'Cats' continues its long run

Did you know "Cats" isn't really about cats? OK, you probably did.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's uber-popular musical, based on the poems of T.S. Eliot's "Old Possums Book of Practical Cats," is actually a story about relationships.

First performed in London's West End in 1981 and winner of seven Tony Awards, "Cats" will be staged in North Central College's Pfeiffer Hall through Nov. 8.

Brian Lynch, North Central's fine arts director, is the show's choreographer and director. Jeordano Martinez, professor of music, provides musical direction.

"Cats" is the story of a band of felines called the Jellicle tribe, who come together in a huge junkyard. They each want the chance to plead their case to the patriarch Old Deuteronomy for the chance to be reborn into a new life in the Heaviside Layer.

Throughout the show, each cat tries -- amidst many interruptions -- through song and dance to prove themselves. Characters include the narrator Munkustrap, the ladies' cat Rum Tum Tugger, the beloved fat-cat Bustopher Jones, the villain Macavity, and the former glamour cat Grizabella, who sings what has become the show's anthem, "Memory."

Director Lynch understudied the roles of Munkustrap, Rum Tum Tugger and Gus/Growltiger, all of which he performed numerous times in the third national tour of "Cats" from 1987 to 1988.

He's able to pass on his knowledge and experience with the musical to the 25 cast members and five pit singers and understudies. Many of the costume ideas and dance steps he learned in the national tour are incorporated in this production, he said.

Some of his young players were familiar with "Cats," and some weren't. Regardless, Lynch said, he gave them a lot of the background material that the stage manager gave him on the third national tour.

Webber's musical doesn't clearly define the relationships between the cats, he said, and early on the original actors and directing team developed different relationships between the main characters.

"I explained what was going on, and one by one jaws started dropping," he said. "They've done an amazing job of incorporating all of it. It's an incredible challenge."

A task he felt the students were up to undertaking.

"The student population is so strong on the campus I felt it was time to challenge them, and they are rising to the occasion tremendously," he said. "It was nice to see how different people fit into different niches in the show."

For instance, he said, the student who plays Victoria, the pure white kitten who is gifted in dancing, loved "Cats" as a child and dreamed of playing the role of Victoria.

"I think audiences will enjoy the production because it's very true to the original," he said. "There is a real fascination about 'Cats.' I think the audience isn't going to be disappointed. Hopefully they will find a lot of relationships on stage that they weren't aware were there."

Such as?

"Munkustrap and Grizabella," Lynch said. "The two of them were supposed to end up together and be leaders of this group of cats."

When Grizabella set out on her own, Munkustrap took it very personally.

"She's not welcome by the tribe and she's not welcome by him," he said. "But it all works out well in the end. Trust me on that."

Audience members will be welcome to come onstage during intermission and get Old Deuteronomy's autograph, he said.

"That's exactly what we did on the national tour. People want to see this junkyard the cats live in."