This is my trip report for the second time I've ever seen Cats, in San Bernardino, September 15 2001. It was one of the best Saturdays of my life. :)

Cats was fantastic. So I'll start at the beginning and try to get everything in. *g* This is a rather haphazard account; I try to go in order, but end up sticking random stuff in when I remember them. So be patient. ;) Plus, it's been written over the fortnight after I saw the show, and my memory is notoriously hazy...

My mother, my father, myself, my ten year old sister, my sixteen year old sister, my best friend Threnody, and her ten year old sister all saw Cats Sept. 15. I had seen it before, in London, and my mother in Pasadena, but other than that, it was video only, and therefore my little sisters, Thren & I were very excited. So was my mom, I think... she does like Cats a bit. But my older sister was cranky and looked bored and my dad looked apprehensive (I think I may have to tone down the 'Cats obsessiveness' around him for a while...)

We left at five, and the show was at eight - but it was a good thing we left so early, cos the traffic in San Bernardino was AWFUL - they have some kind of weekly Saturday night parade/festival thing, apparently, and it was made extra-congested because of patriotic zealots (thanks so much to the terrorism acts of September 11th...;). So it took ages to find a way to get at the theatre, which was RIGHT in the centre of the traffic. Oy. My mother said later that if it had been anything but Cats, or if it hadn't been my birthday present, she would have given up. So thank Bast it WAS Cats, and WAS for my birthday, eh? Anyway, we finally managed to get to the theatre. We went up to it, me crossing my fingers and praying like mad that the demonstration hadn’t made them cancel the show (as my mother had cruelly suggested). IT DIDN'T!! It was still going to play! So I breathed, and then Threnody and I started browsing the posters on the sides of the theatre that had pics of Rent. And we got our programmes, too - no head shots of the actors, unfortunately, and no pictures of the tour. The picture on the front of the programmes was of Electra, Alonzo, and Mungojerrie, but the video cast (Leah Morland [I think], Jason Gardiner, and Drew Varley). My mother was asking the box office woman where a place to eat around there was. The box office woman said they were serving food upstairs (!!!) so we went up the super fancy steps of the glamourous California Theatre of the Performing Arts (picture a mint green version of Her Majesty’s Theatre in London) and headed straight for the buffet table. They had sandwichy things and a fruit bowl. And really good cookies. I had a cookie. I was too excited to eat much of anything. Then my mother, Thren, and I went downstairs (leaving my sisters, Thren’s sister, and my dad upstairs to continue their meal) and ogled the concession stand. Well, I did. And probably Thren. My mother? I doubt it. She probably gaped a bit at the prices, though. Anyway, my mom found an usher and figured out which of our seven separate tickets (we got the LAST seven seats in the house, so they were all separate) were the two best - and gave those two to myself and Thren! Yay. Go birthday girls! ;) Then my mom went back upstairs and left Thren and I… alone… with a Cats concession stand… and no money! Oh, the torture. Anyhoo, we ogled the fifty dollar pre-signed poster (no need to stand outside the stage door! How unfun! My dad would have loved it) a bit and then went in to our seats.

It was at this point that we caught the first glimpse of the stage. Wow. I’ll say it again - Wow. The set was SO cool! It had the usual Jellicle Moon background, and Christmas tree lights strung round the theatre. The good ol’ Car’s license number was NAP 11A, for anyone who’s interested. ;) The oven door was closed, rather than open as it is in the vid (and, I think, London). The stage was rather small, and the set a lot more… economical than in, say, the video, or in London (where they have the advantage of a twenty year permanent set!). It was good, though. Great set.

My first seat was three from the aisle, all the way to the right of the theatre, and about six rows from the front. A great seat… except that I couldn’t see about half the stage. Oh dear. I ended up trading with my dad, putting me dead centre, and right under the balcony (i.e., if I’d been up in the balcony, I’d’ve been front row). I talked to a lot of people sitting around me… this fourteen year old guy who was in front of me in my first seat (I asked "You may think I’m rude, or weird, or even both, but I was curious - have you ever seen Cats before?" His response? A look of get-away-from-me-weirdo and a "Uh, no?"). I also asked the same question of the person sitting in front of me for my second seat, a grandmotherly type woman. She said that no, she hadn’t, and proceeded to ask me questions about it. Yay! So I answered all her questions, and answered some questions that she hadn’t asked (like what on Earth the Heaviside Layer is). It was fun. I love talking about Cats, especially to a complete newbie (i.e., someone who hasn’t heard me talk about this, my favourite subject, before). The woman’s granddaughter didn’t seem to want to be there. She kept complaining about her drama teacher who made his class see plays, more plays (oh, how agonising. Wow. I’m in shock. A drama teacher who wants his students to actually see shows?). If you’re that girl, and you recognise yourself because of the mention of some girl in a Cats shirt who kept talking to your grandmother… well, sorry, but ‘complaining, whiny, doesn’t want to be here’ is definitely the impression I got. *shrugs*

