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Cats
Presented by: Windmill Theatre Company
Venue: The Drum Theatre, Dandenong
Reviewer: Gulcan Gulen
Date Reviewed: 13th June 2008
It was a cold and
rainy Friday the 13th as I made my way down to the Drum
Theatre to see Windmill Theatre Company's production of CATS. Inside
the warm foyer audience members were all buzzing with excitement
eager to enter the Theatre. Making its debut on Broadway in 1981,
CATS is on the lists of longest running Broadway and West End
Musicals and one of the most popular of all time. Based on the
children book “Old Possum Book of Practical Cats” by T.S Eliot with
music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, CATS is a musical for people of all
ages.
I must say I have
never seen a show with such amazing lighting. With over 200 lights
and over 350 lighting cues Jason Bovaird should be commend on his
unbelievable work. The sets were beautiful; basic Grey and Black
arch ways set in a graveyard. I was glad to see that the whole set
was utilised by the cast.
Kudos to Karen
and Katie for their interesting interpretation of the Choreography.
Dancing is a primary part in this show and having such diversity of
styles the show needs an 'all rounder' for a choreographer and Karen
and Katie worked very well together through each of the styles.
Although being a dancer I found that some of the choreography in the
numbers lacked a lot of light and shade- there would be a big build
up in music and not in dancing. Nevertheless in saying this I
understand that in a cast so large and varied dance experience the
choreographers must accommodate for all performers. The tap number
was fantastic, I get a bit scared when I see a show with a tap
number in it because a lot of the time not all cast members can
cope, but these guys weren't a step out of time! Well done.
Anthony Bingham,
now I've never heard of this guy before but I wanna say- I love you!
The orchestra was perrrr- fect, brass section was brilliant and
vocals were mind blowing. I must say, a huge congratulations to
Amber, Bobby, Bronwyn, Brook, Jo and Sarah the Jellicle choir, as
they did a fantastic job with vocals.
Brice Sedgwick
played Munkustrap the shows Narrator. This guy has an amazing vocal
range and blew the audience away with every note he sang.
Jennyanydots is
one of my favorite characters in this show and Latecha Cadel did her
justice. She was bubbly, endearing, and elegant and lit up the
stage. I have seen Latecha in productions where she's been thrown in
the back row barely seen, so it's great that Company's like Windmill
give all performers the opportunity to shine, and shine she
certainly did! Thank you Windmill.
Leighton Irwin
made a very attractive Rum Tum Tugger; he had the female audience
purring.
Mungojerrie and
Rumpleteazer, the famous troublesome duo was played by Robbie
Carmelotti and Briony Doddrell consecutively. Two very strong
dancers who just burst with energy onto the stage. They coped
extremely well with their choreography but dare I say that they
could have done a lot more; with such capable dancers the
choreography could have been more intense in their number.
Victoria Zainal
captured the hearts of the audience as Grizabella the Glamour Cat.
Her costume was a beautiful black full piece overlapped by a black
shimmering corset and topped of with a black and silver coat all
tattered and torn, she truly did look glamorous. Victoria's voice in
'memory' was very moving and received a well deserved roaring
applause from the audience.
Director Andrew
Edge did a fantastic job with his direction; I've seen productions
of Cats before where performers always get hidden behind one
another, blocking was great and his ideas were fantastic. Renata
played by young Esme James came out in the last 10 minutes of the
show representing Grizabella reborn once she had entered the
Heaviside layer, this concept was beautiful and it just goes to show
what a talented director Andrew Edge is. I found that a few of the
cast members needed a little bit more character development; however
they all did a fantastic job.
All the
performers in the show were very talented and all looked fantastic
on stage but there were a few performers that deserve a special
mention. Michael Hawthorn and Daniel van Leusen were both strong
male dancers yet Daniel wasn't shown as much as he should have been.
But when he did those astounding Russians he lit up the stage, what
a talent, look out for this guy in the future! Lisa Brockelhurst
played Demeter and her vocals were very impressive. Carla Stirzaker
blew the audience away with her expressions and dance technique.
Young Shea Thomas also blew audience away with her dancing, for such
a young girl she is a very mature dancer. Finally the stand out of
the night was Briony Doddrell, this chick can dance! And sing; her
portrayal of Rumpleteazer kept audience in stitches she just
commanded attention on stage.
Windmill Theatre
Company's CATS should be on your list of shows to see this season.
Windmill has gone all out with lighting, sets and costumes and has
produced yet another extremely entertaining show. Congratulations
Windmill and Chookas to all the cast and crew for the rest of the
season.
Gulcan was last seen on
stage in as Martha in CPACs production of High School Musical. You
may have seen her in such productions as West Side Story (DTC) (Consuela),
Fame (DTC), Grease (WTC) No Business like Show Business (DTC) and
many other productions. Gulcan is currently in rehearsals for Creations School of Dance's
upcoming Cabaret Fundraising Show.
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