An Afternoon with CATS!

Most of you guys are probably running down to the movie theater to see Alice in Wonderland (which I want to do sometime in the coming weeks), but yesterday I went to the theater for an entirely different kind of show: CATS! My sole Christmas present from my parents was a ticket to go see the original Broadway Musical CATS at our local theater–and I must say, it was the best show I've ever seen. The music and the singing were wonderful, but the costumes were even better! I could barely tare my eyes away from the brightly colored, and unique cat costume each actor/dancer wore. There was also quite a bit of interaction with the audience. When the lights went dim, the cast members crept around the audience with glowing eyes before hopping up on stage and beginning their narration of the Jellicle Junkyard Cats. The next scene was the dancing and singing number with Rum Tum Tugger, the Elvis looking cat. He sang and danced around like Elvis then jumped off stage and began dancing with a girl who was sitting near the front of the stage. The audience thought it was so funny, especially when he later came back (after his dance) to the same girl and pointed and mouthed "call me". He even pretended to give her numbers! My favorite part was Asparagus's (or Gus the Theater Cat) narration of a drama he once played in when he was a young cat. He ripped off his old "fur" and underneath was a pirate costume! Then some backdrops appeared and the scene changed into a opera-like setting with pirate cats! Near the end of the show, one of the cats came up to me and I think she wanted to be petted. Kind of odd when a person, dressed as a cat, comes up to and wants to be petted don't you think? Anyway, I got a good look at their intricate make-up–very cool. Lots of reds, blacks, and oranges. I am pretty for sure the cat's name who came up to me was Jellyorum.
Immediately after the show we left and more thank likely, so did the cats, er, cast. I always wondered where performers are going next or what's happening back stage. I danced several times on the same filmy black stage they danced on and practically "lived' there for a week before each performance, so I have a very good idea what life would be like on a traveling show. I wonder if they ever get tired of performing the same show over and over again? Maybe, but I don't think I would tire of seeing CATS. Maybe someday I'll get to see it on Broadway.............