CATS broadway revival!!!- Page 2

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 2:10am

Nope, it was replaced with Pekes and the Pollicles because John Mills was frail and legally blind.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 2:36am

^It wasn't really replaced. It was just cut. Pekes has nothing to do with the Growltiger number. Pekes was always part of the show at that point it's just rarely included on cast albums. To my knowledge, the only time Pekes has ever been cut was in the last US tour and maybe some regional productions since.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 2:57am

I wonder if it were revived, in its original form or a reimagined production, if it would be the hit it was, or have any kind of success at all? Despite those who hate it (me included) it has tons of fans, and would likely still be very good tourist bait, but its success the first time around seems like such a freak occurrence.

Was there any sign at the start of the run that it would be such a massive hit?

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 3:00am

Was there any sign at the start of the run that it would be such a massive hit?

They were talked down to about it so much & had so many problems before it opened that there was no way in hell they expected what came from it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPn2IcGNtW8&index=13&list=PL6C543B4F855DC377

Updated On: 6/27/14 at 03:00 AM

[Jarethan]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 4:31am

All I can say is UGH! The way ticket prices are going, at least I cadaver a few hundred dollars. This show has one of the most beautiful songs ever written, surrounded by 2 hours of garbage (no pun intended)

[LittleEdieFan]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 7:22am

Spay them.

[Pasdechat]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 8:42am

How was the Growltiger number done on Broadway again? I just don't recall. In some productikns, kncluding the West End one, they had a song called "ballad of Billy McKay" which was a pub's song about a parrot (what the heck?!), whereas in other productions there was an Italian opera song with Griddlebone called "in una tepida notte", ending wirh a real high soprano note for the girl. This song I actually liked!

IF the production returns, then I hope they stay true to the original one, especially costumes and choreography. I would hate to have some "modern approach" hip hop dance in it.

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 8:52am

For the revival the garbage will be sorted into recycling bins: paper/stage left, aluminum and cans/stage right, composting/center stage. Product placement will carefully be regulated so as not to influence minors by showing costumes and props featuring thrown out cigarette packs, empty cookie boxes, large soda cups, etc Lean Cuisine, Jenny Craig and calorie conscious products will be highlighted and all packaged must clearly show the calorie count in plain view.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 8:56am

whereas in other productions there was an Italian opera song with Griddlebone called "in una tepida notte", ending wirh a real high soprano note for the girl. This song I actually liked!

That's the way it was in the OBC. 14 years later, it was gone.

Stephan Hanan and Bonnie Simmons ...



EDIT: I should clarify, the pirate ship and extended flashback sequence were gone, but Gus the Theatre Cat was still in it.

Updated On: 6/27/14 at 08:56 AM

[Pasdechat]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 9:00am

thank you best12bars, yes, that's the one! Strange they cut it, since it went well as the memory of Gus.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 9:05am

I always kind of loved "The Ballad of Billy McCaw," though I suppose it really didn't have much to do with anything. But I was disappointed when I saw the show to find it was no longer in.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 9:05am

Strange they cut it, since it went well as the memory of Gus.

I remember being jarred by it.

I have no idea why it was cut. If other people here saw it on Broadway 14 years into the run, maybe they have a different recollection. I would love to know. Perhaps it was cut on the night I saw it because the set piece wouldn't move (ala a "Plan B" when the cherry picker doesn't go up in Defying Gravity).

All I know is that the flashback wasn't there. Everything else was.

Oh, and Liz Callaway was Grizabella the second time I saw it.

Back to the OBC, Bonnie Simmons had my favorite voice in the show next to Betty Buckley. She was very LuPone-like in her rich, smooth sound when she sang "Gus is the cat at the theatre door." And during the flashback aria, she was fantastic. So was Stephen Hanan. He did a very poignant transformation from the young cat back to the old at the end. I remember tearing up, watching him. Incidentally, you can hear Bonnie Simmons' voice in the film version of "The Pirates of Penzance" as the main Major General's daughter outside of Mabel. She sings quite a bit, but it's not her on screen. Don't know why they did that. Stephen Hanan is in it, too.

Updated On: 6/27/14 at 09:05 AM

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 9:10am

Saw the show several times over the years it was opened. I really liked "in una tepida notte" and remember it being there even when I attended the final public performance (final being invited). Eager to check my Playbills tonight.

Was honestly disappointed that the video/DVD did what they did due to Sir John Mills health issues. I didn't love his Gus. Dropping the 'memory' (no pun intended) of Gus when he was young and vital as a stage performer was really a great part of Gus/Growltiger. "Could do it again...could do it again."

