Jellicle Cats…they like to practice their air and graces! And wait for the Jellicle Moon to rise! Be prepared to meet one of the dancer cats in this ‘Jellicles Can and Jellicles Do’ interview.
Thank you for giving us a few moments of your time— tell us who you are and who you’re playing in this production of Cats.
Samantha Jednorski: I’m Samantha Jednorski and I play Cassandra.
Tell me a little bit about Cassandra.
Samantha: I guess you could she’s a popular kind of cat. She thinks she’s all that. And she thinks she’s so high up in the rankings of the cats but she’s probably not. She’s totally that cat who will walk right up to you, knock over your glass, and then walk away. She’s one of those cats.
What has this experience been like for you so far?
Samantha: I love this show so much. It’s just been so much fun to come and be a part of it. I love all of these people and I love being able to collaborate. This show gives you so many opportunities. You can do anything with it, you can have your character be anything you want and I love being able to be creative with Cassandra.
What does it mean to you be a Jellicle Cat?
Samantha: It means you are part of a community. We all come from different backgrounds in real life but also our cats come from different backgrounds. Some of the cats are homeless, some of the cats have homes, some of them come from the rich part of town, some of them come from the not-so-rich part of town, but we all just come together and the light of the Jellicle Moon.
Do you have cats?
Samantha: I do, I have two. One is named Nikki but we call her ‘she’— S-H-E. And she is definitely the kind of cat I just described. She’s very lazy, very “I’m going to come up to you, but if you pet me? I am not okay with it.”
She sounds like a typical catthole.
Samantha: Yeah, exactly! And then I have another little black cat named Baby. She isn’t a baby, but she is smaller. We call her Baby just because she’s the ‘baby’ cat.
We learn that all cats have three names. Cassandra is your cat’s ‘more dignified name’ and while we can never know the ‘secret name’ that she calls herself, what do you think her ‘family daily use’ name is? What are the humans calling her every day?
Samantha: B*tch. No! I’m kidding. Princess. Honestly? Princess. Because she’s just so proper and very high above everybody else, even though people know she’s a jerk.
If you had to sum up the Cats experience in just one word, what word would you use?
Samantha: Community.
Cats plays September 16th 2022 through September 25th 2022 with Tidewater Players, in residence at the Cultural Center at The Havre de Grace Opera House— 121 N. Union Street in historic downtown Havre de Grace, MD. For tickets call the box office at 667-225-8433 or purchase them online.
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