Review: CATS at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre

Almost forty years ago, in 1987, I happened to be sent on a training course in Melbourne, when Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, Cats, had its run in Sydney and been transferred to Melbourne’s Her Majesty’s Theatre, and I took advantage of the opportunity to buy a ticket to see the performance. In that time, the entire auditorium was adorned around the walls with massively oversized debris, John Napier’s original design, intended to give the impression that we in the audience were also cat sized, sitting in the junkyard.

I have since seen numerous productions, although without such extensive decorating, no doubt due to economic imperatives, along with the nine-piece orchestra, the full version had sixteen players, and the performers now enter down the side aisles instead of climbing through the audience and interacting with a few members as they clamber over the seats, probably due to Occupational Health, Safety, and Welfare concerns. I have now attended the Fortieth Australian Anniversary production currently touring the country, this time in Adelaide’s Her Majesty’s Theatre.

Initially, Webber set to music the poems in T.S.Eliot’s 1939 collection of whimsical poems in his anthology, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats and it first appeared as a song cycle but, with the producer, Cameron Mackintosh joining him, they brought in director, Trevor Nunn, and choreographer, Gillian Lynne, to create the musical.

In an attempt to tie the songs together, he contrived a simple, rather flimsy device that involved Old Deuteronomy, an ancient cat who, at the annual Jellicle Ball, chooses one Jellicle cat who will ascend to the Heaviside Layer to be reborn into a better life. Each of the cats is hoping to be the one selected for this honour. They stake their claims by describing themselves, or others. Along the way, though, Deuteronomy is kidnapped by Macavity, and must be rescued, the task falling to the Magical Mr. Mistofelees, a virtuoso dancing role, with the song sung by the ensemble. The plot is very thin, and many just ignore it and treat the show as a series of loosely connected scenes, linked only be being about cats, just as Eliot’s poems have no other real connection to each other. It works just as well if approached that way.

Interestingly, the most popular song from the show, Memory, which has been recorded by many singers, and is sung in the show by Grizabella, the Glamour Cat, who becomes Old Deuteronomy’s Jellicle Choice, was not based on one of Eliot’s poems, but had lyrics written by Trevor Nunn, drawn from Eliot’s other works. Gabriyel Thomas takes on the role of Grizabella in this production. Her first appearance was to walk across the stage, reaching out, but being rejected by the others, her second appearance, an initial singing of the song, gently and with great emotion, still failing to gain acceptance, but met with great applause from the audience, and then came her final scene in which she gave the song everything she had, which stopped the show.
 
Mark Vincent appears as Old Deuteronomy, his powerful, classically trained tenor voice giving a new interpretation of the character, filling it with authority, leadership, and dignity, alongside the great age, and compassion.

Much loved musical theatre star, Todd McKenney, takes on the roles of Bustopher Jones, the Cat About Town, the amply proportioned twenty-five pounder, the St. James’s Street cat, and Asparagus, or simply, just Gus, the Theatre Cat, now in his declining years, and reminiscing about his younger days and great successes. McKenney brings his own special talents to the two roles, adding a few extra bits of business.

Jarrod Draper is impressive as Munkustrap, the tomcat, who doesn’t have his own song, but contributes as a narrator to the songs about the others, and is the assistant to Old Deuteronomy.

Des Flanagan, as the feline Elvis, Rum Tum Tugger, a Curious Cat, tears up the stage with his rock star antics, the dames in the tribe swooning over him along with, I suspect, some of the audience.

The villain of the piece is Macavity, the Mystery Cat, the Hidden Claw,The Napoleon of Crime, given a sinister edge by Edward Smith.

The mischievous pair, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteaser, are played by Jake O’Brien and Savvanah Lind, singing up a storm and launching into that energetic dance routine, with the pair locked together performing cartwheels at the end.

Lucy Maunder plays the kind-hearted, matronly, Jellylorum, gently caring for Gus, and looking after the kittens, a big role that involves her in many of the songs and requiring strong vocal ability, a role for which she is eminently suited.

Skimbleshanks, the Railway Cat, is played wonderfully by Tom Davis, whose number includes the construction of a railway engine from pieces of junk; always a popular segment.

The remainder of the cast all work hard and perform wonderfully, without even looking the least bit fatigued as they finish the show. Each one has a distinct character, and they move as one during the highly disciplined and very complex, energetic, and often acrobatic dance routines.

 The choreography cover many forms, from Leigh Archer as Jennyanydots, the Gumbie Cat, who leads the ensemble in a tap routine, to Claudia Hastings, as Victoria, the White Cat, and Magical  Mister Mistoffelees, played by Xavier Pellin, who lean towards the stricter form of the ballet.

There have been changes made to the production from time to time. I admit that I was disappointed when Growltiger's Last Stand was cut from the show, in 2016, and I still prefer the original musical arrangement of Mungojerrie and Rumpleteaser. C’est la vie.

The audience included people of “a certain age”, like me, who had undoubtedly seen this musical more than once before, through to children, some proudly wearing cat’s ears headbands purchased from the merchandise desk, who weren’t even born until long after it last played Adelaide in 2016.

I won’t be there to see it but, judging by the packed auditorium and the standing ovation, it’s a safe bet that this musical will still be doing the rounds all over the world in another forty years. The Adelaide season is not a long one, so book quickly or miss out.

Photography, Daniel Boud.