CATS Europe tour show report
August 3rd, matinee show
Swings on for the day: Liam Dean (Alonzo), Daniel Timoney (Plato/ Macavity).
This tour is another branch of the UK Tours started in 2016, following the London Palladium re-choreographed by Bill Deamer while still keeping most of the original Gillian Lynne Choreography along with other changes to this version of the show from 2017 onwards, as I’m already familiar with most of if not all of these changes I feel no need to point them out but if any newer fans are interested I’d give this a read.
There were some minor changes I did notice, and those will be pointed out when we get there. I’m most interested in character portrayals and interactions so we’ll mostly be talking about that. Along with some of my general experience.
full cats list
Daniel Timoney(Admetus/ Macavity), Liam Dean (Alonzo), Nathan Taylor (Asparagus/ Bustopher Jones/ Rumpus cat), Theo Reece (Bill Bailey), Olivia Barnett-legh (Bombalurina), Fin Adams (Carbucketty), Emily Layden-Fritz (Cassandra), Bailey Johnson (Coricopat), Alice Oberg (Demeter), Lucy May Barker (Grizabella), Daisy Boyles (Jellylorum), Gabrielle Parker (Jemima), Hazel Baldwin (Jennyanydots), Samuel Bateson (Mistoffelees/ Quaxo), Marcus May (Mungojerrie), Russell Dickson (Munkustrap), Micheal Robert-Lowe (Old Deuteronomy), Lauren Bronwyn-Wood (Rumpleteazer), Shem Omari James (Rum Tum Tugger), Gavin Eden (Skimbleshanks), Jessie-Jae Davis (Tantomile), Isabel Moore (Victoria).
note: I realized I was using the 1998 version of the character names; I.E Tumble = Bill Bailey, Pounce = Carbuketty, Plato = Admetus and uhh not in the mood to go back and change it you guys know who I’m referring too.
ACT ONE
Overture/ Jellicle songs for Jellicle cats
Putting these together since I don’t have much to say tbh, because of the venue and where I was sitting, I didn’t really get to experience Green Eyes; they kinda just walked across this platform thing to get on stage.
Honestly, most of the cats didn’t seem to be displeased. At Jellylorum's high note, Victoria smiles and nuzzles her right after. And Tumble and Tugger seemed to have a bet on whether or not she would do it (to which Tugger won and is very happy about); the rest seemed relatively ok with it from what I saw.
When they were all running and jumping in the big circle, Asparagus seemed to be directing them and clapping his paws for them to jump higher; it was great. He felt like maybe an older, seasoned Munkustrap lol.
Munk was staring at me during the cat pyramid just before they were about to run up and dance.
Romantical Cats was very cute—their smiles are so adorable, and I love how Vic, Rump, Jem, and Tant were lined together during it.
The naming of cats
First of all, this number is way better in person than in recordings—you really feel pulled into the atmosphere.
Mistoffelees was so creepy here; he had this doll-like smile but was completely blank in the eyes, very spooky in contrast to the cute design.
I had a little moment with Alonzo when he came by the left side of the stage (I was at the end of the aisle, so it was perfect for interactions). Anyway, I was mouthing the words of Naming of Cats with him, and at first he was shocked? Then challenged, then surprised again, then intrigued. It was great. (I know these lyrics; you're not besting me.) I was lowkey expecting him to be mean, but he wasn't? Amazing, I spoke Jellicle wahoo!!! Anyway, I think I scared him a little with that.
(Ok, read back, and I thought about it, and if the whole number is that the audience doesn’t know what a Jellicle cat is, but I clearly do, I might have spooked him. Ok.)
Tugger also noticed and raised his brow—I was trying to look at Vic, but she was far right…sigh.
Invitation to the Jellicle ball
Before Victoria’s solo begins, Munkustrap brushes against her a little. I liked that.
Isabel Moore’s movements as Victoria are so effortlessly controlled they’re beautiful—art in motion. She’s not as nervous about discovering herself for the first time in the solo; it's played up like she knows what’s happening but still isn’t used to feeling the pleasure and fully embracing the coming of age.
Compared to videos of her during her Oasis runs (yes, I watched a lot before coming), her Victoria here isn’t as smiley and is more contemplative. Isabel’s Victoria is most likely using the ‘young, inhibited, inquisitive’ version of the three words; her Victoria felt more mature as a whole to me. (I’ll get more into that in Glamour Cat.)
Mistoffelees slowly crawls towards Victoria, and they all begin to sing. Also, from where I was sitting, Rumple and Tumble had their heads down when the solo was happening. … IDK, I take my crumbs.
When Munk is giving his monologue and Victoria raises her arm at the mention of the Heaviside layer, Rump looks at her paw momentarily before shifting to looking upwards like the others.
The old Gumbie cat
The cats are all super eager to hear who Munkustrap’s candidate is and I found that super cute.
When Munk says Jennyanydots they all cheer as per usual but Tumblebrutus and Pouncival giggle to each other and decide to mess with Jenny cori and tant hear about this and shake their heads but walk off. They like having fun but would never mess with the elders.
Jennyanydots wakes up, approaches them and Pouncival aborts the pretend-to-sleep to make fun of Jennyanydots mission. Tumble racing after him.
