CATS made a short lived return to the stage with its only North American production that played from from May 1st-6th at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theater. For what became the longest running musical in theater history, CATS return was not a very long one. For those of you that can remember, CATS was huge in the ‘90s and it spread quicker than Cabbage Patch Kids. Everyone wanted to see it from children to elderly couples in retirement homes. CATS was in the news, the papers and was even featured TV shows. Who hadn't heard of CATS in the ‘80s? For its remarkable popularity, I would of thought that the show would have ran for a lot longer than it's 6 day return!
I do remember the buzz and all the hype, and for the most part I remember loving CATS as a kid - a kid. Maybe it was the high expectations previously instilled in me from its past success, but unfortunately, I did not enjoy this show as much as I thought I would have. This was very disappointing to me since I was nothing but excited ever since I heard CATS would be coming back for a short time to Chicago. Though there were certainly some enjoyable highlights over all; I liked CATS a lot more before I actually saw CATS. After seeing it as an adult, I've come to a conclusion that this is definitely a show more for kids than for adults. Good thing there was a bar with cold beer and a television that showed all the action when I needed a break from the show.
Try as I might; the problem I had with this show, was the storyline. I just could not follow it for the life of me. Though I am familiar with the story, as I've seen the performance on TV as a child, what I saw seemed to lack substance. I had expected more of a story than a song and dance show. That's not to say that CATS was at all boring. The performers gave life to the show as they really fell into their roles as cats and the musical numbers were simply wonderful. Still, this was a musical that is (to me) for children...and possibly cat crazy people. With a group of cats called the “Jellicle Cats” and characters named “The Rum Tum Tugger,” “Bustopher Jones,” “Mungojerrie,” and “Rumpelteazer,” it was hard for me to follow what the hell was going on. I'm more used to characters named John, Michael, Jessica, etc.
Over all, the show was great and I was entertained most of the time. The scenery, costumes and enthusiasm of the performers were fantastic. It takes talent to stay in the character of a cat and I have a lot of respect for anyone that was involved with this particular production. CATS is a significant musical that literally changed the scene of theater and it has continued to dazzle audiences and fans since its opening day. Though I may not have enjoyed the musical personally, I couldn’t help but be entertained. They are obviously doing something right, or it never would have gained such popularity.
If I were, say a kid again, I think I would have been smiling, giggling and loving every second of the performance. Just scanning the crowd you could see all the little ones on the edge of their seats chuckling and kicking their feet through every song and dance. That part, I enjoyed the most. As I sat there watching the performance, I thought about how awesome the parents were that brought their kids. In the end isn't all for the kids anyways? It’s all about creating an exciting, wonderful memory for their children. That was a beautiful thought to me. So though people like me may not have loved the show wholeheartedly, it was obvious the entire time how a show like CATS came to be such a momentous production in theater.
