[NEohioPAL]Berko review: CATS (Playhouse Square Center)

[Roy Berko]

Touring production of ‘CATS’ is cat-lite

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	

Midnight.  Not a sound from the pavement.  Suddenly an
explosion of music and lights reveals a
larger-than-life junkyard.  Probing lights dart across
the darkened landscape, catching the darting image of
a running feline.  Tonight is the one special night
each year when the tribe of Jellicle Cats reunites to
celebrate who they are.  The stage explodes as one by
one the cats appear!  Thus starts ‘CATS,’ Andrew Lloyd
Weber’s musical, based on “Old Possum’s Book of
Practical Cats,” by T. S. Eliot.  A touring company is
now performing the show at the Palace Theatre in
Playhouse Square.

With no plot and a few memorable songs (“Memory” and
“The Moments of Happiness”) one must wonder why
‘CATS,’ which opened twenty-five years ago has become
such a hit.  In fact, it holds the record as the
longest running play in the history of Broadway
musical theatre.

The answer may have been given by an original cast
member of the New York show during a Smithsonian
Museum’s symposium ,“The Actor’s Role in the Musical,”
which I attended in Washington, D.C. several years
ago.  A member of the audience asked why the show is
such a cult hit.  The response centered on the belief
that the audience became so entranced by each actor
“becoming” the cat he or she was portraying, that the
viewers were transported into the world of cats.   He
went on to say that the costumes, the special effects
and the makeup were also important elements.

That answer explains why this production is less than
wonderful.  It’s too bad that tour director and
choreographer Richard Stafford and his cast didn’t
attend that lecture.   At no time during this staging
did I forget that actors were “pretending” to be cats,
not being cats, themselves.  Former productions I have
seen made than transition.  The actors stayed in
character throughout.  They cleaned themselves, they
stretched, they rubbed against each other, they WERE
cats.  Part of this lack of character depth may be
that the cast members are almost all in their first
touring show and few have had professional experience.
  Besides being cat-lite, they are experience-lite.

A friend commented at intermission, “I’ve seen this
play numerous times and something is missing.”  When I
mentioned the cat-factor, she smiled and said, “That’s
it!”  

The elaborate sets work, the musical sounds are fine,
the cast sings and dances well, the choreography is
good (not electric, but good), but the show doesn’t
have the necessary spark that would make it great.  

Did the production get a standing ovation?  Of course.
 Cleveland audiences seem to believe that they have to
stand and cheer no matter whether the quality of a
production deserves it or not.   It’s like giving
every student in class an “A.”  It makes the receiver
feel good, but it is disingenuous.  How do you really
praise excellence when it happens?  But, that’s a
topic for another review...

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  For the majority of the audience,
‘CATS’ will be a positive experience.  For those who
can discern the acceptable from the great, this
production of ‘CATS’ will be less than ‘purr-fection.”

Tickets to this production of ‘CATS’ and all other
Playhouse Square productions,  can be obtained by
calling 216-241-6000, 800-766-6048 or going on line to
www.playhousesquare.com.


Roy Berko's theatre blog, which includes reviews of all recent plays, can be found at http://royberkinfo.blogspot.com  
      Information regarding his consulting and publications and older theatre reviews can be found at www.royberko.info.  
      Roy's theatre and dance reviews appear regularly on NeOHIOpal, an on-line source.   To subscribe to this free service via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.fredsternfeld.com/mailman/listinfo/neohiopal.


 
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