Jenny is very smiley and cute! You can tell she absolutely loves what she does. She’s bossy and authoritative but still so very cheerful. Speaking of cheerful Daisy Boyles was absolutely beaming in this number, you can tell how proud she is of her friend.
When the “mice” are about to put their masks on Rumple uses her mask as a spear to have a one-sided sword fight with Victoria. Skimbleshanks puts a stop to it however. And later hovers over Vic to make sure she’s crocheting properly.
Mistoffelees is pleasantly surprised when Jennyanydots slips Under munk- Munkustrap didn’t seem to expect it but is happy regardless.
The Beatles arrive- and Jennyanydots’s tap number begins! And she had some lines!
Also! Asparagus was copying the movements of the Beatles from the pipe! It was so good ! I absolutely loved it. Also sorry I love the new Gumbie tap choreography, the way the trio + plus misto enter just goes so hard. Great number, hazel is a joy to watch.
The Rum Tum Tugger
Shem has the most unique rendition of this song I’ve ever heard in replica. His vocal choices and high notes? Woah. His energy? Incredible. You understood both why some cats found him annoying and also why some just couldn’t resist joining him.
Jemima, who is definitely besties with Victoria here, encourages Victoria to join her in simping for Tugger, which Victoria has no protest against. The girls are EXCITED. despite being the one to call out that it’s Tugger Rumpleteazer who isn’t permitted to join the simp train thanks to Skimble (and having to take off the beetle costume offstage).
Tugger mimes kissing Cassandra’s cheek after she faints into Alonzo and dances off.
The ‘terrible bore’ line is played very funny here; Mistoffelees is very strict about telling off Tugger, but Tugger has a “who me?” reaction and sticks out his butt at him with an evil smirk.
He also sneaks in some of the pelvic thrusts throughout the number which I didn’t see in the videos.
I don’t know where else to include this, but Daniel’s Plato also felt very young and playful to me. I enjoyed that.
Bombalurina is here! Her voice works so excellently with Tugger's; I loved it. She had the hots for him, but the flirting felt very playful to me. After she's told no, Bombalurina does get grumpy and tries to rope back Tugger's attention by? Bringing attention to her ass? Go off girl. Doesn’t work; Tugger booty pushes her away.
Just before Bomba is about to get rejected and she holds that pose as Tugger lingers over her, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are watching from the car boot. Skimble does not want them watching, however, and covers Mungojerrir’s eyes with his (Skimble’s) paw and Rumpleteazer’s eyes with his foot—very panicky. Unfortunately, Mungo steps up and manages to see, but hey! Rumpleteazer didn’t! Just the aftermath.
I think it was around here where Tugger blew Jemima a kiss and she got all excited (could have been earlier though.)
Tugger runs into the right side of the audience all excited, and he is just a ball of energy. He danced near these two people on the aisle seats. But tbh everyone on that side got a little tugger interaction. He spoke some German! It was great!
Before the squealing scene can begin and the girls are kneeling around Tugger, he has a little moment with Tantomile where, after she and the group squeal, he playfully points his tongue out at her.
(At this point Coricopat was very adamantly shaking his head at his sister and cringing slightly at the whole interaction—very funny siblings. Tantomile is very cute; Tugger teases her quite a bit, and it seems she’s about to squeal as much as Teazer but holds herself back.
After Rumpleteazer goes off on her squealing fit, Tugger gets her to stop by mockingly copying her scream and then blowing her a kiss to make her faint. The song ended; it was epic.
Grizabella: the Glamour cat
I was seated on the left; Grizabella entered from the left. My eyes stay on her. Sorry. You just really feel the whole atmosphere change once she enters the junkyard, and I really love that intro for her character.
Lucy Grizabella does enter with a hopeful, shy smile, but that’s quickly crushed. Bombalurina smiles warmly at her and approaches her slowly only to walk straight past her and laugh. Still smiling. Grizabella is disappointed but not angry.
Victoria then reaches out to Grizabella, with wonder and pity. Jellylorum refutes this and tells Jennyanydots to look behind her. Jenny sees and has a panic, immediately cutting Victoria off from touching her. Victoria backs away shyly and sits down. A main difference I noticed from this production compared to others is Victoria is treated as older and not a kitten from the jump; the adults don’t hover over her in this version like they do for Jemima; she’s left on her own in the corner and turns her back, trying not to look back at Grizabella, but she can’t help but turn and try to see even a little.
Mistoffelees was also looking away at first and covering his eyes but then slowly got more invested when Bombalurina and the others started dogging on her. (He got corrupted with Griz hate, y'all 😔.)
Anyway, back a little bit, but Jemima also attempts to reach out to Grizabella, Jellylorum, and Jennyanydots this time, warning him he gets in front of her and instructing her to back away.
She sits down, and instead of the skimble bubble, he covers Jemima in—here he just sits next to her and shakes his head sorrowfully, and she expresses her confusion and sadness. I really liked that more gentle, understanding approach. He knows how it looks to her, but he also can't have her just touch her.
