User blog:Harry Vallet/Cats LIVE!

Cats LIVE! is a musical television special (produced by the Really Useful Group in association with Cirque du Soleil) that will air on NBC on December 2021. It is a live production of an adaptation of the musical of the same name. A retold story, focusing on a little girl who enters the world of Cats, where the Jellicles gather must decide yearly which one will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life. In celebration of the musical's 40th anniversary, it will be performed on behalf of the sixth US Tour, which was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Production Specifics
Many changes were made to Cats for this production, mainly modified/new choreography and slight lyric changes to songs to make acceptable sense. The Beetles' Tattoo section in "The Old Gumbie Cat" will be restored in a different manner, a la nightclub scene from Bob Fosse's "Sweet Charity". "Growltiger's Last Stand" will be restored from the Broadway Revival, thus reverted to the way it was before the London 2014 production only in a different manner with Griddlebone played by the little girl, taking Growltiger's solo for the original "In Una Tepida Notte"; this will move "The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles" back to Act 1, where the Rumpus Cat is played by the little girl as part of the play by Munkustrap (who gives her a junior-sized "Zorro" costume to wear for her part as the Great Rumpus Cat). An extended moment for Grizabella will also be included for this production. See HERE for more details on the changes.

The production's set is primarily made of elements of the Vienna 1983 production, with the car registration plate NAP 40 on behalf of the 40th anniversary of Cats; extended scenery which might surround the performers will be taken from set designers Gabriele Moreschi, Paulette Lemble, Salvdor Núñez and Shigeaki Tsuchiya. The props and costumes were produced by Cirque du Soleil, which is also in charge of artistic production. Some costume designs were adapted from the 2019 film of the same name; for instance, Plato and Socrates now wear "Street Cat Tugger" costumes. Maitre D' s costume will be based on "Chorus Mistoffelees" with a black tailcoat included. Alonzo's costume will be reverted to his fluffier and scruffier black and gold/tan costume. Most of the song characters, Jennyanydots, Rum Tum Tugger, Grizabella, Bustopher Jones, Mungojerrie, Rumpleteazer, Old Deuteronomy, Gus, Skimbleshanks, and Mistoffelees will only have their songs costumes, but with slight modifications so it's easy for them to dance with the ensemble, even in the numbers, "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats" and "Jellicle Ball". The appearance of Admetus will be similar to the Gothenburg 2006 production, a role created as Victoria's partner, giving him the "Chorus Deuteronomy" costume respectively.

The new characters to be introduced will be the Little Gumbies, the triplet daughters of Jennyanydots (consisting of Electra, Etcetera, and Exotica), whose costume designs are similar to the "Chorus Jennyanydots" respectively.

Creative Team

 * Choreographer: Andy Blankenbuehler
 * Associate Choreographers: Kim Duddy and Nick Winston
 * Costume & Set Designer: John Napier
 * Original Makeup Designer: Karen Dawson
 * Original Wig Designer: Jenny Dean
 * Modified Costume & Makeup Design: Kym Barrett
 * Artistic Guides: Guy Laliberté and Gilles Ste-Croix
 * Musical Supervisor/Director: Kristen Blodgette
 * Lighting Designer: Natasha Katz
 * Sound Designer: Mick Potter