German Tent Tour 2010-2013

The German Tent Tour of Cats toured 16 cities in four German speaking countries: Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Austria. Previews started in late December 2010 in Hamburg - the city where Cats had its German premiere in 1986. The official premiere was at 6th January 2011 in Hamburg. The tour closed at 16th June 2013 in Graz, Austria.

It was the first European production that didn't play in conventional theatres but used a tent that was specifically designed for Cats, like those used for Australian and World Tours, this time with the set NAP 19.



The production, score, design, etc. were based on the UK Tour III. Like all German productions since 2002, they had Electra in the cast. For the last 3 months, when they replaced some of the actors, Electra was cut from the show, her parts were then sung by Tumblebrutus.

Production Specifics

 * While the show was still in rehearsal, there were 3 private preview performances in Düsseldorf.
 * This tour was the first Cats production in Luxembourg.
 * Most of the costumes were re-used from the UK Tour III and the Dutch Tour. Only a few of them were newly created. More costumes were built as the tour went on.
 * During the entire run, Rumpus Cat lacked his flashing red glasses. The official explanation was that the glasses were damaged, but they were never repaired.
 * During the first season, only the first cast Electra (Jo Lucy Rackham) wore an actual Electra costume, the covers wore altered chorus Grizabella costumes. However after the cast change the swings were provided with conventional Electra costumes
 * For most of the run, the orchestra consisted of 7 musicians. Only in Hamburg and Vienna, they had 10 musicians in the band.
 * After the tour was over, the tent was sold to a German circus.

Creative Team
Director/Choreographer: Chrissie Cartwright (after Trevor Nunn and Gillian Lynne)

Original Choreographer: Gillian Lynne

Assistant Associate Director: Marina Stevenson

Translation: Michael Kunze

Musical Supervisor: Daniel Bowling

Sound Designer: Greg Pink

Lighting Designer: Howard Eaton (after David Hersey)

Associate Scenic Designer: Alan Walker (after John Napier)

Make-up Designer: Karen Dawson

Supervisors: Jenny Dean (wigs), Maria Cave (make-up), Tracy Stiles (costumes)

Production Stage Manager: Juan Escandell

Production Team
Resident Directors: Japheth Myers (until June 2012) / Mark John Richardson (from June 2012)

Assistant Resident Director: Elisabeth Bell (from September 2012)

Dance Captains: Jo Lucy Rackham (until April 2013) / Nicky Milford (from April 2013)

Assistant Dance Captains: Jason Winter (until June 2011) / Matt Huet (until July 2011) / Alex Frei (until July 2012) / Ross McDermott (from September 2012)

Head of the Costume Department: Mario Reichlin

Head of the Make-up Department: Sarah Kleindienst

Videos / Media