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September 7 & 8th This is our first meeting with Mary whom we met at the Official Michael Gruber web site. Kyra, and Cindy attended the show for the 7th with Mary and on the 8th Cindy's son Shawn attened the show with us.
We wrote this with the 7 & 8th combined, we made notes where the show was different.
Tuesday we arrived in NYC at 2:30 PM . This is the first time we've ever driven to NYC and WOW! What a rush. It's a four-hour drive from home to NY and on the way we got lost for an hour till we found our way back on the right path. LOL. When we arrived we found a parking garage and parked the car, shopped a little and than went to dinner. While at dinner it started to rain really hard, thank heavens I remembered to bring my umbrella. After dinner the rain slowed some so we went over to the theatre to drop off some letters Mary had written for the cast. Than we walked around to the front of the theatre, as we turned the corner Kyra, saw Jacob Brent coming across the street, he passed right by us. He was looking in the opposite direction so he didn't see us, he was blowing bubbles with his gum and walking very fast. We thought he looked in a hurry so we didn't want to bother him. Note: every time we met Jacob he was always wearing a baseball cap but this time he wasn't, but after the show he had one on. On the 7th we had front row seats AA 1, 3 & 5. On the 8th we had seats C 12, 14 & 16. We had a clear view of the stage cause the seats in front of us had small children in them, it also made it good for Shawn cause he was able to see everything.
Note: This Is Michael Gruber's last week with CATS. Mary wrote Michael a note and got to meet him before the show on the 8th, He told her to come back stage after the show. Cindy and Shawn were at McDonald's so we missed Michael than. The show started and the cats come out with the blinking eyes on. On the 8th Shawn was with us and when he saw the blinking eyes he got scared and screamed, but he wasn't the only one there were other children screaming too (actually it was kind of funny). Than the music stopped you hear the car noise and Demeter runs out. Celina was Demeter Tuesday and on Wednesday she was Bombalurina, it had me a little confused on Wednesday but if you ever get a chance to see Celina perform she's excellent in any role she plays. (7th) When everyone was in the pyramid and singing Cassandra started tickling Mistoffelees (Jacob) on the neck, at first we weren't sure why Jacob was laughing and moving his head from side to side, but than we noticed what Cassandra was doing.
During the Naming of Cats Jacob (Mistoffelees) stood in front us and stirred at Kyra, this time she didn't turn away she just stirred back at him and he started smiling. Munkustrap (Michael Gruber) also stood in front of us for a while too. On the 8th we were on the opposite side of the stage but Michael made a point of coming over to our side of the stage and smiled, winked and held his hand out to us. We also had RumTum Tugger on our side on the 8th he played with us too. Back to the naming of cats, I love the part of the song when the cats sing about the third name, they are all spread out through out the audience, on the stage, and on the edge across the balcony. It is so interesting to see. Than the cast leaves the stage except Victoria. Part way through her dance Mistoffelees appears laying, in a big pipe near by and starts making all these little cat moves and faces, like Victoria is driving him crazy. Than Misto runs out and sings Jellicle Cats come out tonight Jellicle cats come one come all the Jellicle Moon is shining bright Jellicles come to the Jellicle ball, Jellicle cats come out tonight Jellicles come to the Jellicle Ball. Than the whole cast comes out and sings Jellicle cats come out tonight Jellicles come one come all, the jellicle moon is shining bright jellicles comes one come to the jellicle ball, Jellicle cats come out tonight, jellicle cats come one come all the jellicle moon is shining brigth jellicle come to the jellicle ball. This last verse song by the cast was cut out of the video version of CATS. Than Munkustrap sings his lines and than it is on to Old Gumbie Cat song, Today Misto didn't do the little head-scratching thing he usually does but did something similar, I guess Jacob wanted to do something different this time. On the 8th on the part where Misto stands on the car trunk hood and he is acting like he is magically opening up the trunk. Usually Misto slides off the back and disappears, but today he slide off to the side and did a hand gesture towards Jennyanydots, Sharon Wheatly, like saying Ta Da, than he diappears. When Jennyanydots took off her glove today she dropped it, she turned and gave it a big kick off stage, and than gave Munkustrap a smile and shruged her shoulders. I love the tap dancing part especially when Jennyanydots runs up to the front of the stage with the cast behind her and she yells CHARGE, it is so funny.
On the Rum Tum Tugger song, Stephen was his usual naughty self. I love the way he comes on stage bursting through a trap door in the back stage wall, and yells. Usually on Tuggers song here Misto doesn't usually come back on stage till the end of the song, but on the 8th he came back on stage after the Gumbie Cat song and stayed on the tire in back all through out the Tugger song. Than Grizabella, Linda Belgord, comes out and sings. After she sings there is a 15 minute intermission.
After intermission the cast slowly comes back on stage one at a time, some come out of the pipes that are in the front row in front of the seats, and some come down the side isle too. It's so funny when a cat comes out of one of the pipes in the front row, some people do not expect it and they scream or laugh hysterical, it's so funny to see. When Misto came on stage he found a piece of plastic on the floor and started pouncing around and playing with it, than some of the others saw him and joined in batting it back and forth, they did this both days we saw the show. When Jellylorum, Jean Arbeiter, and Gus, John Dewar came on stage Misto pushed the plastic piece off stage. While Jellylorum and Gus were singing Tumblesbrutus, Patrick Mullaney, and Jennyanydots were smiling and making eyes at each other. The Growltiger song was the same as it was on the 24th of August except Skimbleshanks was played by Jon Paul Christensen. Previously Skimbleshanks was played by an understudy. I still can not get over the part of this song where the crew on Growltiger ship get all goggle eyed over Griddlebone, making kissing sounds and falling at her feet, it's so terribly funny.