I then read my programme for a while, and had come awfully close to memorising Grant Turner (Munkustrap)’s bio when the lights dimmed. The show was about to start…

Some woman or other came up to the front and made announcements along the lines of ‘the cats will be running through the aisles so move your stuff, turn off your cell phones, there’s strobe lights and stuff in the show, etc.’ Then she added that that night’s performance was dedicated to the people who lost their lives Sept. 11th, and she asked for a moment of silence. Less than a second later (it seemed), the world’s shortest ever moment of silence was up. And then… time for the show to begin.

The usual overture began, rather louder than I’d expected (btw, kudos to the orchestra [who I nearly met during intermission] - it was great!) I then saw four pairs of green cats eyes glimmering in the aisles. I saw Victoria (that evening played by Susanna Hirst) and Plato (Everett Taylor) on my right side, Vicky hissing at someone, and then saw them run through the door to the stage. On the other side, I’m pretty certain I saw Cassandra (Tina Moya), and possibly Alonzo (Ronnie Nelson) with her, but I’m not sure.

Turns out that Threnody, whose first seat was an aisle seat, was lucky enough to get hissed at by Victoria. Poor little me, no aisle seat… ;) Oh, well, in London I touched (accidentally, I swear!) Rumpelteazer’s tail and got eyed by Bombalurina. *mwahaha*

Demeter (Jessica Lea Patty) prowled onstage, then, with a very car-like headlight & tire screech (more like a car than in the vid), hissed and headed for the sewage pipe. Then Munkustrap (Grant Turner) slithered down the car, and I ended up watching him the whole time all the other cats were making their entrances.

I won’t make this a step-by-step synopsis of the show, because my memory isn’t good enough for that (I saw it on Sept. 15 and this is now the 27th of that month…). I’ll just mention the memorable, funny, beautiful, etc. moments. Also my impressions of the various actors, and how I thought the whole thing compared to the video and to London.

They didn’t perform The Pekes & Pollicles, but Ronnie Nelson (Alonzo) was still billed as playing the Rumpuscat. As far as I could tell, he never once changed his costume. What’s with that?

Rather than the whole trapeze thing during Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats, the cats formed two lines and danced a bit whilst Tumblebrutus (Brad Barnes) and Mungojerrie, I think it was (Bryce Bermingham) did very cool acrobatics down the row between the two lines of cats.

Mistoffelees (McCree O’Kelley) sang nothing, and SAID a total of four lines ("Presto!", the Terpsichorean line, and I can’t recall what else). For the ‘terrible bore’ line in Rum Tum Tugger, Munkustrap and Plato each leaned on one of Tugger’s (Stan Stanley) shoulders and said the line. More on that bit in a moment. Though Mistoffelees danced the Invitation with Victoria, Munkustrap sang it. He didn’t sing the second half of Magical Mister Mistoffelees as is usually done - instead, the Rum Tum Tugger sang the whole thing. **Note: I just watched the video for the first time since seeing Cats in San Bernardino and realised that I was wrong - Misto doesn’t usually sing the second half of his song… that’s just in the soundtrack (OBC), which I listened to the whole way home.**

The Beetles’ Tattoo was quite long. Very good though. I really liked it. So, in fact, did my mother - which is unusual, as for the most part she didn’t like the parts I loved, and preferred the parts I… didn’t (don’t get me wrong; it was all splendid. But she loved The Ad-Dressing of Cats, which is a slightly less than interesting scene imo, and said she couldn’t stand Songs for Cats, which I adored). So the Beetles’ Tattoo must of been really good. ;)

Mistoffelees’ song was longer than in the video, and a bit longer (if I remember correctly) than the London one. It was way different, too. Different tune during part of it. WONDERFUL dancing on the part of McCree O’Kelley (a.k.a. the Magical Mister Mime). We (Thren, my dad, and I) decided Misto was a mime for two reasons; a) he never sang and only spoke four times, and b) at the end of his song he did this odd (but cool) little thing where he mimed the spotlight getting smaller and smaller and it did. And then he vanished it. It was neat.