Pouncival then scratches Grizabella, and Munkustrap tells the boys (Tumble, Plato, and Pouncival) to stop it, but I noticed Lucy Grizabella didn’t seem as physically hurt by it; it wasn’t a deep scratch, it was a light one that stung more out of action than the actual hit.
This is when she sees Demeter. Demeter reaches her arm out to Grizabella, but Munk gets in front of her and hisses Grizabella away. Demeter seems like she wants to refute this, but Munkustrap nods his head towards Bombalurina, instructing Demeter to go with her. Demeter stares at him for a bit before listening. I read it as a very much “we’ll discuss this later” interaction.
Grizabella sighs, closing her eyes a little, but understands why Demeter’s so hesitant; she holds herself together and continues. (This Grizabella definitely had some sort of history with Bombalurina and Demeter, as she seemed so happy to see them.) Her Grizabella just felt so grounded in reality to me, and she deeply understood the rift she’s created between her and her community.
Ok, finally the song actually starts, and Munkustrap just doesn’t want to hear it from Grizabella. Grizabella isn’t directly singing to him at the start; it feels more like she’s pleading to everyone to at least hear her out.
When it’s the “and you see the corner of her eye twist” line, she sings it directly to Jemima (and Skimbleshanks, I guess), but Jemima has more of a reaction, her shoulders lifting slightly.
Around this point Rumpleteazer is actually sitting beside Victoria! They’re both failing at not looking at Griz, but Rumpleteazer looks deeply saddened. Since the adults aren’t hovering over Victoria (unless you want to count Misto on the car boot above her), Rumpleteazer was positioned the closest over her—and since their reactions are quite similar, I think they were very much on the same page about Grizabella.
As Demeter gets up to sing, Munk is very displeased, to say the least. He was eager to have Grizabella leave as soon as possible; he looks back at Alonzo and Cassandra when Demeter starts to sing of Grizabella’s history. He’s not exactly mad; he just sighs. He understands why Demeter’s doing this; he just doesn’t think it’s the right thing. Time? That’s how I read it.
Grizabella sits on the ground and brushes her paw against her face and smiles until the “ought to be dead,” to which she sadly doesn’t seem furious, only hurt.
Typical fashion—Munk encourages Bombalurina to go to Demeter; she seems slightly unsure of what to do exactly at first but joins her in singing. Getting very close.
Grizabella fully understands her presence isn’t wanted now and leaves very saddened.
Bustopher Jones: the cat about town
Mistoffelees is the first to notice Bustopher is coming—before he’s even there? Interesting? He immediately tells Jennyanydots and Munkustrap; Jenny is absolutely thrilled, and so is Jellylorum. Munk? Not so much. (very 1998 Munk towards Bustopher vibes); however, a very key difference between the 98 film and this is instead of Munk being the one to stop Bustopher from leaving, it's Mistoffelees (and the pouts of Victoria and the other girl kittens).
Bustopher comes off very friendly and not really prissy at all, a great socialite, and Bombalurina gets such a kick out of making fun of Jenny’s crush on him, whereas Jellylorum is more encouraging about Jenny’s feelings and Bustopher's praises.
Plato keeps fainting? Or just falling all over himself over Bustopher, and Mistoffelees has to correct him. Mistoffelees also rubs Coricopat’s shoulders at one point to ease his nerves about Bustopher.
As Bustopher is describing all the meals, Munkustrap is very disgusted at the cabbage, meanwhile Alonzo is too busy posing to care (I forgot which food it was, probably rice pudding), but Alonzo couldn’t act aloof about how delicious it was.
As the boys are lining up to be inspected by Bustopher, Pouncival does something? I didn’t catch it fully. I think he was just slouching, and Skimbleshanks corrects his stance, posture, and even smile (it was a creepily perfect smile that was Skimble approved.)
At this point Tumblebrutus was …tumbling on the ground, so Munkustrap scoops him up full body and gets him in line.
While that was occurring, Mistoffelees was helping Plato back up and checking on the other boys, all before Bustopher arrived to check. Plato falls over himself anyway.
Jenny finally gets to go up to Bustopher before he leaves! Jellylorum pushes her towards him slightly (Giddy as ever), and Bustopher finally offers Jenny his rose, and Jenny is so overjoyed she momentarily faints (Jelly and Bomba catch her).
Putting the first Macavity scare here too, as I don’t have much to say. Plato immediately jumps on the hat Bustopher sat on and gets into a sort of spider pose? He was spooked. Bustopher is already tip-toeing away.
As everyone scrambles away, Munk doesn’t seem fully convinced, but when he goes up to Alonzo, Alonzo isn’t in the mood to deal with Macavity and scrambles away. Side tracking, but Alonzo really felt like a protector in his own right here; without being very connected to Munkustrap specifically, he’s protective but in his own ways that may not exactly mesh with Munkustrap. Like a second-in-command in his own right.
Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer
Marcus May Mungojerrie seems a lot less goofy than the typical Mungojerrie for me; he has his moments, but he’s definitely more sly and really embodies the cocksure trait. He was way quicker to shush Rump in the beginning of their number in a way that came off a lot harsher or ruder than usual, and it certainly put the moments where he sort of reels Rump back in during their number in a new context. But it's clear he isn’t actually bossing her around; Rumpleteazer just gets caught up in the thrills, so she tends to be loud. He knows her habits because they know each other so well.
