MUSICAL REVIEW: Cats ★★★

Cats

14th February 2015

The London Palladium

With a cluttered backdrop set, all coming out towards the audience, especially with lights linked all the way around the auditorium, from the top of the theatre to all the way around the auditorium, you initially walk into the theatre almost feeling like you have been transformed into a different world completely.

Originally opened in 1981, the London Palladium is hosting Cats for 12 weeks only, so I was very glad to be able to watch such a spectacle of a production, because even though there was very little in terms of storyline, it gave its all towards the technical and energetic, flexible mentality of the performers on stage. With each song in the show, it focused on a specific character in the production, and a few of my favourites were the Evil Macavity, the dangerous Growl Tiger, the Eccentric Mr. Mistoffelees, or the thespian Augustus, whose song brought a fight scene dressed as pirates.  I loved each of these especially due to the powerful beats of the song, the flexibility and direction of each of the performers, and just the way that they all captivated me when watching.

But there was one cat that stole the show, and this was Grizabella, played by the wonderful Kerry Ellis, of Wicked, Oliver, and War of The World’s fame, whose rendition of Memories was exceptional powerful and moving. The other thing about Grizabella, and a big compliment for Kerry herself, was the fact that even though the character herself does not feature at all that much in the whole production, the way Kerry moved around the stage, it felt like she owned it, as she gave so much stage presence to the character, and was really on par with all the other performers on stage that night, and Grizabella’s own side story ended with a spectacular moving set suspended from the stage, and her exit was creative and poignant.

Overall, whilst Cats holds very little in terms of story structure, you cannot deny the skill in every single member of the company, all made up of flexible and energetic performers bring their all to a show that is so spectacular in itself, even if you are finding yourself bewildered and puzzled but the lack of plot.