Annoyed Cat Dad

The cast of the 2019 US tour of CATS needs your help!

Yesterday (April 15 2021), in a three-hour-long video, they and others in the Broadway community published the ‘receipts’ of the shady and downright cruel way that the production company for the tour and the Actors’ Equity Association have been collaborating at the actors’ expense.

This is, apparently, a long-standing problem and has affected many other touring productions: the AEA, which ought to be protecting them, sides with the powerful businesses or producers to screw over the performers.

In this instance, the actors are owed months of back pay and COVID relief; but what they’re primarily fighting for is transparency and accountability, and some serious changes to the culture of the AEA and the Broadway industry.

Brandon Michael Nase (Deuteronomy) appears in the video - speaking also about the racism he's experienced from management - and others such as Dan Hoy (Munkustrap) and Giovanni DiGabriele (Skimbleshanks) have spoken up loudly in support on social media.

Please signal boost and sign, even if you're not in the CATS fandom. This is a battle over a problem facing the whole of the music theatre industry in the US, and they need fan and audience support: the actors can't fight it alone.

(And remember not to donate via the change.org website or the money goes to change.org! If you do want to contribute anything financially, please consider Broadway Cares, which actually does help look after actors in need.)

Alternatively:

There are two wolves inside me: one is itching to reach out to people in the Les Miz fandom to squeal about it (and also because I have a lot of feelings and headcanons and stuff that I want to share) and to stop harassing @skimblyshanks; the other wants to keep this blog’s theme. They are fighting and I don’t know what to do.

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of this blog, and of me really diving back into the CATS fandom… I’ve been on tumblr almost 10 years now, and I’ve never really been one to chat with other people, let alone make meaningful friendships. But the Cats fandom truly feels like family, and I’m so glad I decided to make this blog💕 This past year has been wild in so many ways, but something big for me is the way I’ve finally learnt to shake off my anxiety and put myself out there ☺️

So as a major thank you to all the friends I’ve made, I decided to try to draw some favourite cats all together ^^

@cutesiewooren @storyweaverofgondor @whitmerule @alonz-ho @partyinthemysterymachine @statisticalcats @skimblyclaus-is-comin-to-town @the-bunny-wife @snowhite-dahlia @uppastthejelliclemoon @roxycake @is-it-mungojerry-or-rumpelteazer @soh-da-meatball @the-cat-of-the-railway-train @the-metaphorical-jellicle-cat @cat-b-amimation @rainbowratsstuff @annoyedcatdad @porgs-are-space-puffins @demonsummoning @natssillystuff @jellicle-beans

Thank you for tagging me, I really super appreciate it. It means a lot, even if you don't think so. I've always thought that me or my blog haven't been that important in this fandom, so I really appreciate it that you appreciate the existence of my blog 🥺

I love you all, and happy anniversary 💕

Look, mistleto—!

no :(

I posted my original donation post on 11/20/20 here [x]  detailing how my hours were cut from 40/week to 15/week due to going on a work-from-home ADA accommodation because of COVID. But on 12/2/20, we had some unfortunate updates regarding our beautiful baby.. 

I had my anatomy scan at 20 weeks exactly, and they found some characteristic signs of spina bifida. Our baby is only in the 3rd percentile for growth, has a notable “lemon sign”, where their head in the second trimester is lemon shaped, and they have fluid in their brain. 

The black portions of their head are supposed to be filled with that grey and white texture, and you can see the lemon shape to their head. 

We will be seeing a perinatologist to confirm the diagnosis, or figure out the differential diagnosis, like another neural tube defect. This is going to increase our bills, because we will have to travel to different cities to meet with specialists, and have more procedures done. The cut in my hours is both a blessing and a curse, because I now have more time to dedicate to these appointments without altering my teaching schedule, but obviously less money going to gas, food, and house bills, not to mention co-pays and up front procedure costs once the 1st of the year rolls around. 

We could be looking at surgery in the near future with me on bed-rest, or surgery right after the baby is born, with a NICU stay at a hospital a few cities away. This is all speculation based on if it is spina bifida. 

If anyone can give us a signal boost, that would be super helpful. The past 24 hours have been a whirlwind for my husband and I. We’ve struggled with previous miscarriages, plus fertility issues from my intersex condition and autoimmune disease, so finding out this news about our rainbow baby at 20 weeks has been devastating. 

We are praying that our baby is viable and we can continue this pregnancy. I am hopeful that they are, because I feel them moving around pretty consistently now. 

This is really hard to share with my followers, let alone random people, so if you have any kind words of encouragement that would be appreciated. Please keep us in your thoughts. Any money donated will go to food, travel/gas, medical costs, and baby supplies. I will add more once we have a better idea of what baby will need accessibility wise. 

My cash.app is $forcewielder

You can DM me for paypal 

and our baby registry is https://www.amazon.com/baby-reg/EXDT22A0BT0E