By William Wolf

CATS  Send This Review to a Friend

My late mother, Charlotte, had a cat that would ring the doorbell. Even watching her do it, I found it hard to believe. The cat figured out that if she jumped onto the railing at the back door of the ground-floor apartment and tapped the bell with her paw, my mother would come to let her in. The smart feat came to mind as I watched the actor-cats cavorting or slithering about the stage in the current revival of “Cats,” intact with the Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music and based on T.S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.” My mother’s cat might have been gloriously at home amid the simulated ones in this showy musical.

Let’s face it. This is above all a spectacle with appeal to those who get theatergoing kicks from costumes, lighting, cast members roaming the aisles to sing to spectators, and assorted scenic stunts. It is a treat for youngsters, and addresses the curiosity of members of a generation who have never seen the show but have repeatedly heard its most famous song “Memories.” There is another breed of theatergoer who prefers something more sophisticated. You know which camp you are in.

This show, again directed by Trevor Nunn, is among the most steadily choreographed productions on Broadway at the moment, with hot shot Andy Blankenbuehler (“Hamilton”) credited with the choreography “based on the original choreography by Gillian Lynne.” The excellent cast of principals and supporting cats, decked out in the colorful assortment of costumes designed by John Napier, who is also the scenic designer, are almost constantly on the move. (My eyes kept navigating to the cat in the tight-fitting, plain bronze-toned body suit--consistently a knockout.)

The show is enlivened by individual turns that are appealing by any standard. The iconic “Memory” now gets its due from impressive Leona Lewis, an imported British singing star. As Grizabella, chosen in the hocus pocus of a plot as one chosen to ascend to everlasting cat heaven, Lewis leaves her firm imprint, although Betty Buckley’s blazing original performance lingers in my mind.

Another outstanding performance comes from Georgina Pazcoguin of the New York City Ballet as Victoria, the white cat, who provides élan and some fancy footwork. Quentin Earl Darrington makes an impressive Old Deuteronomy, and Tyler Hanes is is especially effective as Rum Tum Tugger. Chritsopher Gurr connects with the audience as the cat who sings about his long career on the stage, and manages to be both amusing and poignant.

The thrust of “Cats” is to offer as many as possible individual personalities, and although the costumes are elaborate, there is the wisdom to let the individual faces be cat-like expressive rather than use excessive make-up adornment. Interestingly, unlike what sometimes occurs in a show, the second act is much stronger than the first, because that’s when we get the preponderance of the individual personality performances.

Scenic designer Napier has decorated a good part of the sides of the theater to resemble junkyards, where cats presumably would congregate. But nothing about the show is a junkyard, as it delivers what it promises to its fans-in-waiting. At the Neil Simon Theatre, 250 West 52nd Street. Phone: 877-250-2929. Reviewed August 3, 2016.

  

[Film] [Theater] [Cabaret] [About Town] [Wolf]
[Special Reports] [Travel] [HOME]