I’ll believe it when I see it, but it appears that this Thursday night and over the next three weeks the internet of kittens might actually break when Grand Rapids’ Circle Theatre debuts its 2016 season opener, Cats.
According to Circle, Cats will debut on stage for the first time at Circle and was the clear winner with audience members who selected Andrew Lloyd Webber’s adaptation of T.S. Eliot’s literary gem, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, as their favorite. This is the fifth year the theatre asked the membership what they want to see on stage, and by all accounts it appears this inspired by Web-2.0 thinking is working.
Boasting a cast of more than 30 diverse cast members with about a 40-year age span between them, one local production of Cats offers a notable diversity of a wide variety of body types and ethnic/racial backgrounds in this lush production. To help get into character the actors don cat suits in full cat makeup and perform more than 25 musical numbers inspired by Eliot’s texts.
Given the stage’s thrust style, this will be an immersive experience — a trend proving to be popular with audience members as artists and arts patrons freely mingle in the more memorable productions of late which seek to remove the lines of performance space.
Circle Theater is even offering a special “Meet The Cats” upgraded ticket to hang with the cats after the show. Think of this as an a la carte Cats $5 upgrade. It is offered to ticket holders attending the May 7, 15, and 20 performances.
Cats arriving at Circle is a big deal because it will be the last time in probably a long while that local theatre troupes will have a chance to produce it. Since Circle booked the rights to our local production, Cats — one of Broadway’s longest running productions — is slated to open at the Neil Simon Theatre on August 2, 2016.
Admission: from $27
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