Cats

I attended the Chairman’s night for the performance of Cats by Lowestoft Players. Having seen the London Production of Cats I was interested to see how the changes would be made to the original... I enjoyed the music and speeches over the tanoy of the World War 2 era on entering the auditorium.

The first impressions of the facial make up combined with catlike extras set the scene admirably. The additional costumes depicted the style worn in the 1940s and were made in house. I would like to mention, each member of the cast recreated their own make up, this took 2hrs initially but they were proud to tell me that they managed to get it down to just over the hour! As a whole the singing was superb, great harmonies throughout. The dancing was effective as was the digital backdrop scenery changes which engaged the audience totally in the plot. The use of levels on the stage formed a boost to the storyline. The lighting was appropriate to each scene mood showing light and dark aptly.

The cast worked well together and would be difficult to pick out anyone individually. I thought their interpretations of the characters came through. They all looked like they had the time of their cat lives!

The Gus scene came to life with the characterisation and empathy. The railway cat Skimbleshanks used the auditorium and stage levels inventively and with style. The Heavyside lair scene was inspired by the lifting of Grizabella. This was cleverly done.

For me movement and style of dance needs to relate specifically to the era and the characters represented in a show. Just a note to say from an audience point of view the mics went off and on spasmodically in inappropriate moments.

The show Cats is iconic and I thank you for your invitation to see your interpretation of this. It was an entertaining and enjoyable evening. Well done.

 

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