In the Ad-Dressing of Cats, poor Old Deuteronomy (Jarrett Boyd) just sort of… stopped singing at the line ‘but always bear in mind that he’ et cetera. He got back at ‘familiarity’ and continued smoothly after that. J Kinda like me when I sang On My Own at a talent show last August and started singing the wrong verse…

During Macavity: The Mystery Cat, whilst Demeter was singing her first verse, Alonzo was doing this dance behind her, mostly the same dance she was doing with some slight differences. It was really cool-looking, like a shadow of her.

No Tantomile & Coricopat in this production, but I’d been forewarned about that… no Electra & Etcetera, either, though, which meant that the Rum Tum Tugger’s fan club was a little smaller than usual.

At the end of the show, after the curtain calls, Bombalurina & The Rum Tum Tugger came onstage. Bomba shoved him down, then ran off stage, Tugger following her. They did it in London, I believe… it was very funny.

I’m pretty certain the curtain calls were in alphabetical order of the Jellicles names, because otherwise there was no sense to the order they came on in. Very neat acrobatics there, I might add, on the parts of… lessee… Pouncival, Tumblebrutus, Mungojerrie, Alonzo, Plato, I have no idea who else. Misto, prolly.

There was this amusing double-take… in the part where Gus & Munkustrap say ‘There’s a man over there’ and ‘Do I actually see with my own very eyes?’ Right after that, all the cats say ‘What’s a Jellicle Cat?’ and started to turn away, then looked back and said it again. Very nice. ;)

Jennyanydots had to be chased around to get her Gumbie coat back on. I did think that bit was funny. And then Munkustrap ended up just dropping it on her. Julie Garnye did something more like Gumbies are described in the song than I’ve seen it previously… more of the ‘she sits and sits and sits and sits’.

In London, when the train wreck in Skimbleshanks’ song occurs, only Victoria laughed (although that oddly demonic-sounding giggle, as unexpected as it was, and coming from RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, was enough to make me jump). In the tour, everyone did (except, naturally, poor Skimbleshanks).

Growltiger’s Last Stand was very amusing. I’d forgotten that none of the people I was with (my two sisters, my mother and father, Threnody and her little sister) had ever seen it before. They all seemed to really like it. I loved it, as I had in London, but it was very different from London. For one thing… there wasn’t any tiger print mattress. ;) Also, it was more cartoony than the London one.

At the stage door, whilst getting autographs, some woman came out of the stage door holding a huge bag of dog food. Whoever it was that was signing my programme right then (I think Bryce Bermingham) said "Is that for us?"

Another woman, one of the fans waiting for autographs, kept insisting that she was going to marry someone in the cast.

Impressions of the Cast:

Brad Barnes (Tumblebrutus)
This man is an amazing acrobat. Through the evening, I alternately decided to give up gymnastics forever (on the grounds that no way could I ever be half as good as him) and decided to throw myself more into gymnastics (in order to become as good as him!). The Tumble cossie was the same pattern as the video Tumblebrutus, but with orange rather than brown on the spots. That made it easier to identify him (though I did have a bit of trouble at first). Brad Barnes was also very nice when he signed my programme.

Wendi Bergamini (Jellylorum/Griddlbone)
She has a very beautiful voice, well suited to the Una Tepida Notte bit in the middle of Growltiger’s Last Stand. She was more like I always thought Jellylorum was intended to be - more like Cassandra & Tantomile’s age - rather than the Gumbie-like mother figure she’s become in most people’s minds. I got her autograph!

Bryce Bermingham (Mungojerrie)
This guy was awesome. He was a great singer, a really good acrobat, a very funny actor, and also very funny out of costume. *dances around* I got his autograph! His costume was a lot darker than any Mungo I’ve ever seen. Um, what else… oh yeah - his website, http://www.ludio.com, is a really good one. J

David A. Blonn (Pouncival U/S Mistoffelees)
I really wanted to get his autograph, but somehow I missed him. *sighs* I found it very difficult to tell which was Pouncival and which was Plato, as their costumes were very similar, and nothing like video or London cossies. Oh well… they were both really good acrobats! **Note: After I wrote this I actually went to this man’s website, saw his posts on both his forum and the one at Musicals.Net, and came to realise that he’s very nice to fans. Too bad I didn’t get the chance to meet him live, I’d’ve liked that…**