Skimbleshankes: We love Jon Paul Christensen as Skimbleshanks, he has the best eye and facial expressions and movements we have ever seen on a Skimble. Macavity: While Demeter and Alonzo dance the female kittens and two male cats are sitting on the ramps going to the stage, and are watching them dance. Also during the show, I forget which song it was but I think it was after intermission when the cats were slowly coming back on stage. It was on the 8th Munkustrap and another cat were in the audience and rubbing their heads against people. When Michael rubbed this little girl she was so startled she dropped her little purse and all it's contents, Michael being the gentleman he is stopped what he was doing and picked the stuff up and put it into the little girls purse. Also after intermission Tumblebrutus came up to us and started playing with Mary and than he looked around Mary and smiled at us. He always some how finds where were sitting and acknowledge us. Thanks Patrick. Mr Mistoffelees song: tugger is sitting up high and when the cast sing we must find Old Deuteronamy, he jumps down and starts to sing, We love the music they play while Mistolefflees is dancing, we wish there was a recording of the whole song. The whole song is not even on the original Broadway cast recording. For those of you who never heard it or seen the live show you would love the whole song. We know the dance is incredible hard because Jacob told us about it after one of the shows, but Jacob makes it looks so easy. He is an incredible dancer.
The rest of the show is very much like the video. Shawn loved the part when Grizabella goes to the Heaviside layer, he sang right along with the cast. On the last song, when he saw the dry ice come out, he thought it was smoke. He tried to smell it. After the cast leaves the stage and they all come back and sing Mr Mistofelees song, Shawn was standing up and singing with his fingers in his ears. When Jennyanydots saw him she started to imitate him and than pointed to him, Shawn got a big kick out of that, and we all laughed so hard. Also at the end of the show where the cast takes a last bowel, Mistoffelees, Jacob, stayed on the tire while the rest of the cast waved to the audience. He did a pose and than gestured towards the cast like saying aren't they great, give then a hand.
On the 8th after the show Michael Gruber invited us backstage when Cindy walked in Michael gave her a great big hug, boy does he give good hugs. He still had on his makeup but was dressed in a royal blue shirt and jean shorts. He took us on a tour of the backstage Shawn loved the blinking eyes much better this time, Michael showed him how they worked Than Michael showed us the two changing rooms they have backstage, the regular dressing rooms are up stairs. In the changing rooms he showed us the bug heads and bodies, we got to feel Jennyanydots costume, boy is that coat big and heavy, it's made out of some kind of heavy yarn. Hanging next to Jennyanydats costume was Griddlebones costume, we didn't get to touch it cause they keep it stored in clear garment bag to keep it from getting dirty. Michael also told us that when an actor leaves the show his/her costume is used to repair others costume, or their used for standins or new cast members till the new persons own costume is ready. We saw Bustopher Jones costume and played with his long tail. Than Michael showed us the ship they use for Growltiger. He explained that they had to climb up and hold on to the ship until it dropped down into position. We tried to imagine it in our heads but Michael explained it to us better. Just imagine this, when the ship is back stage it is facing upwards and they have to climb up onto the ship and hold on till it comes forward and drops down than there up right and in position. Than Michael took us to where the Orchestra is located, we were surprised to find that the Orchestra was not under stage but to the left of the stage. We were als surprised to find that the room the orchestra plays in is very small. We met the conductor and one other musican but everyone else was gone. Than Michael took us through this small passageway that the cast uses during the show it comes out from behind the tire and the car trunk onto stage, Shawn loved this. Michael gave us a little history about the theatre. Than he told us how they extended the stage and how they took out the front seats and put them on stage to the left and right, and than he told us how they had to redo the ceiling for Grizabella to go to the heaviside layer. Than Michael showed Shawn the star trap door built into the stage that Rumpus Cat pops out of onto the stage during the Pekes and Pollicles song. After the tour Michael took us to a little makeup room down by the changing rooms, that is used for touch ups during the show. We sat and talked to Michael here for a while, we took a picture of Michael and Shawn together and Michael signed some programs for us and a friend. Than Jacob came in and Michael said he had to go get some rest for the next show so he hugged us again and said goodbye. We talked to Jacob for a while and Cindy took a picture of Jacob and Mary together and Jacob gave Mary his autograph. Mary gave Jacob a hat and a funny book on computers and when he saw the front of the book he laughed and said I'd like to do that to my computer sometimes. We than said goodbye to Jacob cause he had to go get some dinner and rest before his next show.
We ate dinner in NYC and than headed for home it is a four hour drive to Cindy's house from NYC and Mary had another 3 hour drive to her home from Cindy's. But all the way home we talked about the exciting time we had and about Mary meeting Michael for the first time. This was Cindy's second time, and after the show Cindy waited for Mary out by the theatre door and when Michael came down to meet Mary he asked where Cindy was. Later Cindy asked Mary if she told Michael her name and she said no. He must have remember you from the first time he met you and saw you sitting in the audience next to me. Anyway every time we go the NYC we have an even better time than the pervious time, WOW! We can't wait till October 2. Thanks everyone for the great time.
Kyra,, Shawn, Mary and Cindy September 7 & 8th 1999 Tuesday evening show and Wednesday Matinee
