CATS - Thomas Stoeckig

 Thomas Stoeckig

CATS

CATS is a classic, a cultural touchstone of the 1980s. My parents, who were both adults in the early 80s, tell me all about how much of a splash it made in popular culture, with their coworkers all talking around the water cooler on Monday mornings about what a masterpiece it was around the water cooler on Monday mornings. Now, after seeing a play very similar to the one they saw 40 years ago, the show on Tuesday, October 25th at the Orpheum, I must say that I can understand why it was so popular. The question that I was left with when I was driving home afterward, however, was why a play so similar to its 1982 incarnation was playing in 2022. 

In terms of performances, all were satisfactory. The vocal talents of Cameron Schutza as Old Deuteronomy blew me away, and I got a huge kick out of the audience interaction of Hank Santos as Rum Tum Tugger. The choreography was incredible, as well as incredibly well executed by the cast, who sold me that they were actually cats in a way that looked effortless, but I know for fact isn’t.

In terms of the technical production of this touring show, I was pleasantly surprised. Beautiful costuming, especially Rum Tum Tugger and Old Deuteronomy, great makeup on every character, and attractive and creative props. What was the most outstanding technical aspect to me was the quality of the mixing. I’m a sound designer in my high school theater, and incredibly well-mixed shows can be few and far between. No lines were lost to my ears, there were no instances of feedback, and the pit was at a perfect volume throughout the whole show. I don’t see many well-mixed shows, even at this level of production, and they knocked it out of the park.

Now, Andrew Lloyd Webber is undeniably one of the most successful and influential playwrights of the past century. He’s won a slew of awards, has a knighthood, and his musicals are some of the longest-running shows ever to play on Broadway, and to tour. However, the fact that this CATS looks and feels so similar to its original is why I think it isn’t an outstanding show anymore. We certainly have new productions of classic shows like The Sound of Music or Into the Woods, and the best revivals have new technical designs, different choreography, and other new takes on the old script. Shows like CATS and Phantom of the Opera, which recently closed on Broadway after a 35 year run, are still around in forms extremely close to their forms of 40 years ago. It’s disappointing not to see new things done with these beloved scripts.