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It rained `Cats'
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When the spotlight was turned on the Hot Shoe Dance Company's "Cats", the audience had a rollicking time
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PHOTO: R. SHIVAJI RAO
SATISFYING SHOW A scene from "Cats"
The best thing about Jeffery Vardon and his Hot Show Dance Company is the fact that there's no `Oh, we're amateurs' nonsense when they put up a show. They think big, rehearse obsessively, and meticulously stage the best show they possibly can, without expecting (or asking for) any leniency from the audience.
So when the group staged `Cats' this weekend, , the show was — in many ways — satisfying. The sets were possibly the most spectacular seen on the Chennai stage in quite a while: a surprisingly aesthetic automobile junkyard, cluttered with everything from an old Maruti van to assorted pipes, snaking across the stage and into the audience. The sets, by Men At Work, were also designed in such a way that they both gave the dancers ample space to perform, while letting them inhabit an interesting three levels of space — crouched between the junk as cats, standing and dancing about the stage and lithely leaping on top of vertically stacked junk and abandoned cars to stretch and yawn.
As usual Jeffery had ensured that every single member of the cast was in the best possible shape, enabling them to not only limberly leap and lightly prance about the stage, but also self-assuredly wear their unforgiving slinky cat suits.
Put together by Cassandra, the striking costumes included elaborate fuzzy wigs and furry tails. More interestingly, the designer had evidently studied each cat, and then used the costumes to enhance their characters, ensuring that they didn't just become just a gang of indistinguishable mangy rat-stalkers. Rumpleteaser, the incorrigible cat-burgler, for instance had bundles of pearls around her neck, while the magical Mr. Mistoffelees (the conjuring cat) danced about in a sparkly coat with mystical flashing lights strapped on both hands.
Now, the Broadway version of Cats is so popular that there are even fan sites listing `Etiquette for Cats audiences,' which include helpful tips like `If you're dressing as a Cat for the show, remember to remove your wig so the people behind you can see the stage' and `Do not dance in the aisles.' The lyrics are engaging, and the tunes tend to stick like old bubblegum on a shoe. Cats is the theatrical equivalent of pop music: frothy, light and fun. And the Chennai audiences clearly came all set for a rollicking time, miaow-ing when the lights went out. There was even a little girl flaunting whiskers painted on her face.
However, in spite of the nimble dancing and careful planning, Cats didn't seem to quite make that essential emotional connect with the audience. This was probably because the dancers were lip-synching half-heartedly to the lyrics backed by recorded music. And since the words weren't always clear, the charming lyrics were often lost on the audience and the story line was rather hazy. An introduction, or handout would have helped tremendously.
Nothing can replace live performances. In the cast's defence, they were capable dancers and clearly concentrating on what they did best. However, `Cats' needed dancer-singer-actors. And though they did also have live singing by the very talented Arjun Thomas, Andrea Jeremiah, Devyani Popy Murali and Jeffrey's startlingly gifted new find, Navarre, unfortunately all the singers were tucked in a disappointingly discreet corner of the stage. Both Arjun and Poppy have proven stage presence and bringing them up front would have lifted the production and given the show more soul.
The jazz dancing, however, was skilfully choreographed and executed with graceful movement and split second timing. And the small details, like the cats prowling down the aisles purring delightedly at the audience, or the showy flying tyre that spirited the chosen cat away from the Jellicle Ball, added luxurious frills to an already interesting production. It just happened to turn out to be more of a dance production than a theatre performance.
SHONALI MUTHALALY
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