Jarret Boyd (Old Deuteronomy)
A rather higher voice than I’m used to in Deut’s… nice, though. His makeup was a bit strong; it made it difficult to tell what his actual expression was. Poor guy flubbed a line in Ad-Dressing of Cats… but he came back nicely. J

Colin Cunliffe (Swing)
He was understudying Skimbleshanks the evening I saw it. He was much better than Vulcan-Kitty Ross Finnie (London Skimble; no offense to those who like him, or R.F. himself); he was funnier, and just as good a dancer and singer. At the stage door, when he was handing out autographs, he asked everyone’s names. Didn’t write ‘em, though, just asked them. He signed my programme, ‘e did. J

Julie Garnye (Jennyanydots)
I didn’t get her autograph, darn. Well… my opinion on her performance is that I’ve seen better. Someone told me that she was more of a Dem/Bomba-age Jenny, rather than the usual Gumbie, but I didn’t get that impression. I think my favourite Jenny is still the lovable Catherine Terry… Julie Garnye was rather odd. Her costume didn’t help; it looked a lot like the Japanese Rumpelteazer’s costume, which personally, I can’t stand. Like I said earlier in this report, she did more of a 'sits and sits and sits and sits' Gumbie than I've seen previously. That was a nice change.

Gretchen Goldsworthy (Grizabella)
Wow. Someone hand this woman an award of some kind… she has a beautiful voice and is a great actress. Memory is done so much that I’d become rather numb to it and to Grizabella… but this actress brought back to me what exactly the song and the cat are supposed to be all about. She’s fantastic. I would’ve loved to have been able to tell her so, but unfortunately I missed her at the stage door. *sighs*

Emily Haag (Rumpelteazer)
A very adorable Rumpelteazer. ;) Great acrobat, and a lovely voice. I especially loved the Vase bit in M&R, where she whispered "Uh oh!" and then she & Mungo giggled. It was adorable! *laughs* I said that already… but it really was. Her costume was a good deal paler than it usually is; she was like a Victoria with an orange wig. **Note: She appears to be leaving the tour… too bad, she was fantastic!**

William Hartery (Gus/Growltiger/Bustopher Jones)
He was a very very funny Bustopher, and a very very funny Growltiger. Gus I’ve always found a tad boring, but he was good as him… I loved GLS. It was more cartoony than I like (more so than in London), but still great. I got his autograph!

Susanna Hirst (Swing)
Susanna Hirst played Victoria the evening I saw Cats. She’s shorter than my little sister! (and if you know my little sister, you know that’s pretty damn short) She was a very kittenish, cute sort of Victoria (as opposed to the ‘long elegant mystical queen’ that Phyllida Crowley Smith did, and that most Cats fans seem accustomed to, if the fanfiction and poetry are anything to go by). I thought her makeup was a bit heavy, making her face somewhat surreal-looking at times. I got her autograph, and she was very nice. I might add that my mother, in particular, loved her as Victoria. J I’d really been looking forward to seeing Shylo Smith, whom I’d heard was really good, but oh well. Maybe some day…

Sharon Huneycutt (Bombalurina)
She was a fantastic Bombalurina, though (again) I thought the makeup was a tad too heavy. She had a really great voice, though. When she first came out of the stage door, my mother asked me which one she was and I recognized her! I’m so proud of myself. *g* Got ‘er autograph, too. This actress is from England I believe, and she seemed to be trying to do an American-sounding accent for the show… it was fine most of the time, but in Grizabella, she said ‘Grizabella the gla-MOUR cat’, pronounced the ‘mour’ bit really harshly, and that was slightly irritating. But otherwise she was fantastic.

Tina Moya (Cassandra)
I wasn’t fond of her wig. It was strange. But the actual actress was really good. I’m jealous - she’s a fabulous dancer. Unfortunately, I didn’t get her autograph. *sigh* **Note: David Blonn himself has said that she’s leaving the tour, which is really sad, imo… the new Cassandra will have a difficult time filling her dance shoes!**

Ronnie Nelson (Alonzo)
He was billed as Alonzo/Rumpus, but there was NO Pekes & Pols at all… what’s up with that?? Anyway. He was really nice, and I thought really good in the show. I got his autograph (yay for me!). I found him pretty easy to identify, because, all though he was wearing the American cossie (and I’m used to the London), he had the same lines & everything in the show, and his costume was the same pattern as vid/London, just different colours.

