Cats at the Peace Center
Having come of age in the theater world around the time that Cats debuted in 1981 and made its incredible splash around the world, it might seem astonishing that I never saw the musical live. Over the years, the music and success of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber soured me to the idea of ever getting an objective view of the work, were I to ever catch it. Therefore, I was forced to remain ever vigilant so I might be as objective as possible in this review. However, when all was sung and done, I cannot report that Cats is worthy of its accomplishment or reputation.
Cats is often referred to in theater circles as a “performer’s show” — and with good reason. The talent on display in this current touring production at the Peace Center is tremendous, and the singers and dancers almost always seemed to be having a better time performing it than the audience did watching it.
Based on T.S. Eliot’s collection of poems, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, the musical comes across as a disparate collection of, well, cats. Although one can’t fault the creators of the original work for not going especially postmodern in the early ’80s, it’s a shame we never get to see the performers act like cats. Instead, they only leap and bound in a way that, though showcasing great aptitude in the dancers, only reveals Webber wasn’t in it for fun, but rather a self-serious look at an imaginary world where felines reign. And Eliot’s lyrics, while they might be fun on the page, only amount to head-scratching when performed:
“Jellicle cats are white and black
Jellicle cats are of moderate size
Jellicles jump like a jumping jack
Jellicle cats have moonlit eyes.”
Um… yeah.
Nevertheless, some performances easily stood out. I was duly impressed with the dancing of Ibn Snell as magician cat Mr. Mistofelees, and the heartbreaking singing of Cats’ signature song, “Memory,” by Grizabella (Tayler Harris), the disheveled former glamor cat. John Anker Bow also showed a great flair for the dramatic during his too-long section as Asparagus, the theater cat. But the reveals of the characters I’d heard most about throughout my professional life — Rum Tum Tugger, Old Deuteronomy, and McCavity — left me flat and often asking, “What was the point of that?”
The sound, lighting, and set designs (by Mick Potter, Natasha Katz, and John Napier, respectively) were all appropriate to the show, but seemed to loudly announce how clever they were. The costumes (also by Napier) were beautiful, however, and showed many of the facets of the individual felines that the content regularly belied. By show’s end, the emperor is shown to have no clothes, and certainly nothing particularly interesting on the rack. I was actually surprised at how little Cats had to offer, other than sheer sensory overload.
However, one bright spot was seeing the amount of children in attendance. Cats is just the kind of play to get them into the theater with hopes of becoming one of those performers having so much fun on stage. I just wish for them that they discover some of the great musical works out there and eventually aim their sights higher.
Cats runs through April 9 at the Peace Center. For details and tickets, visit peacecenter.org.
(Photo by Matthew Murphy)
