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'Cats' purrs at Riverside

September 7, 2006 12:50 am

By MARGARET LAWRENCE

For THE FREE LANCE-STAR

The plot is whisker thin, and it has no real dialogue to speak of, but Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical spin-off of T.S. Eliot's charming little book of poems about cats is still the second longest-running show in the history of Broadway.

Only "Phantom of the Opera" has outperformed it, and that show actually does have a story. Any theater critic, particularly on a hot day, will tell you that numbers don't make it a great musical--but they do say something about its appeal.

Riverside Center Dinner Theater ventures into new territory with its presentation of "Cats," as this is the first professional Virginia dinner theater showing of the hit that has been seen around the world. To their credit, they have taken the time, spent the money, and paid the dues.

Cats come out to dance by the light of the moon in the hope that one of them will be chosen by their patriarch, Old Deuteronomy, to be born into a new life. That's it. That's what happens. What they sing and what you see is what makes this, well, "Cats."

It takes a lot of money to make a theater look like a garbage dump in an alley on the backside of a city, and Riverside has solved the problem of authentic-looking staging by renting the set that was used for the national Broadway-cast tour. Mounds of junk, strings of lights, stairways of refuse and giant tires spill over the stage and into the audience--as do the cats of Eliot's imaginatively named Jellicle tribe.

Songs and dances introduce individual cats and tell their stories. None of them is long enough to drag, and there's enough variety to keep a fresh sense of discovery, though many of the characters represent personalities more familiar to people than to actual cats.

Bustopher Jones, for instance, played by Stephen Hayes, is "the cat about town," the sharply turned out, middle-aged gent with an eye for the ladies. Mistoffelees (Billy Smith) dazzles with his lithe footwork, and Macavity (Andy Braden), aka "the Mystery Cat," is a jolly prankster, a troublesome but good-natured rogue who disappears just as the net tightens.

One of the favorites is actually a pair, and anyone who has owned two cats together will recognize Mungojerrie (Christopher Stewart) and Rumpleteazer (Kristin Morris), a duo whose careless games and wild tumbling cause all kinds of household damage.

Director Mykal Kvenberg gets to join the fun as Rum Tum Tugger, an irresistible buoyant sort in direct contrast to Old Deuteronomy himself (Stephen Burton), who enters with grand infirmity. The slow, aching way he proceeds up to his seat is dignified by the cats and kittens who lower themselves in awed obeisance (not something you'd normally see a cat do, now that I think of it).

There is no star feline, but there is a star song, one that everyone knows even if they don't know this show. It's "Memories," a song so poignantly beautiful that it has almost become a cliche. Fortunately for the high moments in which it is sung, Kylie McLean plays Grizabella, the glamour cat. This is the beautiful cat who abandoned the tribe to seek her fortune and now returns, ragged, torn and unwelcome. It is to the great credit of both McLean and her director that this song is actually underplayed, giving her exquisite voice a chance to stand on its own. I pride myself on being a tough target for sentimentality, but this Grizabella's singing of "Memories" will get you every time.

Exceptional athleticism and grace make it clear that great care was taken in casting and preparation. Riverside has retained the services of Holly Chorengel, a veteran of 2,000 performances on the "Cats" international tour and a wise choreographer. While it is certain that these actors were schooled in "finding their inner cat," the dances are just demanding enough to make them work to their limits and look good at the same time.

Debbie Olson's costume designs and Norman Kauahi's wigs, coupled with extreme makeup, create the impression of uncountable calicos, tigers and tabbies slinking and darting in and out of their hiding places. Only Gus (Roy Hollis), the lumpy old stage-door cat, looks more clownish than catlike, although this could have been intentional.

Phil Carlucci's lighting design is as astute as ever and more involved than usual, playing almost a character role in several of the ensemble numbers.

Saved for last, because it is more profound than usual, is the music. You expect singing in a musical, and there will always be songs you like and songs you forget. But Webber's penchant for the grand harmonies brought to life here under the musical direction of Rollin Wehman reaches heights that only can be described as cathedral. It's unexpected and it's magnificent.

The uniqueness of "Cats" assures its place in musical theater history, but the elements that have kept it working for 25 years are deceptively simple. This is a stage show, almost impossible to imagine as a film, and as such is pure spectacle. It's color, texture, hypnotic movement, poetry lite, all awash in music. Even if you're allergic to cats, you can appreciate Riverside's respectful treatment of this material.

Margaret Lawrence is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association. She teaches drama at Culpeper County High School.