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One of broadway’s longest standing plays of all time, Cats is a performance fit for everyone! Inspired by T.S. Elliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” with musical scores composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber (the same composer for the another broadway classic: Phantom of the Opera), this year marks 39 years of Cats entertainment.
Fighting Chance Productions, a small nonprofit theatre company, brought Cats to life in the local Jericho Arts Centre. The crowd was compact –indeed, quite intimate in the school-like theatre hall –where my front house seat required that I not extend my legs beyond even an inch, for fear of tripping the actors!
But this intimacy only enhanced the experience of Cats.
The show started off in complete darkness. Then with ominous music, dark figures started crawling towards the stage from all corners of the room. These figures initially made the hairs stand up on my arms, and then when they faced you, I noticed their glow-in-the-dark eye glasses. I laughed: what a creative way of bringing to life the reflective nature of feline optics!
The music transforms into a delightfully playful score, and the cats are suddenly airborne with acrobatic movements. The children and adults of the audience break into smiles, and stay so for the entire performance.
“We are the Jellicle cats.”
“Cats are very much like you!”
“Cats work and play.”
“How do you address a cat? –Not like a dog!”
Each cat had a different personality, which extended to the unique ways with which they expressed their faces and contorted their bodies to the beat. Contact with the audience was often made, breaking the fourth wall. Even during intermission, a massive grey cat stayed on stage, allowing brave toddlers (and some adults!) to excitedly pet him.
The family-oriented warmth lingered to the very last footstep of the hall, where the master of ceremonies announced that proceeds would go to the Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association. How fitting!
For those of you wanting to experience local, yet masterfully perfected theatre, I highly recommend Fighting Chance Productions. Upcoming shows include: Facing East; Virgins; American Idiot; and Heathers.
For more information, check out Fighting Chance Productions website!