“Cats” isn’t a very good musical.
But the production now at Centennial Hall is a great dance concert.
This remounted version of the 1981 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical is directed by Trevor Nunn, who helmed the original, as well.
But the choreographer, multiple Tony-winner Andy Blankenbuehler, is new. Gillian Lynne, who set dance on the musical originally, died last year; Blankenbuehler expanded on her work.
And it is spectacular. You get the sense that the dance was created after a long and hard study of cats’ most acrobatic, beautiful moves.
At the April 30 sold-out performance at Centennial Hall, the performers flew, they glided, they did cartwheels and somersaults with grace and with what looked like ease. But it could not have been easy — this is complex choreography.
This massive cast was up for the singing, too. And when they all came together in one voice, it was magical.
But with few exceptions, none of those songs stick — and that’s true even after seeing it several times over the years, starting with that 1981 version in London’s West End.
The musical is based on T.S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.” The story, such as it is, has cats gathering for the annual jellicle ball where one cat gets chosen for a rebirth.
Some of these cats are packed with personality. There’s the mischievous Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer (Tony d’Alelio and Rose Iannaccone), who pranced and stalked and delighted. Rum Tum Tugger was given an irresistible swagger by McGee Maddox. Tion Gaston took center stage and dazzled with his dance as Mistoffelees, and Keri René Fuller, who played Grizabella, the one-time glamour cat due for a rebirth, was transcendent when she sang “Memories.”
Almost as good as the dancing is the lighting by Natasha Katz. It flickered, it glared, it jumped, and it added another wow factor to the show.
This is a very good production. Just wish “Cats” was a very good musical.
