe's Mungojerry.
The band was under the direction of Mark Goggins, and seemed a tad slow this evening - maybe because it was opening night and the energy levels with both band and cast were perhaps not as high as they could have been, but pauses and stresses in certain songs did seem to be given more weight than necessary; as well as the sound levels once again were not quite right either, as some instruments came over far more dominantly than others, especially when a 'quiet' instrument had the melody or leading phrase, it was very difficult to pick out.
Directed and choreographed by Deborah Kate Norris, it was both at one and the same time 'traditional' and fresh, and she was obviously very keen to make the audience understand what there is to the story and the characters as work in this regard was obviously given much weight. One thing I didn't understand though was why we were not given mice and beetles for The Old Gumbie Cat's song, and instead the cats wore tap shoes, which did look decidedly odd. In general the auditorium was used far too much for entrances / exits and generally as an extension to the stage; and when the side doors opened for the cast to utilise the flourescant lights behind them were more than distracting. Otherwise, the directing was solid and secure, and the denouement with Grizabella's journey into the Heavyside Layer excellently created.
A very high energy show which needs lots of almost non-stop tumbling and leaping, and this evening the cast proved that they were absolutely capable of this, dancing and singing to a very high standard and producing a very enjoyable - one might almost say 'purrfect' - production of Cats!
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 20/5/19
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