| What: Cats – the musical – South Africa 2025 Music: by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S Eliot When: December 10 to January 11, 2025 Where: Artscape Bookings: Webtickets Cast: Includes: Cindy Ann Abrahams (Grizabella), King B (Old Deuteronomy), Dylan Janse van Rensburg (Rum Tum Tugger), Che-jean Jupp (Munkustrap), Stephan Van Der Walt as Admetus / Macavity, Sibusiso Mxosana as Alonzo, Sipesihle Ngamlana (Bill Bailey), Tatum Coleman (Bombalurina), Tshepo Ncokoane (Bustopher Jones/Gus), Michael Fullard (Carbuckety), Hannah Marshall (Cassandra), Darren Rockman (Coricopat), Brittane van Loggerenberg (Demeter), Morgan Marshall (Electra), Harry Smallman (George), Noa Duckitt (Jellylorum), Scarlett Pay (Jemima), Zoe Mclaughlin (Jennyanydots), Austin Tshikosi (Mungojerrie), Jordan Roelfze (Quaxo / Mr Mistoffelees) Tannah Levick (Rumpleteazer), Logan Timbre (Skimbleshanks), Tania Mteto (Tantomile), Cassiel Eatock-Winnik (Victoria); Ryan Flynn, Jackie Lulu, Marco Titus and Phoebe Charles as swings Presented by: Pieter Toerien and GWB Entertainment in association with Cape Town Opera, by arrangement with LW Entertainment |
Beautiful show and extraordinary production of Cats – the musical South Africa 2025/202. Astonishing dance; athleticism, acrobatic and graceful. The cast is phenomenal – imagine the work on their knees and backs!
This production is very much an ensemble piece but with strong characters and glorious vocal work. The production comes across as bigger in scale than I recall from previous productions. The lighting is heightened. Everything is heightened. For example, the levitating tyre is soaring like a comet. The technical aspects have been enhanced – with the magic and transformation heightened.
This production is in my opinion not as dark as previous productions I have seen. It has a vibrant millennial energy, with the young and talented cast owning it. It is sassy and sexy- the same but different – brought into the ambit of 2025. The playful elements are sheer fun. The cats slither into the audience, slinking and strutting into the aisles of the auditorium with their signature pacing gait, luring us with their sensual movements.
Producer Pieter Toerien writes in the excellent programme that Cats was staged in South Africa for the first time in 2001. This production celebrates the 25th anniversary of that staging. To circle back to what said above – this production is underscored by a vibrant millennial energy and I think it works brilliantly.
Terrific performances – obviously some are stronger than others but no weak performers. I was utterly bowled over by Cassiel Eatock-Winnik as Victoria (the white cat. She he has a strong ballet background. Her precision and articulation, coupled with intense theatrical expression is sublime. Watch her and marvel. A stand-out brilliant performance.
Jordan Roelfze (Mr Mistofolees/Quaxo) is a soloist with Cape Town City Ballet and Cats marks his musical theatre debut. He thrills with his incredible ballet vocabulary in his performance.
Wow to the rest of the cast which includes: Dylan Janse van Rensburg (Rum Tum Tugger), King B (Old Deuteronomy), Scarlett Pay (Jemima), Che-jean Jupp (Munkustrap), Zoe Mclaughlin (Jennyanydots), Stephan Van Der Walt (Admetus / Macavity), Morgan Marshall (Electra) and Tshepo Ncokoane (Bustopher Jones/Gus). Gus – the theatre Cat – is fabulous. Ncokoane conjures up the pathos of the formerly celebrity Gus, what he was and what he is now, shuffling in the junkyard, vying for eternal life – to transcend his existence on the fringes of the community.
I love this musical and disagree that the plot is “thin”. It is a story of transformation and magical transfiguration– seductive and moving with quirky protagonists. The narrative is based on T.S. Eliot’s 1939 poetry collection, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. When the collection was published in October 1939, the world was at war and not in a good place and there was TS with his whimsical, elegiac and zany poems. Here we are in 2025 and the world is not a good place. We need whimsy, zany, quirky and reflections on what shapes us as individuals and how we interact with each other – and the intersection of the past, present and future.
As noted in the programme, other unpublished poems/characters were brought in by Andrew Lloyd Webber which led to Cats becoming a musical, rather than just a song cycle, concert or showcase of dance and song. It is a poignant dive into aging (ahh the Memory Song), acceptance, community, finding eternal longevity or life after death, whatever. I am always moved when Grizabella) belts out Memory (a lovely Cindy-Anne Abrahams in this production).
I loved the ambient/surround sound – and I thank Marco Titus for drawing my attention to something I did not know and opened up my experience of this musical to another level. I bumped into Titus, a few hours before the opening and I said I was looking forward to Cats. When I asked him about his role, he told me that he is swing (understudy) and a singer in the sound booth. I did not know, that key to staging Cats, is the inclusion of singers in a sound booth, next to the live band. We don’t see the band or the singers. The singers are there to add layers to the voice on stage, to extend the vocals on stage. It’s a challenging show from a dance perspective and the singers in the booth are there to deepen the sound, to add nuance and layers. So one hears harmonies, extended notes which create a rich and fully flavoured sound. It extends the sense of being immersed in the narrative. Listen and you will hear the full bodied surround sound. It is part Greek Chorus, lament, and celebration. The sound booth cohort become witnesses– inside and outside of the story. The sound is like another character to this production and it fills the junkyard setting of the story, amplifying the tension in the narrative.
Bravo to Pieter Toerien and otherd involved, including Cape Town Opera.
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Zoe McLaughlin as Jennyanydots, Cassiel Eatock-Winnik as Victoria, Dylan Janse van Rensburg as Rum Tum Tugger, Scarlett Pay as Jemima and Tannah Levick as Rumpleteaser. Pic: Nardus Engelbrecht. Supplied.