Also I like his voice—he sings with his accent, and it reminded me a lot of the OLC recording with Mungo sounding older than Rump. He also does an Italian accent when impersonating the “cook” yelling about them.
As for Lauren’s Rumpleteazer, she did come off as younger but just as naughty as Mungojerrie. She played Rump with a more subtle cheeky energy, less of the loud, over-the-top goofiness more common in other productions. Instead, her Rumpleteazer seemed genuinely delighted by the thrill of mischief, wide-eyed and excited but always in tune with Mungojerrie’s cues and ready to reel herself back in. Her Rumpleteazer genuinely has a lot of depth (already suggested by her reactions to Grizabella), but more of it comes out throughout the performance (we’ll get there when we get there.)
Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer in general felt more like seasoned thieves compared to their counterparts in the US revival and other stagings; they were confident and knew how to play the game, enjoying themselves without the youthful exuberance seen in other more familiar portrayals.
Had to get analytical there. Ahem, they got caught by Munk, Alonzo, and Plato—Alonzo is pissssseddd. And wow, they launched those bags so high.
Old Deuteronomy
Coricopat and Tantomile sense Deuteronomy; Tantomile turns to Mistoffelees, and almost questioning, he says, “Old Deuteronomy?”
Tantomile and Coricopat turn to the distance and confirm (very beautifully sung melody). I love them. Munkustrap then instructs Mistoffelees to go fetch old Deut, which Mistoffelees is very pleased to do. Moments like those really made me feel like Coricopat and Tantomile were of equal respect among the tribe as Munkustrap. (especially in moments of happiness)
Demeter goes to nuzzle Munkustrap to ease his nerves about Deuteronomy’s arrival; they smile at each other very sweetly.
Everyone settles down, and Munkustrap begins to sing, very soft like a lullaby. At one point he boops Jemima on the nose and gestures towards Victoria while mentioning “Queen Victoria.” Victoria is cutely surprised by this.
When Tugger interrupts Munkustrap, Munk is very irritated and immediately done with him. Pointing at him to get down from the pipe, Tugger, of course, ignores.
Munk gets up with him on the tire and is still very irritated with Tugger, but they sing together regardless, Tugger slinking his arm over Munkustrap and patting his chest. Munkustrap doesn’t show it on his face, but his body language suggests he’s genuinely happy to have Tugger there to welcome Deuteronomy. (Especially his reluctance to stop Tugger’s physical contact)
Mistoffelees and Deuteronomy arrive from the right side of the theater, and according to my sister, old Deuteronomy was staring at my brother. My dad, not understanding the rules, filmed a little. (He also kept filming Jellylorum because he thought she was my favorite because he knew my favorite was the white cat, but apparently Victoria was too much of a “background character” for him to realize it was her. 😭)
Anyway,
Old Deuteronomy arrives, and everyone is just so happy he’s there—he paused to greet Demeter, which was new to me. And Micheal’s voice was a lot deeper than I expected, but it was great. The kittens are of course swarming Munk in order to greet Deuteronomy, and who can blame them? Micheal Deut is literally the embodiment of love; you really feel like he cares for each and every cat.
Macavity Interlude
Sue me. I kinda like this song…anyway, a loud crash makes everybody jump.
Demeter calls out that it’s Macavity, and then Bombalurina does too. From what I saw, the girl kittens (Jemima, Rumpleteazer, Victoria, and Tantomile) didn’t participate. Could be misremembering or because of my horrible obstruction.
Bombalurina is very clearly scared of Macavity here—and that isn’t helping Demeter's own worry. Jellylorum, Cassandra, and Jennyanydots provide the backing vocals while some of the male characters linger around scared (I noticed Tugger slinking away, and Coricopat was so close to the girlies I thought for a moment he was involved and singing too).
While Demeter and Bombalurina were scared, Jennyanydots was more angry and on edge like Jellylorum, very cat-like. I couldn’t really see Cassandra, unfortunately, but her delivery of “Like a snake” in a more questioning than intimidating way was very funny to me.
Also, Victoria was curled into a ball in the pipe; she was so scared. :( Please stop talking about the freaky cat man.
Song of the Jellicles / The Jellicle Ball
Still very clear to me Deuteronomy is controlling them here—when he moves his arms towards the middle, Victoria moves with him. She’s still nervous, but Deuteronomy stops her and lowers her arm, helping her calm down as he pulls in Jemima.
When Alonzo arrives to proclaim Jellicle cats are “black and white” and turns around to do his hip dance, Jemima and Victoria giggle to each other as they lean down to check out Alonzo’s butt; they were very happy about that. Alonzo is mock offended.
Demeter seemed so surprised when Bombalurina crept up behind her; it's like she's a lingering ghost lol.
During “Bums,” Victoria is paired with Pouncival, Jemima is with Tumblebrutus, and very interestingly? Alonzo was with Mistoffelees. Never saw that pairing before here, but I welcome it. Based on the logic that I saw, Plato was with Bombalurina, and Demeter was most likely with Cassandra.
Honky Tonk is great; Tugger was absolutely living for Bombalurina’s dance and cheering her on, and who wouldn’t? She’s great. Afterwards Bomba looks like she was fixing up Tugger's mane, hehe.
