Cats (Youth Production)

The availability to youth groups of many shows that have graced the West End is both a great opportunity and a potential disaster. I've never been a fan of juniors performing shows written for adults as the subtlety brought to a performance by the actor's own life experience is often missing, leading to a diluted production that leaves the audience wanting.

BYG's decision to perform Lloyd Webber's 'Cats' did not fall into that CATegory! In fact it gave us the chance to watch a performance without the preconceptions we normally carry with us when we see shows that feature familiar faces - with 'Cats' the elaborate costumes and make-up took away identities and left us watching nothing but the characters the cast brought to life. 

As we entered the auditorium the mood was already set with an open stage displaying our set for the whole performance. The junk yard. Atmospherically lit throughout with void use of hazers, the set was a blend of the visual and practical that made for a good-looking set with plenty of levels and spaces to perform in and around. The only disappointing things that the scale was all wrong. Everything was 'normal' size, when in fact it should have been scaled up to match the 'human-sized' cats.

Overall the performances were good, but there were some individuals who stood out. Chief amongst these was Munkustrap, who delivered the standout performance of the show. Not only was he strong in character, vocal ability and movement, but he was one of the few on stage who maintained a strong 'cat-like' persona throughout the performance. Not the loudest or most outlandish of cats, but certainly the strongest performance by a long way. We were also treated to strong characterisations of The Rum Tum Tugger, Old Deuteronomy, Mungojerry and Rumpleteaser and Mr Mistofelees. 

Gus, the theatre cat, delivered a great performance that showed us the old cat's age while singing with clarity and strength. In fact a couple of the other 'old cats' might have learned something from him - but I guess it's only as we get older that we understand what it means to be constantly aching and slow down (oh my back!). Old Deuteronomy gave one of his strongest vocal performances to date with his rendition of 'The Moments of Happiness', but no-one was going to match Grizabella for shear vocal strength and 'Diva-like' stage presence. I find Cats an odd show that gave me few 'buzzes', but only the coldest audience members would have remained unmoved buy her rendition of 'memory' - with that power-note on 'touch me' that sent my heart into my throat! 

This show is predominantly a choreographer's show. It never stops and even in the quieter moments the cast still need to be taught to hold themselves in that cat-like pose and to adopt the appropriate mannerisms, which is no mean feat. There were no points in the show that I (or my choreographical advisor) felt were weak and in fact we saw a performance in which the cast had obviously been drilled well in their dance moves, which had been designed to look good while taking into account the ability of the dancers.

Again, there were some numbers that stood our from others. Some of the ballet performed by the white cat in act one was beautiful, while for high-energy numbers 'The Gumbie Cat' and it's tapping hit the spot! Double-act 'Mungojerry' and 'Rumpleteaser' we're great in their energetic number, although Mungojerry struggled a little with her breath well singing and leaping about the stage.

It was very clear that a huge effort had gone into making the costumes for such a big cast, but that effort truly paid off. They looked fantastic. There were only a couple of tails that managed to slip round to the wrong place and a couple of make-ups that looked a little clumsy - such as Mr Mistofelees. 

The live orchestra sounded good and did a great job of keeping pace with the cast in some of the places where things slowed up a bit and successfully added their musical magic to the overall spectacle.

All in all this has been one of the better, more well-round shows I have been fortunate enough to see this society of talented and developing youth perform and everyone involved should be rightly proud of their achievement.

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