McCree O’Kelley (Mistoffelees)
I have a new absolute favourite Mistoffelees. McCree O’Kelley is a fantastic dancer. His make-up, and the GLS costume, made him look oddly anime (he hadn’t got enough makeup on his nose, and he had one lone eyebrow). Misto’s a Mime! I already mentioned that, and about Misto’s lines getting less and less, so I won’t go into that. Lesse… when McCree O’Kelley came out of the stage door, I got his autograph, and mentioned that he was wonderful, and way better (in my opinion) than Jacob Brent, who everyone else loves. I also said that the song itself was longer and very different from the London version. He asked if I’d seen Jacob Brent in London and I said, no, unfortunately. He said that Jacob Brent went to the same school as he (McCree O’Kelley, that is) did. I said something like cool (my mind is so fuzzed out…) and then that I’d seen Campbell McKenzie. He asked if that was the Australian one. ;) (BTW - he is.) Oh - and in case you haven’t noticed, I got his autograph.

Jessica Lea Patty (Demeter)
I thought she made a beautiful and very sympathizable (I’m well aware that that isn’t technically a word…) Demeter. The costume was a bit brighter, more like video-Rumpelteazer’s, than in the video or London. Didn’t get her autograph, I’m afraid - I’d’ve loved to tell her how wonderful she was.

Sara Schudde (Sillabub)
Costume was a lot like Demeter’s; lighter than in London. I’m not used to calling this role ‘Sillabub’; until now, I’ve only known her as Jemima. Well, I consider the two different cats… anyway, about the actress. She had a nice voice, but it was a bit dry, and she didn’t seem to be pulling off the cute-little-kitten thing. With no Electra or Etcetera, it was pretty necessary that she did so - Victoria & Rumpelteazer were left to manage on their own. I didn’t get her autograph.

John Sechrist (Skimbleshanks)
Colin Cunliffe was understudying this role that evening, so I have nothing to say about this man…

Shylo Smith (Victoria)
See above, basically. Except that it was Susanna Hirst doing Vicky, not Colin Cunliffe (obviously). I really did want to see Shylo Smith as Victoria; her bio said that she’d been Vicky for a year in Hamburg. But oh well… Needless to say, no autograph here.

Stan Stanley (The Rum Tum Tugger)
He’s short, but not as short as Tom Lucas. Maybe I’m just used to John Partridge… he was really good, though, doing more Elvis-y moves than either Tom Lucas or John Partridge did (those being the other two Tugger’s I’ve ever seen). Very funny. And I so want that guy’s shoes… leopard print shoes! He didn’t stick around the stage door very long; I got his autograph, though!

Everett Taylor (Plato/Macavity)
Superb Plato. He is amazingly flexible and I am SO jealous. As Macavity he was also really good, but the Macca costume got on my nerves - "Tall and thin", "tall and thin"! That doesn’t mean buff! *sighs* Oh well, not his fault. Plato was very very very funny. Previously, Plato was just sort of yet another cat… now I like him a lot. J He signed my programme in a nice shiny silver pen. *beams*

Grant Turner (Munkustrap)
Oh… I adore Munku. And Grant Turner, while not my favourite silver tabby, was very good. He seemed to be more of a dancer than I’ve seen before. He appeared to be trying to do an American accent (he’s Australian), and that did get on my nerves (along with Sharon Huneycutt’s ‘gla-MOUR cat’) a little. His Munkustrap seemed to be slightly less of a fighter, and more of an Old Deut-type, than Michael Gruber’s or David Ashley’s… for one thing, his part in the Macavity fight-scene was less than half of what it usually is, and Alonzo took over most of it. I can’t tell if it was Munku or Alonzo who hugged Demeter in the train light after Macca zapped the lights… if anyone knows, PLEASE tell me!! Grant Turner was easily the tallest person in the cast (which my mother called the cast of shrimps… though they weren’t THAT short…). When he came out the stage door, I was pretty certain who he was (like I said, tallest cat…). I’d been waiting for him. ;) I asked him to autograph my programme, and while he was doing so I asked if I was right in thinking that he was Munkustrap. He said yes, he was. I told him how wonderful he was and that Munkustrap was, without a doubt, my absolutely favourite cat. He laughed and said I had good taste - I replied that I knew! ;)

That’s the whole cast, except for some swings who weren’t onstage, so I have no comments on ‘em… yeah, yeah, I know, swings are people too. ;)