Pas de deux! It was sooooo adorable! I got the vibes that this was either love at first sight or they both had crushes on each other they could finally act upon. Before the group disperses to lie down, Plato was already gazing at Victoria, and she was slowly turning towards him. The beat where Plato head-butts Victoria’s stomach and she jumps away from Plato is removed here; instead, they nuzzle and nose kiss for a few moments before gazing at each other and then performing the lift.
Also, when Skimbleshanks gets up, he smiles so warmly at them; Skimble ships it, and it makes me look at the interaction differently—almost like he’s giving them his blessing in a way. Maybe not out of relation to either but because he is a Jellicle and they are too. And they’re all family. Victoria smiles at Skimble when Plato pulls her towards him too—and it seems like she wants to hold Skimble’s cheeks as he nods in approval.
As the jellicles pile up, Munkustrap gazes back at Deuteronomy and then nods his head towards the pile, wanting to join. Old Deuteronomy gazes down at Demeter and nudges Munkustrap to go on and join in a “yes, obviously” way. Munkustrap has no refutes to that and pairs up with Demeter. (I saw two legs fly up after that, so…do with that as you will.)
Mistoffelees is the one to climb up the car boot and claw Grizabella away—very agro. Even Deuteronomy seemed shocked by this, but Mistoffelees isn’t reprimanded.
When it’s “Tugger step,” Munkustrap is still annoyed and mockingly mimics Tugger’s movements while rolling his eyes. Mungojerrie also eagerly asks Skimble and Munkustrap for permission to join in with Tugger, and they allow it, making Mungojerrie very happy.
Little Memory
Grizabella arrives, the party is over, and she tries walking towards the middle of the stage, and the cats progressively avoid her or get pulled away from her (minus Pounce and Tumble’s butt rub thing that pisses Munk off).
Tugger does a sort of “talk to the hand” gesture at her with only one finger and was absolutely angry; he didn’t want her anywhere near him. Griz seems to want to plead for a little, but he’s already out.
Demeter tries to reach for Grizabella again here but gets blocked by Bombalurina. Jemima also reaches out but gets stopped by Jennyanydots.
Old Deuteronomy asks Jellylorum to help sort them out (or calm them down), and she gets Cassandra to stop Victoria from touching Grizabella. (I think this was very deliberate on Jelly’s part, as Victoria seems to look up to Cassandra.) She does and hisses at Griz, much to Deuteronomy's sadness. Jellylorum seems confused—and Deut asks her to leave; she obliges, still somewhat confused.
Old Deuteronomy can’t look and turns in the opposite direction of Grizabella, looking downwards. Grizabella attempts to dance, and it doesn’t take much visible strain on her; she just gets to a point where she ... gives up. (Her head bopping was perpetually stuck on one side because she’s slowly forgetting.)
Lucy’s voice is just…so perfect for Grizabella. I love it. After Grizabella is done singing, she walks off and cranks her arms behind her, Grizabella’s movements in sync with Old Deuteronomy reaching towards her…but alas, Grizabella didn’t turn around and walked off, and Old Deuteronomy was left contemplative.
Also, During intermission Munk climbed the theater walls again, and the audience cheered.
ACT TWO
Moments of happiness
Micheal’s voice is incredible, especially here when he lets it get low; he isn’t mad at the Jellicles, he just wants them to understand. Like there’s never an instance where he comes off as harsh with them.
He raises his arm towards Jemima, and Tantomile smiles at her kindly before putting her paw in Jemima’s. I really took that as her trusting Jemima to help them all understand.
Seeing moments of happiness up close is so cool; you watch them all get clarity together, ahhhh. I was specifically watching Rumpleteazer, as she was closest to me, and the way her eyes widen as she sings along. Ahh.
After everyone is up again, they all greet each other—Mungo and Rumpleteazer nuzzle, Victoria and Alonzo nuzzle, and Munkustrap paws Coricopat and Tantomile. They’re very happy about that.
Mistoffelees then takes Rumpleteazer by the waist to greet Tugger, who is perched on top of the oven. Tugger still greets Mistoffelees first and nuzzles his ears with his head and then paws at Rumpleteazer before Tumblebrutus comes over and also does his previous little handshake finger thing with Tugger that they did in Jellicle Songs.
Gus the theatre cat
As Jellylourm cheerfully exclaims about Gus, Gus does mouth along some verses and makes sure Jelly mentions a few key theatrical feats he’s made. It definitely came off as more caregiver to me rather than the pair being related.
Still, she was ecstatic about Gus’s theatrical achievements and was so eager to share, over the moon about it.
When Gus is about to mention rescuing a child, Old Deuteronomy encourages Jemima and Victoria to listen in, and they are very impressed. So I got the impression Gus has been telling these stories to his friends for a while.
Bombalurina is very impressed that Gus understudied Dick Whittington’s cat. I loved that detail. I think she may have raised a paw towards him or clapped (again, I was far left of the stage and she was way on the right).
I should’ve mentioned this earlier, but Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer were sitting in front of Gus to the left, listening intriguingly. Very new to me. Out of all the “younger cats,” these two seemed to be paying the most attention and with interest.
