Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”
Official Blurb:“I have rarely seen an audience respond with as much joy and love as I saw recently at Cats: ‘The Jellicle Ball’. The atmosphere was, quite simply, electric. Cats and Ballroom culture both emerged in the same era and I am delighted that, all these years later, they are intersecting once again. I want to congratulate the entire team behind this special show!”
– Andrew Lloyd Webber
Cats: “The Jellicle Ball” is a radical reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic musical based on T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, inspired by the Ballroom culture that roared out of New York City over 50 years ago and still rages around the world. Staged as a spectacularly immersive competition by Zhailon Levingston (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Chicken & Biscuits) and PAC NYC Artistic Director Bill Rauch (All the Way).
My Take: This was epic. I am a huge Cats lover so of course i was already going to love any version or adaptation of it as the music was just going to make me happy. But even if i was an easy target for this, I can honestly say this is brilliant. This is a Cats for non Cats fans, and they are going to love it. When you talk of revivals this is what you want. A completely reimagining and reconceiving of a source material. to say it is brilliant is an understatement. Creatively is a amazing take. I loved the dancing the costumes, the energy, it is a ball on stage (i know that was a too easy of a take). Sydney James Harcourt as Rum Tum Tugger and Baby Byrne as Victoria where probably my favorite characters. I loved how close all the interaction is and how thoroughly audience engaging is. All is not perfect though. I think my biggest question mark with it would have to be Grizabella. I understand that “Tempress” Chasity Moore is a ball icon, but memory is an epic song and this required epic singing and acting during it, and somehow i did no get it at the level I wanted. It was a beautiful moment but it was not the most impactful moment of the show as it is usually. I just feel I would have maybe cast someone different in this role, but that’s just me. Maybe its because I’m emotionally attached to this song?
MY Friends Take: The Jellicle Ball is a fresh and exciting take on the classic musical. The dancing was absolutely mesmerizing, and the ballroom culture approach brought a new energy to the show. The stunning new theater was the perfect setting for this innovative performance. While I loved the overall concept, I felt the costumes could have been even more feline-inspired and furrier! It’s a must see!
Official Blurb: Direct from its sold-out, record-breaking New York City Center Encores! run, Once Upon a Mattress returns to Broadway for the first time since 1996. Two-time Tony® winner Sutton Foster gives what The New York Times calls an “ebullient, joyful, perfectly goofy” performance as Princess Winnifred the Woebegone alongside royalty of stage and screen, Michael Urie. Newly adapted by Amy Sherman-Palladino (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), this New York Times Critic’s Pick introduces the unapologetically eccentric Winnifred to a repressed kingdom, where she charms, delights, and dances her way to the top… of a stack of mattresses. Book your tickets now to this uproarious production – “it will restore your fealty to the throne!” (Observer).
My Take: Ok why did this need a Broadway transfer? having not been able to see it during the City center run, I was happy i got the opportunity to see it, but I have to say i was underwhelmed. The obvious has to be stated upfront. Sutton Foster is a genius, I love her and she is absolutely brilliant in this role. If the point of a Broadway transfer is to milk that and get her one more tony nomination, I’m ok with it. but in general the show is not that strong. Funny but not great. Its not a great show, musically, apart from I’m shy, its not spectacular. And i feel that here taking the pared down city center staging does not help. I at least wanted lavish and huge sets and the sets are just not cool enough, nor are the costumes. There is very good acting and a solid cast and that makes you laugh out loud and enjoy a night out, but I was not leaving this recommending anyone see this over any of the other things that are playing now on Broadway. I’m always glad to see Sutton on stage and Im glad I went for that.
My Friends Take: Sutton was great and funny but did not love the show
Tati's Tidbits 