Jellicle Cats meet once a year at the Jellicle Ball where we all rejoice! A very special Jellicle Cat joins in the rank of these fantastically talented feline performers, giving us their take on being involved with Tidewater Players’ production of Cats. (For those of you frantically scanning your script trying to find Euterpeco… like Macavity, he’s not there. We’ve made this name up especially for the show’s Musical Director, as Euterpe is the Greek Muse of music.)
Thank you for giving us some of your time! Tell us who you are and what it is you’re doing with this production.
Chris Rose: Chris Rose. Like a flower. And I’m the music director for the production.
What made you want to be a part of Cats?
Chris: I love working at Tidewater. I’ve never music directed Cats with adults. I thought it would be fun to do and it has been. This cast is really, perhaps, the best ensemble of people that work together well that I have worked with in at least ten years. There are no fuddle-duddles in this cast. There’s no one creating drama. No one. Isn’t that great? It’s really a wonderful thing. And nobody complains. Everyone tries and it’s really refreshing. We’ve got a wide range of people— 15 year olds all the way to 60 year olds in here— and they’re all working together. I think that’s a really cool thing to make a show like this that appeals to that demographic. Having all those people of all those varying ages, I think it’s just wonderful.
You don’t have cats, do you?
Chris: I have two cats! Rusty and Rosie. My partner— well my spouse now— found them in our shed when they were three weeks old. He thought they were dead. He brought them in in his hands but they were just little balls of fur. But then they came alive in his hands! It was like magic! Just like Cats the show. They magically came alive, these two little balls of fur. So we took care of them! We had to go to the vet, we had to buy formula and droppers and all that stuff so we could feed them. We put little cake pans for litter boxes in the bathroom. We raised them. Now the cats are nine. And they do not leave the house. They are terrified to go out and they do not leave us. They are around us all the time. Rosie sleeps on me, Rusty sleeps on Ray. It’s just adorable. I’m a cat person.
If you could be any cat in this show, who would you be?
Chris: Who would I be? I would either be Skimbleshanks, because he’s so much fun, or I would be Grizabella because I want to go to heaven. And I like the idea that she is the one chosen out of all of them. I’m a sucker for the underdog.
What does it mean to you to be a Jellicle Cat?
Chris: It means to have fun and to be smart at the same time. These cats are not your run of the mill cats. They are perceptive and detailed and they’re curious, as all cats are. But at the same time they are smart. They’re fun to watch. They’re not just playing with yarn, even though there’s nothing wrong with playing with yarn, they’re doing things and every moment they’re on stage they’re involved with each other. They care about each other. I think it’s wonderful. When you sing about each other and describe each other, you get this palpable sense of real emotional connection between them. Even when the girl sings about Gus the Theatre Cat (played by Mark Briner), and she sings about him, it’s just so touching, the way they connect with each other.
What has been your big personal takeaway from this experience?
Chris: I never thought I would be a fan of the musical Cats with adults. I am now. I am telling all my students at school to come see it. You will love it. It’s phenomenal. I also love working with Bambi (director Bambi Johnson). This is the first time I’ve done music direction with her. Bambi has choreographed shows that I’ve directed before and she’s amazing. She’s fun to work with and everyone just loves her. When she asked me to do this, I shouted— “YES!” Because working with her is just such fun.
If you had to sum up the Cats experience in just one word, what’s the word you would use?
Chris: Cooperative.
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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