But when Gus starts going off about “kittens not getting trained,” it upsets Rumpleteazer (and basically everyone else minus Jenny, who was agreeing eagerly and pointing to Pounce to listen).
What I meant by Gus’s kitten comments not going over so well is that Demeter gets annoyed and crawls away, crossing her arms and lying against the tire; Tumble tumbles away to be closer to Tugger on the bottom of the oven; Jemima tries to sneak past Deur to leave; Victoria also backs up, but it’s more in surprise; and Munk pinches the bridge of his nose (though the actor may have had an itch, he did it a lot in this number). Jellylorum is a little stressed and sort of gestures for Gus to maybe not say those things; she’s truly doing all the good PR.
Anyway—Rumpleteazer turns her back on Gus and steps away pouting. After a while, Mungojerrie turns back to Rump and nuzzles her. She’s still pouty, but he nudges her to come back and listen, and she follows.
It seems Gus didn’t like upsetting Rumpleteazer, and to cheer her up, he gets right up to her (much to Jellylorum’s concern at his rushing but joy at his excitement) and exclaims about how he makes “blood-curdling noises.” Successfully working, Rumpleteazer is surprised and happy!
When Gus is about to let out his “blood curdling noises,” Victoria and Jemima giggle to each other and lean in eagerly. And are quite amazed at the mew he lets out.
Mistoffelees (who is sitting on top of the pipe with Plato at the bottom) gets excited and encourages Plato to listen in (to the bloodcurdling noises), but Plato gets scared and hides in the pipe, curling into a ball.
As Gus is singing his last few verses, and Deuteronomy is standing beside him about to encourage him to “do it again,” Tugger gets down from the oven and approaches Mistoffelees on the pipe. Tugger puts his paw over Misto’s, and then Misto puts his other paw over Tugger’s, and then Tugger puts his last paw above his, and they smile at each other, cupping their paws together.
Deuteronomy then encourages Gus to “do it again,” to which Jellylorum eagerly nods along. Gus agrees, and pekes begin.
The aweful battle of the pekes and the pollicles (revised)
Seeing Victoria very seriously putting on her peke gloves while Mistoffelees was giddily putting on his pollicle costume was some adorable contrast. I love it.
Gus doesn’t really feel as old to me, and him running around in pekes certainly broke that immersion a bit. But it was fine and in the background. Anyway, Gus isn’t opposed or annoyed at Munk joining him; he seems quite happy actually, and instead of the previous dynamics where the two almost go back and forth correcting each other, here it just felt like they were adding to each other's storytelling, very nice.
Rumpleteazer was very happy to be the peke, which, given her previous interactions with Gus, was so very cute. He seemed proud when she won over Pounce.
Victoria isn’t snarling enough, so Munk gets up to her to direct her on how she should throw her fists. Victoria is a little flushed but proceeds.
Also, as the pekes and pollicles are barking at each other, Tugger starts howling like a wolf. Mistoffelees was also just really into being a dog; even before the number started, he was absolutely giddy and playing with the little glove. Scrub? Like it was a puppy, his barking was particularly loud.
Tugger isn’t a part of the number but is excitedly watching Gus and teasing Munkustrap. But when Gus becomes the rumpus cat, much like previous iterations, Tugger scaredly hides behind Jellylorum, but Jelly is just absolutely thrilled.
After they take the pekes hats off, Cassandra helps Victoria fix her own mane by mimicking how she should fix it up. And point her ears. Victoria happily follows, and Cassandra is pleased <3.
At the end Jelly removes Gus’s Rumpus costume, and Tugger places his coat back on, and Gus is directly facing Tugger before turning to the audience to deliver a final lyric. His hand guides him away. Mungojerrie is about to go after him, but Rumpleteazer announces Skimbleshanks along with Deuteronomy. (Who kind of awkwardly crawls in there and pretends to be asleep lol)
Skimbleshanks: the railway cat
Hi, so I forgot half of what happened because Mistoffelees decided I should be the victim of the glaring light of death, and he was smiling all through my suffering. Seriously, it was fun, but I did shield my face because, omg, that thing is like staring at the sun, and you think it’s over, but nah, they just HOP, SPOTLIGHT BACK. It was fun, but wow, I understand why Misto actors feel guilty about that sometimes.
The whole cast group around Skimble to wake him up (yes, even Munk and Deut, and it works). Cassandra cheers and appoints herself as one of the station master's daughters; she was standing with Tugger and Bomb but quickly leaves to fulfill this duty.
From what I remember, Alonzo and Jennyanydots were playing cards, and Tugger and Bomba were smiling together for a while while watching Skimble with his group.
Lots of little Victeazer crumbs; Rump encourages Vic to join them as they’re about to run towards Skimble, and with Tugger smiling and encouraging, she agrees. When they all pair up to follow alongside Skimble, Vic and Rump are next to each other and smile at each other.
Deut gets very excited about the “weak or strong” tea line and kicks his legs as he sits and says it; he is very into this song.
