Asia Tour 2020

The 2020 Asian tour of Cats opened in September 2020, produced by Seol and Company. It was based on the 2017 Asia Tour and toured South Korea.

The production was originally supposed to open in July 2020 at the Dream Theater in Busan, South Korea. However due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the production was delayed. Around 40 foreign nationals among the cast and staff travelled to South Korea, taking the necessary preventive measures against the coronavirus such as going through a two-week self-quarantine to prepare for the show.

It was scheduled to tour Taiwan and other potential countries after closing in South Korea, but the Taiwan leg was cancelled before opening, the same day it closed in South Korea - 16 May 2021 - as Taiwan closed its borders due to COVID developments.

Production Team
Associate Director/Choreographer: Chrissie Cartwright

Assistant to the Director: Thomas Inge

Resident Director/Choreographer: Thalia Burt until 2 May 2021, then Fletcher Dobinson

Music Supervisor: Kristen Blodgette

Assistant Music Supervisor: Peter McCarthy

Makeup and Mask Design: Karen Dawson

Dance Captain: Taylor Scanlan

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, when the performers are passing through the auditorium, in close contact with the audience, they wear masks that match the makeup designs and blend in to the overall appearance of the costume.

Cast
Following the cancellation/postponement of the 2020 leg of the International Tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the International Tour cast members instead joined the Asia Tour. All cast members were required to self-quarantine for two weeks upon arriving in South Korea for rehearsals.

Natalie Bennyworth (Cassandra) left the cast in late March, with her final performance being 19/03/2021. Natalie officially announced her departure on 10/05/2021. Thalia Burt's final day was 02/05/2021. No formal changes were made to the cast for the remainder of the South Korean run, but Emily Casey and Caitlin New moved to cover Cassandra and Tantomile respectively.

Planned cast changes for Taiwan before cancellation
On 22 March 2021 it was announced that, following regional touring in South Korea in April and May, the production would be extended for a Taiwan run in June 2021. The extended tour was subsequently cancelled.

The cast changes that would have occurred were as follows:

Kerry Ellis would be replacing Joanna Ampil as Grizabella, Amy Everett would be replacing Holly Willock as Jemima, Nathan Zach Johnson would be Alonzo (with Fletcher Dobinson staying on as resident director and choreographer), and Ashlee Smith would replace Ella Nonini as Demeter. Adam Bailey confirmed on 6 April that he would also be joining the company as Munkustrap with Rafe Watts leaving. Thomas Inge and Benjamin Colley were to leave. Any further cast changes were unconfirmed before the cancellation.

South Korea

 * Charlotte Theater, Seoul - 9 Sept to 6 Dec 2020
 * Keimyung Art Center, Daegu - 11 Dec 2020 to 9 Jan 2021
 * Sejong Center of the Arts, Seoul - 22 Jan to 28 Feb 2021
 * Dream Theater, Busan - 5 March to 4 April 2021
 * Cheonan Arts Center, Cheonan - 9 to 11 April 2021
 * Sori Arts Center, Jeonju - 16 to 18 April 2021
 * Yeulmaru Art Center, Yeosu - 23 to 25 April 2021
 * Cheongju Arts Center, Cheongju - 30 April to 2 May 2021
 * Seongnam Arts Center Opera House, Seongnam - 7 to 9 May 2021
 * Changwon Seongsan Grand Theater, Changwon - 14 to 16 May 2021

Cancelled Taiwan Dates

 * Taipei Arena, Taipei - 16 to 19 June 2021
 * National Theatre Opera House, Kaohsiung - 24 to 27 June 2021
 * Performing Arts Hall, Hualien County - 1 to 4 July 2021
 * Chung-shan Hall, Taichung - 8 to 11 July 2021

Act I
Jellicle Songs' Gumbie Cat Rum Tum Tugger Grizabella the Glamour Cat Bustopher Jones Pekes and Pollicles Song of the Jellicles / Jellicle Ball
 * George and Electra, being swing characters, have no solo lines, including during 'Jellicle Songs' and 'Song of the Jellicles'. In general, they don't participate in central action - they just join group action, or stay in the background.
 * Carbucketty swings on the trapeze, with Admetus pushing him
 * Munkustrap sings Jenny's introduction
 * Carbucketty is the lead/naughty beetle
 * Skimbleshanks dances with the beetles
 * Mistoffelees has the 'terrible bore' line
 * Tugger leans back into Admetus' arms
 * Tugger trips Coricopat and Carbucketty. If Coricopat is not present or if he is covered by a woman, Carbucketty does this routine alone
 * It's Rumpleteazer who squeals loudest for Tugger at the end
 * Carbucketty is the cat who scratches her, urged on by Bill Bailey and Admetus
 * Munkustrap gets very angry at all three of them, though Admetus sometimes tries to defend the younger kittens
 * George does not participate: he's sitting quietly at the back
 * There is no sense of competition between Mistoffelees and Skimbleshanks for Bustopher's attention/approval
 * George does not join in
 * If one of the boys is missing, Tantomile joins in to make it symmetrical
 * The kittens keep trying to play with Bustopher and are often scolded, pulled back by the tail, or slapped on the buttocks
 * Carbucketty is the first Pollicle, and Mungojerrie is trying to prompt him when he forgets his lines
 * Carbucketty interrupts Alonzo ("... and bright!") and gets growled at, but is irrepressible and cheers up again at once
 * Left to right, the pairings for Bombalurina's honky-tonk are: Tantomile/Coricopat, Demeter/Alonzo, Bombalurina/Tugger, Cassandra/Admetus, Rumpleteazer/Mungojerrie. When Coricopat is covered by a woman, they still dance together (or Tantomile dances alone if Coricopat is absent), but there is no lift: they just walk back upstage together. When Tantomile is covered by a man, Tantomile does not joing the dance: Coricopat does, and Tantomile joins him after the couples retreat upstage.
 * The pairings during the pas de deux / sensuals are not entirely consistent and the order of characters around the circle sometimes changes, even when nobody is missing. In addition, they don't always stick to pairs, and often snuggle up to the character on either side of them, or swap sides with their partner. Generally speaking, though, the order is usually something like this (clockwise from the front): Carbucketty, Mistoffelees, Jemima, Bill Bailey, Tantomile, Coricopat, Demeter, Jellylorum, Tugger, Electra, George, Cassandra, Alonzo, Bombalurina, Jennyanydots, (Skimbleshanks), Rumpleteazer, Mungojerrie. Munkustrap is up on the tyre with Deuteronomy, but as the circle starts to move in he moves down and joins them, usually between Electra and George (or Tugger and Cassandra, if the swings are absent).
 * Mistoffelees is the one who climbs the ladder/bedframe to chase Grizabella away

Act II

 * The leader of the Siamese is played by Coricopat, except when Coricopat is played by a woman. In those cases he would be played by whichever of the male Coricopat covers is among the Siamese that night (presumably Taylor Scanlan in most cases).
 * The raffish crew are Alonzo, Skimbleshanks, Mistoffelees, Tugger, and Munkustrap
 * When Jal Joshua covers Alonzo, he adds an exaggerated limp to his pirate.
 * At the end of Skimbleshanks' song, Bill Bailey and Alonzo are the steps, with Alonzo being the higher step. The exception is when Jal Joshua is covering Alonzo, when he and Kade Hughes swap places.
 * The Macavity decoys are played by Coricopat and Alonzo, including when Coricopat is covered by a woman.


 * However, when Tantomile is played by a man, they do not participate in the 'Macavity' dance.
 * At the end of Mistoffelees' song, he is lifted on the shoulders of Munkustrap and Admetus.