Playwright: Andrew Lloyd Webber ( music ) , T. S. Eliot ( words )
At: Theatre at the Center, 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Ind.
Phone: 219-836-3255; $36-$39
Runs through: Aug.19
By Jonathan Abarbanel
Theatre at the Center, in Munster, Ind., is less than an hour from the North Side when traffic is moving ( even moving slowly ) . For fans of Cats, a visit to Munster will deliver an engaging production of the popular musical based on T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. I'm not a particular fan of Cats, yet I can admire this effective production in which a handful of rock-solid veterans—such as Larry Adams as Old Deuteronomy—are featured alongside supple and energetic fresh faces.
At its core, Cats is a vaudeville, a song-and-dance variety show in which feline characters strut their stuff in a variety of show-biz styles. There's a touch of tap dancing; a smatter of patter song; a sentimental ballad; high-stepping and athletic production numbers; a magic act, etc. It requires a lithe cast that takes it seriously and delivers the musical goods, which is exactly what this production has.
Cats is entirely physical, and director/choreographer Stacey Flaster draws on ballet, jazz dance, tap and yoga—think cat stretches—for choreography and movement. Even when they aren't dancing, company members slither, slide, twist, stretch and arch in a nearly-constant flow of movement that frequently places performers mere inches from the audience. Of course, within this flow certain set pieces stand out, such as the charming eccentric dance for Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat, nimbly delivered by Brandon Koller, one of the show's fresh faces. Also delivering the goods are the Rum Tum Tugger of muscular Scott Alan Jones, Gus the Theatre Cat as movingly limned by George Andrew Wolfe ( notably assisted by the strong mezzo of Ann McAnn as Jellylorum ) and—of course—the Grizabella of Katherine Condit, whose rendition of Memor' has the audience reaching for hankies. Grizabella doesn't really have much to do, but her tune is Cats' emotional center.
In addition to strong vocals, musical director Valerie Maze elicits warm and rich playing from her eight-person orchestra, burnished by two woodwinds. Victoria DeIorio's sound design also is very fine, giving voices and instruments a clear presence without making them seem disembodied. Janice Pytel's costumes follow the usual Cats pattern of unitards, leg warmers and elaborate facial make-ups built on soft color palette variations on black and white and silver, or brown and white, to create identifiable Siamese cats, tabbies, calicos and black cats. Finally, Jack Magaw gives Cats a different scenic twist—an old theater rather than the usual garbage dump. His colorful set, with its skewed box seats and curved proscenium arch, is both effective and playful.
Cats will be followed Sept. 13-Oct. 21 by Hello, Dolly!, starring Chicago diva Paula Scrofano. It'll be a good night out if it equals the standard of Cats. And Indiana's gas is 60 cents pergallon less than Chicago's.
