Lloyd Webber’s feline classic has yet another life, in 40th-anniversary production

It’s certainly a spectacle, with 23 oversized cats skulking around the stage, singing and dancing along a garbage-strewn alley set. But leave a thought to the artists themselves.

“It’s tough,” says Berrisford. “There’s a lot of crawling on the knees, especially for the kittens; they’re always on the ground. We have to make the audience believe that we’re really cats.”

For this purpose, watching cat videos on YouTube is encouraged. “Everyone [in the cast] They have their own moments and can develop their own cats and do a lot of research themselves.

Naturally there is a herd of catsmore. Everyone is affected by the rigors of cat school during the rehearsal period, and occasionally during the run if someone strays too far from the metaphorical stop, everyone is affected by the rigors of cat school.

“At the beginning of the day, for about half an hour, we would do cats crawling, prowling, sniffing – all the senses, the sense of sight, the sounds, how we respond as cats, how we smell, how we touch and work our paws, how we get used to the tail,” says Berrisford. “And we would sit down and discuss how we would feel.”

As for what it’s about? The jury is still out.

“I’ve been doing this for 38 years and I still have no idea,” McKenney says. “Plot nonsense.”

But Berrisford, who played Demeter in the last local production in 2016, insists that a narrative exists.

“There’s an underlying story of forgiveness and redemption and, in the human sense, of people going through tough times. It’s about coming together and what happiness is.

“So yeah, there’s a lot of dancing, a lot of fun, lots of cats and a good night out, but there’s also a strong story underneath it all.”

cats It runs at Hamer Hall at the Melbourne Arts Center until January 31. Details: catsthemusical.com.au

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