Published: June 18, 2009 10:15 am      

Actors get “catty” for upcoming play at North Central Texas College

The stage at North Central Texas College has been transformed from a blank scene into what could be imagined as an inky alleyway where the cast and crew of the musical Cats prowl the ways of the theater and prepare themselves for the opening night of the show on Friday, June 19.

Director of the show, Thom Talbott, spoke with the cast during an evening rehearsal to prepare them for their transformation into felines of the theatrical breed.

“What should you be at all times?” asked Talbott, and the cast replied in unison, “A cat!”

Getting into character is something that Talbott stressed to the cast during their rehearsals, and he encouraged the cast to start moving like a cat, and to start thinking as a cat may think.

When asked why he chose Cats as NCTC's summer production, Talbott replied, “I was looking for something challenging and accessible. I wanted to show beautiful music and dance with other technical elements.”

Talbott has faced some challenges in his production of a big scale Broadway musical on a smaller scale and stage. Talbott made the decision to create the musical as a more mainstream version over an original adaptation in order to reach a wider based audience, and present familiar songs and costumes to the community.

Talbott also feels that costumes and makeup are an essential element to this musical. Furry costumes filled the dressing rooms, and the cast readied themselves for dress rehearsal with makeup and painted whiskers.

The costumes were purchased from a store in Florida, and Talbott said that some of the costumes sold in the store were used in the original Cats musical on Broadway.

Getting into full character after costuming and makeup is the job of the actor, and some of the cast members spoke out on being in Cats and their time spent rehearsing.

Cabie Lamb, who plays the character of Munkustrap said, “Costuming makes all the difference. It helps you get into character, and feel more like the cat that you are playing.”

Mistoffelees, played by Kendall Butler said, ‘It takes a lot of incite to develop a character that is truly believable.”

The task of creating and exploring cat-like movement was assigned to dancer and choreographer, Terrynan Elouise Davis. Davis is a senior at the University of North Texas where she is majoring in dance. She created the movement through attention to the original musical, but Davis said, “Ninety-nine percent of all the movement is mine with an homage to Gillian Lynne (the original choreographer of Cats).”

When asked what approach she used to assist the cast with developing cat-like movement, Davis explained that she encouraged the cast to observe real cats, and glean ideas from their observations.

Creating an atmosphere suitable for cats and their slinky ways can be attributed to the work of the set builder, Dan Doss. According to Doss, construction of the set was no longer than a week, but adding the finishing touches through detail was a process that consumed three to four weeks.

The set construction was a collaborative effort between Doss and Talbott. Talbott expressed to Doss the need for an incorporation of levels in the set to embrace the climbing and pouncing movements of a cat. The set was designed by Doss and, according to the set builder himself, it was fashioned after an alley or a junkyard that would be a suitable playground for any four-legged friend.

Doss also incorporated an actual catwalk into the set that extends itself into the audience. Doss thought that having this structure was a nice addition to the set and a good way to have fun with the title's all too obvious need for a catwalk.

The music in this production of Cats is provided by a live orchestra, and directed by Dr. John Norine. Norine received his Ph.D. in conducting from the University of North Texas, and he now holds the position of principle music director of the Music Theater of Denton. This is Norine's first time to do a production with NCTC and his first time to work with the musical Cats.

The orchestra that Norine is conducting is composed of freelance musicians from the Dallas Fort Worth area, and he said that working with them has been very enjoyable. Norine also said, “I appreciate the enthusiasm of the cast, and hope that it will make for a good show for the audience.”

Talbott's choice to produce Cats seemed to go far beyond producing something entertaining. He wants the people of this community to experience the magic of theater, even in a small town.

Talbott said, “Cats was the first show I ever saw on Broadway. I want to bring a little bit of that magic to Gainesville. That's what theater is about.”

The curtain will go up at 7:30 p.m. for performances on June 19, 20, 25, 26 and 27. A June 28 matinee will begin at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are now on sale at the FSB Center box office at 668-3355.