Cats

Cats is the first professional production of a musical that I saw, ooh must be well over 20 years ago. I remember going to Blackpool to see it and taking my book of TS Eliot poems with me. Geek that I am. I subsequently named my baby guinea pigs after the various characters.

Well Cyclops hadn't seen Cats so we went along for Valentines day.

It really is a very charming musical. Whimsical and virtually lacking in storyline, true, but charming nonetheless. Some nice songs though, which I think tend to be unfortunately a bit eclipsed by the much overplayed (and usually incorrectly named) Memory.

It was a lovely production with some decent singing and dancing, and a bit of a light show. The set was great and it was really fun how the cats blended into the scrapyard and often seemed to appear from nowhere.

Skimbleshanks the railway cat was my favourite (as always) but a special mention also to the one who sang Memory for doing it justice and performing with the kind of raw desperation that Michelle Ryan in Cabaret failed to achieve.

The kids in front of us were loving it, and Old Deuteronomy sat on the stage in the interval for the little uns to cuddle, so that all made me happy too.