Mungojerrie is very thrilled to be “helping” out Skimble and looking good in front of the conductor cat—if you’re familiar with 98, the part where Tumble and Asparagus stop the “train” is done solely by Mungo here. He and Rumpleteazer sabotage more train affairs to look good in front of Skimble. Rumpleteazer convinces Tumble to move class out of her spot (which Mungojerrie only informs Skimble about Tumble pushing instead of the actual instigator). He then encourages Jemima to cause some trouble and notifies Skimble, who then calls out the girls. And Mungo literally had the happiest smirk of mischief ever when he got away with it.
Victoria doesn’t get to build the train—or is too shy to; she sits where Deuteronomy was on the tire and looks on curiously as old Deuteronomy approaches the train. It gets wrecked, and everyone laughs it off, including Deut. (Literally all I remember is Misto laughing because of the damn sting in my eyyyyyyyes.)
All is well; the cats dance off with Skimble. Deut moves to join, but Munk notices and notifies Tugger, who then slows him down. The song is over, and someone crashes the party.
Macavity + Macavity fight
When the initial crash happens, Mungojerrie tries to move some of the kittens away from the rest of the group to safety; Demeter says it’s Macavity. Two Macavity decoys appear from opposite sides at the end of the stage to scare them, and then the real one appears from the pipe with his two hench cats coming from the tire.
After a shocking appearance, he freezes everyone, passing through them and making them collapse until he gets to Demeter and makes her fall to her knees before running off with his henchmen and Deuteronomy (who is comically tied up with a large rope in this version).
P.And this is the closest I saw Victoria towards Mac; she was right in front of him when he appeared. She’s usually way in the back—anyway.
The cats run off, and it’s Macavity time. Alice’s Demeter really embraces the sensuality of the character, right down to the way she stands and poses. You can still feel there’s some attraction just based on her movements paired with her singing and description. But she’s not as willing to give in? That was the interpretation I had, at least.
Bombalurina is, of course, more harsh, and, ugh, her voice is just stunning. You can tell she really gets a kick out of mocking Mac; it’s wonderful. Even though you can tell there was some attraction at a point with her movements and expression, it’s clear she doesn’t like that cat lol.
When Demeter calls Macavity “outwardly respectable,” Bomba looks surprised and smiles in a very “Oh…really?” Way. She found that comment very funny. Meanwhile, Demeter has the regular reaction to Bomba’s response of looking back at her, but there wasn’t as much offense this time.
Macavity fights wahoo. When fake Deut arrives, everyone is relieved and goes to greet him, even Demeter, but after touching him, she senses something’s wrong and backs away. Bomba is still happy. Deuts is back and is smiling as she encourages Demeter to go back, but Dem has put the pieces together and steps back from her. Much to Bomba’s shock, it makes her realize something is very wrong.
She gets a few kittens to back away from him, but Munk, Jenny, and Jelly are still at his side (I think Skimble might have been there too, but again, far left; this is happening on the right). Dem shoves Munk into the tire; the other oldies back away because it’s ! Macavity!
I normally don’t like the new blocking because it looks like Munkustrap waits for Macavity to finish his intro before stepping in, but here it was kind of communicated (at least to me) that Munk was warning him to get out before things get violent—he doesn’t want to immediately resort to fighting. Which, of course, Mac ignores. Timoney really has such a creepy smiley, Mac looks sadistic torturing these cats. And reveling in it.
Demeter crawls towards Macavity (no hypnosis involved; there weren’t any hand motions or anything like that), and Munk is warning her not to as she’s moving in, and he was ultimately right—there’s no reasoning with Macavity; he grabs Demeter, and Munk goes after them. Munk gets stunned, and Dem gets herself free by scratching Mac’s arm—he tosses her aside, and Cassandra? And one other cat I couldn’t really identify (maybe Tant) comforted Dem and blocked her from Mac.
The Macavity fight begins, and if you’re familiar with the new choreography, whenever Mac lands a particularly hard hit, the other Jellicles PHYSICALLY react as if they’re being hit as well—I think it was some type of projection magic, but I like to think they’re so connected with one another that one of them getting hurt reflects on all of them. But on the plus side, Bomba and a few others on the right were cheering for Munk; that was cute.
Instead of two kittens causing Munk to lose focus, Bomba is trying to warn him to get out—I think she may have wanted to take over? But it was clear she was deeply worried about him. Munk wants Bomb to move before she gets hurt, but it's too late, and Macavity jumps on him again and manages to take Munk down.
This moment shouldn’t have been funny to me, but it was. Alonzo literally just entered from the wings, immediately charged Mac, and flopped. Mac fight over. (He totally didn’t just appear because he was one of the decoys. What are you talking about…?)
Jemima is at Munk's side to check on him; very worried and sad, she shares a look with Demeter, and Dem instructs her to stay with him while she joins the others in confronting Macavity.
(To me again) it was kind of clear some time had passed from when Macavity disappeared to when the Jellicles came back, but of course that could just be me—
Anyway—stupid light is back, and guess who it decides to glare at. Yea. Me.
Not fun.
Anyway, the nuzzle scene was very soft and cute; Dem and Munk are just very relieved that at the very least both of them are okay, so they’ll be okay if only for a moment. It was mostly nuzzling each other's necks and heads, no hugging like an oasis.
