{"id":31972,"date":"2019-06-19T08:18:08","date_gmt":"2019-06-19T12:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=31972"},"modified":"2019-06-19T08:18:12","modified_gmt":"2019-06-19T12:18:12","slug":"on-stage-national-tour-of-cats-returns-to-philly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=31972","title":{"rendered":"On Stage: National tour of Cats returns to Philly"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>, Entertainment Editor, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Perhaps only in Istanbul do cats have numbers comparable in a way similar to those amassed by Andrew Lloyd Webber\u2019s hit musical \u201cCats.\u201d<\/p>\n

Istanbul, a major city in Turkey that straddles Europe and Asia across the Bosporus Strait, is home to more than 40,000 stray cats. A popular saying in the city notes\u00a0\u201cIf you kill a cat, you need to build a mosque to be forgiven by God.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the hadith, the collected sayings and actions of Muhammad, there are numerous examples of the Prophet\u2019s fondness for cats.<\/p>\n

By one account, the pet cat of Abu Hurayrah saved Muhammad from an attack by a deadly serpent. Muhammad purportedly blessed the cat in gratitude, giving cats the ability to always land on their feet. Cats were considered guardians in other respects for the Islamic world — they defended libraries from destruction by mice and may have helped protect city populations from rat-borne plagues.<\/p>\n

The cats in the show that the Kimmel Center\u2019s Broadway Philadelphia series is bringing to Philly for a 12-day run now through June 30 at the Forrest Theatre (1114 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 215-893-1999, www.kimmelcenter.org<\/a>), are street cats of a different breed. Not just stray cats, they are Jellicle cats who sing, dance and tell their own stories in the record setting musical.<\/p>\n

Numbers associated with \u201cCats\u201d are also very impressive.<\/p>\n

\u201cCats\u201d is a sung-through musical based on \u201cOld Possum\u2019s Book of Practical Cats\u201d by world-famous poet T. S. Eliot. The musical tells the story of a tribe of cats called the Jellicles and the night they make the \u201cJellicle choice\u201d — deciding which cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life.<\/p>\n

Directed by Trevor Nunn and choreographed by Gillian Lynne, \u201cCats\u201d first opened in the West End in 1981 and then with the same creative team on Broadway in 1982. It won numerous awards, including Best Musical at both the Laurence Olivier Awards and the Tony Awards. By 1994, the musical had grossed over $2 billion worldwide. The London production ran for 21 years (1981\u20132002; 8,949 performances) and the Broadway production ran for 18 years (1982\u20132000; 7,485 performances), both setting new records. As of 2018, it is the fourth-longest-running Broadway show and the sixth-longest-running West End show.<\/p>\n

The national touring production has been revived for a new generation. The production features new sound design, direction, and choreography. The new choreography is under the direction of Andy Blankenbuehler, who is also the choreographer for \u201cHamilton.\u201d \u201cCats\u201d is a multi-generational show that last played in Philadelphia at the Merriam Theater in 2009.<\/p>\n

The musical, which has maintained a high level of popularity, is easy to enjoy but not really that easy to figure out. It\u2019s an understandable situation because \u201cCats\u201d doesn\u2019t really have a plot. Audience members can see \u201cCats\u201d several times and never really know much about the show except for the costumes, the actors\u2019 athleticism, the popular songs \u2013 and the elaborate sets.<\/p>\n

Audience members who have seen several productions often gain familiarity with the different cats in the show and their diverse personalities \u2013 the cocky Rum Tum Tugger, the mischievous Mr. Mistoffeles and the wise Old Deuteronomy. There are also several lesser-known cats in the show \u2013 all with their own distinct personalities. There is Victoria, the little white kitten; Cassandra, the aloof brown-and-cream Abyssinian queen; and Alonzo, the young male who is just beginning to assert himself.<\/p>\n

The most-recognized cat in the show is Grizabella the Glamour Cat who sings the most memorable song, \u201cMemory.\u201d. Once a stunning-looking cat, she has fallen from grace and no-one will talk to her. So, there are emotions such as resigned pride because she\u2019s lost her good looks, sadness and some resentment because her family didn\u2019t support her.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Keri Ren\u00e9 Fuller as Grizabella<\/p><\/div>\n

In this National Tour, the challenging role of Grizabella is played by Keri Ren\u00e9 Fuller, a Baldwin Wallace University graduate and member of the Actor\u2019s Equity Association.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started rehearsals in December 2018 and went out on January 11,\u201d said Fuller, during a recent phone interview from a tour stop in Cincinnati, Ohio. \u201cI auditioned back in August \u2013 specifically for the role of Grizabella.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still am intimidated with playing Grizabella. There is something really special about this role \u2013 and a pressure to do well. People really want to hear \u2018Memory.\u2019 Just the genius writing of \u2018Memory\u2019 gets people moved.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a nice long prayer before I sing \u2018Memory\u2019 and then it\u2019s time. I go and as soon as I step foot onstage and utter the first line, I\u2019m totally into the moment. I just focus on what I sing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fuller has to get ready to perform and get ready to look like Grizabella \u2013 not a quick or easy task.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially, it took me about two hours to get ready pre-show with all the makeup,\u201d said Fuller, who recently was in the Broadway cast of the hit musical \u201cWaitress. \u201cEventually, my entire pre-show got shorter. It now takes me an hour-and-a-half to leisurely get ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grizabella is an integral part of the show — and a complex character.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are definitely challenges in playing Grizabella,\u201d said Fuller, a native of Bethany, Oklahoma. \u201cYou have to incorporate more than just sadness. She is resilient. She is tenacious. She knows humanity has to learn a lesson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an aspect of graciousness to her. She doesn\u2019t fight other cats. She is very aware she isn\u2019t the cat she once was. It\u2019s a challenge to find all the other layers she presents other than sadness.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy don\u2019t the cats like her? Years ago, she was a young cat who lover her family and loved her tribe, but she also got outside. She gets lost along the way. She went through some rough times but all she wants to do is come home. She fights with humility to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fortunately, there is a happy ending for Grizabella when she is chosen to ascend to the Heaviside Layer and eventually be reincarnated.<\/p>\n

\u201cOld Deuteronomy does the selection but it\u2019s the tribe that actually chooses her,\u201d said Fuller.<\/p>\n

Video link for \u201cCats\u201d \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/Lydl0AjQHoM<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show at the Forrest Theatre is running now through June 30. Ticket prices range from $62-$122.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times Perhaps only in Istanbul do cats have numbers comparable in a way similar to those amassed by Andrew Lloyd Webber\u2019s hit musical \u201cCats.\u201d Istanbul, a major city in Turkey that straddles Europe and Asia across the Bosporus Strait, is home to more than 40,000 stray cats. A popular […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7529],"tags":[5626,6518,11295],"class_list":["post-31972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-arts-entertainment","tag-cats","tag-featured","tag-kimmeel-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31972"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31973,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31972\/revisions\/31973"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}