REVIEW: Theatre Under the Stars puts a compelling spin on Cats
iPhoto caption: Photo by Emily Cooper.
I remember sitting down with my parents as a young kid and watching them insert an old VHS tape into our television. Soon enough, a fuzzy recording of the stage musical Cats appeared. Though most of the story went over my head, the costumes and dancing captivated me; I’ve since waited 20 years for a chance to see this Broadway classic in real time.
Luckily for me, Cats seems to have far more lives than the nine awarded to its feline characters, as the show has been continuously adapted worldwide since its West End debut in 1981. (Currently, a queer ballroom iteration of the show, titled Cats: The Jellicle Ball, is taking off-Broadway by storm.)
In Vancouver, Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS) has decided to mount the show as part of their 2024 season. Quite faithful to the original, director Ashley Wright’s iteration welcomes patrons into the chaotic kitty world that has enthralled audiences for decades.
Adapted from T.S. Eliot’s poetry collection, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, and set to the now-classic music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cats follows a group of felines as they meet for their annual Jellicle Ball. On this fateful night, we meet a variety of different cats with campy personalities and dance moves. At the end of the evening, their leader, Old Deuteronomy (Janet Gigliotti), chooses one cat to ascend to the Heaviside Layer and become reborn.
If you’re wondering what in the world is going on, so was I!
There’s no denying that the plot of Cats is absolutely wild; Deuteronomy touches the cats like some sort of prophet, there’s a constant stream of tap-dancing and jazz-handing, and the Jellicle cats all seem too eager to essentially be chosen to die. I’m still not sure what a “Jellicle” even is. TUTS fully embraces this ambiguity to deliver one of the most engaging productions I’ve seen at the Malkin Bowl.
Inspired by the work of stage designer Lauchlin Johnston, Jennifer Stewart’s set design transforms the stage into a dynamic alleyway with moving boxes, ladders, and a giant dumpster. The moment the show opened and the cats emerged from inside and behind the dumpster, I was hooked.
As the cats approach the audience with beaming curiosity, they perform the earworm “Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats.” It is important to note that Stewart has worked with considerable constraints, as the set must be portable enough to swap every other night with TUTS’ other 2024 production, a more modern Lloyd Webber musical, School of Rock.
Costume designer Donnie Tejani has pared down the Cats costumes to accommodate for the Vancouver summer heat without sacrificing any of the feline visuality. Gone are the skin-tight bodysuits of Broadway’s past. In their place, each character wears human clothing to match their personality. Munkustrap (Veronica Phinney), our narrator, begins the journey dressed as a theatre usher; Rum Tum Tugger (Colton Bamber) wears distressed rocker denim and a star over one eye; and Grizabella (Sarah Lane) is as glamorous as she is tragic in her tattered robe and opera gloves. Tejani’s costumes accomplish the task of working with minimal resources while still enhancing the characterization of each cat.
Lighting designer Brad Danyluk highlights the varying emotions of the characters and the world using playful colours and spotlights. One of my favourite moments of the production demonstrates strong collaboration between Tejani and Danyluk: at the beginning of the second act, when the cats return to the stage in darkness, they reveal haunting glowing cat eye goggles.
Though at times the catlike nature of the actors’ movements could be enhanced, Julie Murphy’s choreography finds the perfect balance of fresh yet faithful. Tia Gunhold shows effortless technique as she performs iconic ballet solos as Victoria, the ingénue Jellicle cat. Additionally, Macavity’s (Jaren Guerreiro) confusingly short villain number utilizes every second of the song, a testament to the intensity of both Murphy’s choreography and Guerreiro’s performance.
Many of the performances in this production, in addition to Old Deuteronomy and Munkustrap, have been gender-swapped, with Skimbleshanks (Holly Collis Handford) and Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer (Jenna Lamb and Haley Allen) all being performed by female-presenting actors. Gigliotti’s Deuteronomy is a sleek, chic, and hilarious interpretation of the role, and the similar appearances of Lamb and Allen heighten the unabashed fun of their acrobatic tango. In terms of music direction, Sean Bayntun and music directing fellow Monica Sumulong Dumas deserve props for adjusting the keys of the score to match the varying registers of this production’s actors.
Coming into this show, the only concrete fact I knew was that “Memory” would bring me to tears. Boy, did I underestimate what Lane’s incredible solo as Grizabella would do to me. The raw emotion in her voice had me weeping in my seat — I am confident we will see much more from Lane on stages across Canada.
In the end, Cats left me puzzled, perplexed, and absolutely buzzing. Did I ever learn what Jellicle means? No. Did I have a great time? Absolutely.
Cats runs at Theatre Under the Stars until August 23. Tickets are available here.
Intermission reviews are independent and unrelated to Intermission’s partnered content. Learn more about Intermission’s partnership model here.
Chase Thomson
Chase Thomson (he/they) is a writer, photographer, and educator splitting his time between Toronto and Vancouver. He holds an MA in Cultural Studies and Critical Theory from McMaster University and is pursuing his PhD in Education and Community Development at the University of Toronto. Chase writes in a multitude of capacities, but primarily engages in playwriting and critique. He loves to thrift, cook, and belt musical theatre tunes ad nauseam.
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