Magical Mr. Mistoffelees
They actually scoffed! Brilliant! No notes! I don’t think it was particularly because of Mistoffelees but just because it's Tugger, and they were just having a very vulnerable moment.
I don’t think I remember too much here because one dropped my phone and two had so many cast interactions, but I’ll try.
Misto descends down normally, not from the side like I saw in some other clips of this tour. There is the usual revised choreography for this number, but when he does those little smoke bombs, they don’t zap Tugger’s tail.
Anywayyyy, idk why I’m blanking on the solo and conjuring turns. He did them, and it was very good. He and Tugger do the typical shimmy, and when he goes up to Tugger again for another check-in before dancing off, Tugger blows him a kiss.
Asparagus is also very joyful to see Misto dance and does a little hop when Mistoffelees does his leaps.
Cassandra ends up sitting on the tire with Demeter, Bombalurina, and Munkustrap (with Pounce somewhere behind them as well), and when it’s time for Mistoffelees to choose his assistant, Bombalurina starts teasing Cassandra and pointing at her to be picked. Cass does the same for Bomba, pointing at her while shaking her own head no. They pause when they realize Cassandra’s actually been picked.
Also, Munkustrap was pointing at Demeter to be picked, and she was really hoping to get chosen. It was adorable. Asparagus also wanted to go, and Jelly eagerly encouraged this—Victoria and Jemima also encouraged choosing Asparagus. I think Jenny and Tumble were also making themselves candidates.
After old Deut has reappeared, Misto still has his back turned; he's smiling, hoping he got it right, and when Tugger starts singing, Misto is mouthing the lyrics along just before he turns around to see Deuteronomy.
Ok, hi, this is where I zoned out memory-wise (context: I accidentally booked the same hotel as the cast and met them the day before!). They were super friendly and sweet! It's the part where they all run off the stage and—! They recognized me! Specifically Cori and Tant—they were really happy to see me! Cori put his paw out to me, and I bapped. I tried to do the tant too, but she was too far, so I just did heart hands, but she was smiling. A little before that, Munk LEAPED off the stage, and it scared me, but then he came back, sort of paused, and then presented his paw too. Second bap of the night—this cast is very sweet!!! Also, as a side note, the arm warmers are so soft I want one.
Memory
Hi, I was scrambling to find out if my phone fell off my seat, so I wasn’t paying ample attention—sorry—but Jemima’s voice is so ethereal, no notes.
Small note: it’s actually Mistoffelees who guides Deuteronomy to his seat? That’s a new one for me. He was guiding him and holding his back slightly. It was cute.
Grizabella arrives again and kills the mood, but unlike what the wiki suggests, Victoria never turns her back on her, just like Jemima and Deuteronomy.
From where I was sitting, I got a really good angle at Mungo and Rump and their reactions during the song, and Rump is so conflicted from the start (I think Lauren takes some inspo because she also covers Jem, but I really loved Rump being sympathetic and conflicted about Griz from the start).
Grizabella was very grounded during this number; when she collapses, it’s not due to any sort of injury—I noticed that a lot about Lucy’s Grizabella; she isn’t injured or walking with a limp. (From where I was sitting, the scar wasn’t really visible and not as prominent as other productions, which makes me think it's intentionally not as drawn upon for detail because it’s not as important.) But she’s hurt, mentally; she wants forgiveness but understands so much why she won’t get it, why they’re so upset.
She gets down on her legs slowly, almost intentionally, like she’s just about had it and feels she made no progress—ready to give up until Jemima starts to sing. She lifts her head up slowly, hopefully sings with her, and belts it out. It was amazing.
When the number ends (and after a rather long applause, of course), Grizabella walks off, and Yayy Lucy was staring at me, and I could just feel how tired Griz was and the darkness in her eyes. Augh.
Interestingly, before Victoria touches Grizabella, Rumpleteazer tries to look at Grizabella (perhaps without Mungojerrie noticing) and inches her arm in her direction. It never fully reaches or extends, but you can tell she wants to and is afraid.
When Victoria does touch Grizabella, Rumpleteazer has such a big smile on her face. She crawls over to Grizabella and holds her paw too.
When Demeter and Bombalurina touch Grizabella, they spin her in a little circle together. It was so adorable.
Munk does the typical beat of acting defensive before handing Grizabella to Deuteronomy.
(I forgot to mention Mistoffelees isn’t present in this number until the very end- Much like Alonzo. He shows up after everyone has already forgiven Grizabella.)
Journey to the Heaviside layer / addressing of cats
I don’t really have much to say, as this number is very choreographed and I can't write about many interactions. When Deuteronomy bows to Grizabella, Tugger bows alongside him as well. So I’m going to put the addressing of cats with it.
Also the visual of Grizabella going up to the Heaviside layer is so beautiful.
Not much to say about addressing besides Micheal’s voice is incredible, and everyone was great.
The cats run into the audience, and yay! Jelly noticed me! She was so cute and smiley, and I also got to bap her paw, which she was very cheerful about—absolutely adorable.
Yea, and that was my first time seeing cats live—like, I was so happy I got sad that I wouldn’t be able to see the show again (but hopefully one day again soon). Truly my highlight of the year. <33
Also some random photos my dad took
