CATS
The Civic – THE EDGE®, Auckland
06/06/2009 - 27/06/2009
Production Details
THE PURR-FECT CAST
Harlequin Musical Theatre proudly announces that New Zealand’s first lady of showbiz TINA CROSS will reprise her Tui Award-winning role as Grizabella in the upcoming spectacular season of CATS to open at Auckland’s The Civic, THE EDGE on June 6.
Producers are equally delighted to announce that West End-trained SHANE CORTESE – a star of television’s Outrageous Fortune – will add more than a little cheek to the role of The Rum Tum Tugger.
Tina and Shane headline this world-class production featuring a new staging and costuming of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s celebrated theatrical phenomenon. They will be supported on stage by the Harlequin Musical Theatre Company – with 50 years experience and 110 musicals and plays to its credit. A massive 150 plus thespians from throughout New Zealand auditioned for roles in this coveted production.
"We are privileged to have such talent involved in this production," says award-winning director Grant Meese.
"Shane and Tina will deliver a performance equal to or better than any talent anywhere in the world. Let’s celebrate what we have right on our doorstep.
"People of all ages will enjoy this show – a show seen by millions around the world and we have deliberately priced it so the whole family can enjoy this wonderful theatrical phenomenon."
The Civic will transform into a magical world of lushly orchestrated music, gasp-inducing dance, songs that draw excited laughter one moment, and soaring wonder the next. Only one show brings all of the facets of musical theatre together so completely and produces an experience that stays with you forever; Andrew Lloyd Webber’s CATS.
It’s a show that barely needs an introduction. Since CATS first opened on the West End stage in 1981, it has become one of the world’s best known and best loved musicals.
CATS has been presented in over 20 countries and in about 250 cities, including such diverse destinations as Buenos Aires, Seoul, Helsinki and Singapore. Within two and half years of the London opening there were productions in New York, Tokyo, Budapest and Vienna, and the first of tour US touring productions had hit the road.
With all new production sets and costumes direct from the recent Melbourne and Wellington seasons, Auckland is set relive the memory of one of the world’s most popular musicals, once more.
Saturday 6 – Saturday 27 June, The Civic
www.catsnz.com
$59.90 – $79.90*
*Service fees will apply
Tickets on sale now from THE EDGE®
Phone 0800 BUYTICKETS or www.buytickets.co.nz
CAST
Grizabella Tina Cross
Rum Tum Tugger Shane Cortese
Old Deuteronomy Ian Campbell
Munkustrap Cameron Clayton
Mr Mistoffelees Geordan Wilcox
Bustopher Jones Luke Bird
Jenny-Any-Dots Theresa Tapp
Gus Neville Scelly
Bombalurina Sarah Kent
Demeter Camille Boyte
Mungojerrie Clinton Meneses
Rumpleteaser Andrea Grant
Sillabub Alana Drake
Isis Alicia Hellens
Savannah Amber-Rose Henshall
Cartouche Ashleigh Morgan
Jacuzzi Ashleigh Fox
Asparagus Brendan Talbot
Exotica Cassandra McCowan
Electra Charlotte Helliwell
Pouncival Chris Blackburn
Plato Clay Roberts
Growltiger Daniel Ellery
Victor Daryl Wrightson
Anoushka Duchesne Alder
Romola Ellen-Moana Smith
Tintomara Emily Campbell
Buttercup Genevieve Aitken
Johnny Jesse Peach
Jemima Katie Bierwirth
Griddlebone Kerry Scurr
Quaxo Kieran Jacobsen
Jellylorum Louise Williams
Garbo May Lee Allen
Rocket Nicholas Tredrea
Sambuca Paula Ferguson
Tantomile Rachel Fromont
Victoria Rebecca-Jade Oram
Carbuckety Reuben Turner
Coricopat Rosanne Sims
Skimbleshanks Tom Webster
Alonzo Tim Minturn
Cassandra Tracy Trinder
Admetus Travis MacLennan
PRODUCTION
Producers Harlequin Musical Theatre
Director Grant Meese
Musical Director Penny Dodd
Choreographer Leigh Evans
Tap Choreographer Val Hemphill
Technical Manager Nik Janiurek
Stage Manager Scott Thomas
Ass. Stage Manager Mark Betty
Lighting Design & Operation Mark Hakaraia - Fused-Fx
Sound Design & Operation Craig Ross - Oceania Audio Ltd
Pyrotechnic Design & Operation Aaron King - Fused-Fx
Properties Manager Paula Jepson
Wardrobe Manager Mardie Sims
Make-Up Design & Wig Preparation Ali Brill
Prosthetic Design Nori Honda
Make-Up Artists Students Of Cut Above Academy
Marketing & Publicity Manager Rachael Wiseman
Administration Manager Cathy Betty
Public Relations Sandra Roberts - Skip Ink
Programme Photography Ivor Earp-Jones
Show Photography John Ferguson
Programme Design Design Communications Ltd
Stellar Cross performance electrifies poetic memories
Review by Paul Simei-Barton 08th Jun 2009
It is difficult to think of Cats without envisioning the iconic West End or Broadway extravaganzas that redefined contemporary musical theatre.
