Cats

I well remember being enchanted by the original Cats in the West End, – not ballet, not opera, not musical theatre or musical comedy, and with nothing in the way of dialogue to explain its series of songs and dances based on a book of poems.  It’s been in the domain of amateur societies for a long time now and not always successfully, given its reliance on the high energy needed to maintain the genre and the costumes that may not be the most flattering for those of us who are not active for a living.  No such fear with Kidz R Us.  The entire cast, looking cat-svelte, kept up a cracking pace throughout giving dynamic performances that endured for the whole show – I bet their parents had difficulty getting them to sleep after that with the adrenaline still buzzing.

Scenery: The junkyard setting was quite simply created with surprisingly little on stage and the help of huge projection screens.  The dominant features were the large wheelie-bins and lobster pots, dustbins lids and the ‘discarded’ trampette.  The set's versatility was revealed as the wheelie bins became a dining table, and, with the dustbin lids, morphed into a train, that, thanks to the film displayed behind it, steamed down the track.  We were offered a trapeze, and a forklift ‘stairway to heaven’ before the drama of a ship sailing on a blue satin sea climaxed with a suicidal dive of ‘walking the plank’ onto a well-disguised huge crash mat.  The two staircases up to, and the upper level itself, were well used to provide different areas for the performers so we were shown constantly changing pictures within the choreography.

The music and sound – as usual with so many Kidz R Us shows the music was provided by pre-recorded backing tracks, which gives the cast the advantage of hearing and singing with the full score from the start.  As a result they are familiar with all its nuances of light and shade and the musical director coached similar from their voices as we were led through the variety of moods and tempi in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music.  It wasn’t always easy to hear every single word, though, as sometimes the number of words within a phrase ran faster than tongues could manage and, let’s not forget, the singers are all dancing much of the time as well!  I found myself listening really closely to make out the narrative hidden in one or two of the songs.  Sometimes, frankly, it didn’t seem to matter and I was delighted and mesmerized by the spectacle and energy alone.

The lighting enhanced this all singing, all dancing show by its changes of colour and focus that pinpointed our area of attention or opened it out to the panorama of the whole stage.  The opening of the show was particularly impressive as the dark-shrouded and masked figures swirled around enigmatically in the half-light of a blue gobo before the blinder that allowed the striking change to the eye-piercing colour blast that was the arrival of the Cats – rightly drawing a round of applause!  The mood of the songs was echoed and reinforced by subdued lighting for quiet more intimate moments, half shadows for the mysterious, and brilliant technicolour for full company numbers.  The thunder and lightning were a dramatic effect to end Act I.

I’m told the wardrobe team made all of the costumes especially for this show.  They did the most remarkable job because they were simply spectacular – colourful, varied, character driven and well fitted to the individuals.  I could see that the basic layer was a body stocking that had been hand-painted – this must have taken longer than just a couple of hours in the evening so all credit to the skill and imagination of the artists who volunteered for the job.  In addition many characters had over-layers of waistcoat, overcoat, hats, scarves and suchlike, not to mention the oh-so-funny inflating suit of Bustopher Jones, genius!  So often I have to write that the make up needed nothing out of the ordinary and that it was sufficient to look natural.  Oh! Ho-ho!  My word, did the make up team have a fun time letting their creativity out of the bag?!  All those young people to paint up and all individually styled.  I am in awe of your artistry.  And the hair! – wigs! – hair!… I couldn’t see where one ended and the other began!!!  Some wore full wigs but it was ingenious to devise that neat and inventive plaiting that blended in with the real hair so imperceptibly to create cats’ ears - and the amount of coloured hairspray, well, and all the fancy facepaint, must be a nightmare to wash from pillows!

I was truly blown away by the choreography but deeply conscious all the time that it was given to the performers by a professional so of itself it should be good.  What stands out is the performance of it and that’s what had the impact.  I loved the staccato, interrupted movement of an alert cat contrasted with slinky prowling and punctuated by quite remarkable gymnastics, - I saw somersaults and cartwheels, spins and turns in the air, the eye-catching double cartwheel of Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer and lifts by partners and the juxtaposition of Victoria’s delicate ballet.  The variety was breath-taking and the finished product worth every minute of the long hours of rehearsal.

The overall effect of the show and the reception it had on the night I saw it are evidence of crafty direction, which goes further than simply directing.  There is clear evidence of a long-term supportive training environment.  Also the list of names ‘backstage’ seems to grow with each show and underlines the dedication needed to keep this group going so successfully.  It is so hard to believe the ages of these youngsters who can produce work of this quality.  Every single one on stage was totally engaged from start to finish, giving the same commitment and energy whether supporting another performer’s solo or taking centre stage.  The eyes were alive with a fire that draws in the audience – not a twitch, a scratch, a pull at a costume or a glance at another for a cue or a clue, and that evident training and discipline is what makes me say, quite confidently, that Kidz R Us are the best youth group in Cornwall, if not the West Country.

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