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 9:13am

I wonder if it had more to do with building that giant ship for the one number in the video. I'll bet it was a budget thing more than anything else.

Since it's a fantasy sequence, they could have done it so many other ways, including going on location on a real clipper ship. Or gone completely abstract with minimal visuals. I'm not sure why "cut it" was the ultimate decision. The payoff at the end of the number with the old Gus is really great. Of course it's also great to see the same actor revert to his "old" self. That's something John Mills wasn't up to at his age, obviously, although I thought he was very effective in the adaptation.

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 9:20am

Pasdechat... Gus was on stage, weak and feeble, recalling his days of youth and being in the theatre. His recollections are sung with another female cat as he slowly stares and you could "see" that his mind was taking him away to days gone by. He slowly repeats..."could do it again...could do it again" and the sound echos and fades as the lights dim. Actors disappear and the back wall that had the moon on it lowers, as if hinged at the floor, down towards the audience in the front row. That back wall was the ship and like a pop-up book the levels of the ship are created and some masts are lowered in from above. I remember the set being fully utilized by several other Cats who run on stage in pirate bandannas, eye patches etc...

Gus, weak and feeble, pulls a few "strings" and his costume plumped up. Muscles materialize before your eyes (probably via air bladders inflating) and Gus transforms on stage into Growltiger...young, vital, full of vigor. The aria was great to contrast his talents with Griddlebone while without them noticing - in the distance on the back wall a tiny (flat) ship is crossing the horizon. With each horizontal passing the next one is larger, and larger until the ship Growltiger and Griddlebone are singing the aria on is boarded by the "Chinks" (pardon the politically incorrect term - I am quoting the original lyrics). That is when the sword fight begins eventually leading both Growltiger and Griddlebone to abandoning ship.

Then the ship is lifted back into position and Gus is back on stage with a giant smile having relived the 'memory' once again in his mind.

Really fantastic moment showing moments of an older cat (person) in recalling youth.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 9:28am

Cats starring Adele Dazeem

[ShakinBaconGirl]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 11:05am

Only if Grumpy Cat stars as Grizabella.

[Pasdechat]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 11:12am

Thank you Brian, yes, that's the way I've seen it then! @best12bars, I also saw Liz Callaway in it, must have been some time in the 90s, she was great in it! Such a clear voice...! oh, memories....!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 11:42am

In some productikns, kncluding the West End one, they had a song called "ballad of Billy McKay" which was a pub's song about a parrot

The song was replaced with the Italian number in the West End in the 90s. Billy McCaw is a pretty song, but it really does nothing for the scene. I loved Growltiger's Last Stand. It was one of my favorite moments in the entire show.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 12:22pm

I agree that Growltiger was the best part of the show (I also saw the original cast).
Stephen Hanan was so terrific.

I saw it later in the run as well, and it really was a shadow of the original. It's a shame so many were so disappointed by a mediocre production, because the original really was kind of magical for the time. Buckley was stunning.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 12:24pm

That's the way I remember it from '95, Brian, and I also saw Liz Callaway as Grizabella.

[Wildcard]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 12:25pm

I'd love it if they tried something different with the costumes. Yes, the original ones were great and creative but surely, technology has changed enough that they might be able to try something different and still be able to dance.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 12:40pm

Are you guys positive you're not misremembering? I've never heard anything about Growtiger being cut later in the run on Broadway and if it ever was cut they would have had to have put it back at some point because it was definitely in for the final performance.

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 12:53pm

ok...I'll risk persecution for admitting this but I saw Cats 13 times.

As far as I can recall...Growltiger was in each time I saw it over the course of many years. Think I was going not more than once a year...maybe every other year.

I enjoyed it. Loved that I could get as much or as little as I wanted from it. Was an easy show to bring a date to see. Wasn't plot heavy. You could enjoy a tap number, hate an opera number, love a ballad...

One of my favorite performances was when I was able to make my great grandmother's dream come true to bring her to the show. I was 17, maybe 18, she was in her late 80s. I lied to my mother about what I was doing. She lied to her daughter (my grandmother) about what we were doing. The two of us went to see Cats together and it was our little secret. Neither my mother or grandmother were NYC lovers so they would have been mad, worried and alarmed if they knew what we were doing. My mother called her mother to ask "Do you know where my son is?" and my grandmother asked in reply "Do you know where my mother is?" Neither of them knew exactly where we were but only that we were together.

Only upon the death of my great grandmother did I admit where we went that day. In the final moment before they closed her coffin I placed a Cats Playbill with her.



Updated On: 6/27/14 at 12:53 PM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 12:58pm

That was cruel.