Popular musical still the paws that refreshes

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The touring production of Cats has clawed its way into almost every corner of North America. (JOAN MARCUS PHOTO)

While chatting about his six months on a North American tour with 29 human felines, the show's musical director lets slip that he is allergic to cats.

"I have always been," says the 40-something Texan. "I was raised with dogs. Don't put that in your newspaper. I don't think my producers would like the fact that I said that."

Allergic or not, Andrews Rogers is leading a national touring production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical into the Centennial Concert Hall for a brief two-day stay starting Sunday afternoon. The way it's pattering quietly into town is in stark contrast to the first time the groundbreaking production came to Winnipeg in 1989.

Back then, current Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz was a partner in Nite Out Entertainment and trotted out three very frisky Siberian tigers at the press conference announcing a 12-day, 16-performance run.

These days, you just get a press release.

"I can't imagine there are too many cities who haven't seen Cats yet," says Andrews Rogers.

If there are any, this non-union tour is attempting to find them. Rogers was calling from Mansfield, Ohio, earlier this week after Indiana stops in such burgs as Muncie and Elkhard. Prior to Winnipeg, the tour played Molina, Ill., and Van Wert, Ohio.

"Cats is now and forever" used to be the advertising slogan for the international mega-hit based on T.S. Eliot's whimsical Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. It lasted 18 years on Broadway, setting a longevity record well beyond the traditional nine lives of cats. After 7,485 performances, Cats was the longest-running Broadway show ever, since overtaken by Webber's The Phantom of the Opera.

"I think it is still forever," says Andrews Rogers. "We still read How the Grinch Stole Christmas. We still watch The Wizard of Oz. We all still sing White Christmas. Good entertainment is forever. It doesn't have an expiration date."

Set in an oversized junkyard, the show follows a clutter of cats with names like Rumpleteazer and Mungojerrie as they gather at the full moon for the annual Jellicle Ball. By the end of the evening, the felines must pick one of their number to ascend to the Heaviside Layer and be reborn in to a new life.

The cast bounding into Winnipeg is young, barely averaging barely 25 years of age. The physical demands are so hard on the actors, the tour is carrying nine understudies. Most of the actors are on their first tour, but it's a tour with a pedigree that's something to purr about.

"You start out with the bar very high," says Andrews Rogers. "Knowing millions and millions of people have seen this show reminds us how fortunate we are to be working with that history."

Cats will be performed at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday and 7:30 p.m. Monday. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster for $56, $66 and $76.

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If you don't like singing and dancing Cats, this weekend you could opt for singing and dancing amphibians.

Manitoba Theatre for Young People is reviving its pet project A Year With Frog and Toad, the company's all-time box office record-holder. Four years ago the Tony Award-winning musical sold 8,385 tickets during a 29-show public run and another 5,161 to school performances to leap to the top of its bestseller list.

Critically, the troupe's first musical stands as one of the best productions MTYP has ever created.

When the entire cast lobbied to come back last winter, artistic director Leslee Silverman decided to revive the vaudeville-style production based on the gentle stories from the Frog and Toad series by children's author Arnold Lobel. A 42-performance run opens tonight and runs through Jan. 3 at its home stage at the Forks.

"It's a show that should have a longer shelf life," Silverman said over the telephone yesterday. "It's like a Nutcracker and has a message that is timely at this season.

"The pessimistic Toad and the optimistic Frog are two people who learn to accept each other differences. Isn't that the Christian, Hannukah, Islamic message?"

Steve Ross, Jan Skene, Geoffrey Tyler and Jennifer Villaverde reprise their roles but Al Simmons had to bow out as Frog after knee surgery left him unable to dance. He has been replaced by Larry Mannell, an Ontario-based actor who is familiar to Winnipeg theatre-goers.

"Larry is a Fred Astaire-type hoofer," says Silverman, "He melts into the cast."

Lobel's sweet salute to friendship is topped with a cheery number called Merry Almost Christmas that will raise the spirits of grandparents, parents and their kids.

"To me, this experience is a better present than a thing," says Silverman.

Tickets for A Year with Frog and Toad are $15.25 and are available by calling the MTYP box office at 942-8898.

kevin.prokosh@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 5, 2008 D3