If the drawers are pulled out from the bedroom chests and you can’t find one of your winter vests! If after supper, one of the girls, suddenly misses her Woolworth pearls…the family will say “it’s that horrible cat!” But was it…Mungojerrie? Or…Rumpleteazer? Hmm.
Thank you for giving us a moment of your time! Please tell us who you play and who you are!
Benjamin Marsh: My name is Benjamin Marsh and I play Mungojerrie, the other half of the trouble-duo of Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer.
Ooh. Tell me about Mungojerrie.
Ben: Mungojerrie is kind of like the gentleman thief who gets into a lot of trouble. He’s known for being the acrobat. He’s the thief that slips in and steals the pearls. Getting to play him is a lot of fun.
Why did you want to be a part of Cats?
Ben: It’s close to home. It’s a lot of fun. When I was reading through the script, I felt it would be really interesting. And the cat that I really wanted was Mungojerrie and then I was cast as Mungojerrie and I thought, “heck yeah! Let’s do this!’
What does it mean to you to be a Jellicle Cat?
Ben: Very full of energy and fun. I get to goof around and do all these fun dances. And there’s a lot of great, fun ad-lib when it comes to movement. A lot of it is just figuring out how to be a feline. It’s fun.
We learn that all cats have three names. Mungojerrie is your cat’s ‘more dignified name’ and while we can never know the ‘secret name’ that he calls himself, what do you think his ‘family daily use’ name is? What are the humans calling him every day?
Ben: The trouble-maker cat. Trouble. I mean his whole song is all about that. Which cat was it? There’s this issue— stuff knocked over, destroyed, stolen, there’s this thing crashing to the ground…must be Mungojerrie!
Do you have cats?
Ben: I had a cat. His name was Jasper, but he passed away a while ago. But I could see Jasper totally being Mungojerrie.
What has been your biggest takeaway from this so far?
Ben: So I’m also building the set for this production, designing it. And it’s a heck of an endeavor to try and create what I’m trying to create. It’s huge to be both building and creating and imagining and also in the show. On top of that, what would I do as a cat? I’d want to have a perch here, or something to climb up on there. I keep taking inspiration from cats to build this set accordingly.
If you had to use just one word to sum up the Cats experience, what is the word you use?
Ben: Jellicle.
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.
Meet Rum Tum Tugger
Meet Carbucketty
Meet Jellylorum
Meet Coricopat
Meet Tantomile
Meet Griddlebone/Sillabub
Meet Cassandra
Meet Euterpeco
Meet Victoria