But in the hands of Harlequin Musical Theatre – a local company that began as the Howick Light Opera and is currently celebrating its 50 anniversary – the Andrew Lloyd Webber classic is brought down to Earth. [More]
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Discipline, effort and detail made to look easy
Review by Alex Port 07th Jun 2009
Well. Where to start? That CATS is whole lot of show is indisputable. It has been an iconic show for nearly thirty years. I first attended in 1981, while my mother was seven months pregnant with me. As a geeky child, I memorised swarthes of T.S. Eliot’s poem and watched the original production on video. I have always been fascinated by the show, its cunning stealth and lyrical mischief.
Held in the sumptuous surroundings of the Civic Theatre, the opening night of CATS has a really magical vibe about it. The impressive foyer is awash with people and as we enjoy a pre-show cocktail at Starks, I feel the excitement build as the audience mills around in anticipation.
We take our seats and the theatre dims. As the curtain rises, the simple set slowly becomes overrun with a heaving, teeming, slinky, supple mass of, well, cats. Superb costumes and make-up sprawl sinuously across a simple set. They elegantly mobilise into subtle formation and perform the first number, ‘Jellicle Cats’, which has been my internal soundtrack since the show.
The choreography is hypnotic, performed with such ease that it feels like it was just meant to be. Combine this with the lighting, a simple set and the refined performance of the classic songs and the effect is remarkable. The atmosphere is masterfully raised to a manic fever pitch of aural and visual near overload then, just as quickly, brought down to dark sinister silence.
The main characters are all done really well – Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, Bombalurina and Demeter singing about McCavity and of course, the magical Mister Mistoffelees are among my favourites.
As someone whose previous knowledge of Shane Cortese extends to Shortland St and appearances on the covers of gossip magazines, I am surprised to find myself as impressed with his performance as I am. His representation is completely appropriate, he catches the essence of the sleazy cad Rum Tum Tugger very well indeed. His singing is well-controlled and clear and he exudes natural flair as he stalks around the set.
Tina Cross is also someone I may not formerly have put at the top of my list of favourites, again based on a limited exposure to her work. At the beginning of the show and in her first appearances she sings in a wobbling warble appropriate to her character, the elderly regretful Grizzabella and I am fairly indifferent to the performance. However, I am the first person to admit when I have been unfair, and I have to say, after the intermission and as dawn is about to break in the show, she launches into a powerful chorus of ‘Memory’ that blows me back in my seat, draws tears from my eyes and gives me goosebumps all over. Possibly one of the most staggering moments I have experienced in viewing live theatre.
In the first minutes of the opening performance there were a couple of what felt to me like slightly latent starts and the first solo dancer was a bit wobbly, maybe nervous, which is to be expected on such a big night and in the context of the whole show; barely worth mentioning.
With a production of this scale and recognisability, there is always the risk of not doing justice to its reputation by under- or over-cooking it. Luckily for me (and the few hundred others in the theatre) this version does superb justice to the existing reputation. Its simple visual extravagance and the hugely disciplined performers that make it look so easy belie the amount of effort and detail that necessarily go into this show. I am completely blown away.
We leave beaming widely, pulling some pretty cool feline moves and spend the rest of the evening randomly bursting into rousing showtunes and recommending the show to anyone we can get our hands on.
As I do to you, gentle reader.
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For more production details, click on the title above. Go to Home page to see other Reviews, recent Comments and Forum postings (under Chat Back), and News.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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