Published: October 30, 2009 07:25 am      

Meow! OTP takes on 'Cats'

Are you mean like a minx? Are you lean like a lynx?
Are you keen to be seen when you're smelling a rat?
Were you there when the pharaoh commissioned the Sphinx?
If you were, and you are, you're a jellicle cat

-- From "Cats," based on T.S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats"

TRAVERSE CITY -- Lethargic or wide-eyed, "paws" occasionally crossed, the cast of "Cats" prowled, preened and paraded on the Old Town Playhouse stage.

"Their homework was to go home and watch their cat," said Liz Reincke, one of three choreographers for the upcoming show.

The long-running Broadway musical -- a mystical spectacle that fuses poetry, music and dance -- opens Nov. 6 at the community theater after years of consideration, said OTP Executive Director Phil Murphy. Packed with demanding dance sequences, special effects, and elaborate set pieces and costumes, it's one of the most ambitious shows the theater has produced.

"A lot of people assume it's bigger than our ability," said "Cats" director Michelle Dungjen. "I feel proud that we are answering our audience. It has come up the most requested show (in audience surveys) the last six or seven years."

Composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber based on the 1939 T.S. Eliot book, "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats," the Tony Award-winning musical is set in a junkyard on the night of the annual Jellicle Ball, when the tribe of Jellicle Cats reunites to celebrate their unique abilities and traits. Ultimately one is chosen to journey to the Heaviside Layer to be reborn to a new life.

Told in verse set to music, the show has a score but no script, making it a special challenge for cast and crew. It features nearly two dozen numbers, from classical and jazz styles to pop and rock, including the traditional show-stopper, "Memories."

"There is a plot, but you have to rely on the poetry and the music to tell the story," said Dungjen, whose rehearsals often begin with aerobic conditioning to meet the intense demands of the show.

Music Director Joe Rice's orchestra includes three electronic keyboards with special sound effects to help create a sense of time and place. Adding to the mystery of night and the cats' world are fog machines, minor pyrotechnics and brief strobe lights.

"I've never done a musical quite like this, so it's a treat," Rice said.

The show has the largest costume budget of any so far, nearly twice that of typical productions, said Murphy. Besides furry bodysuits and wigs -- purchased from the Grosse Pointe Theatre and retooled -- actors sport intricate face and body paint.

"I have put my foot down on this show for so many years," said Makeup and Costume Coordinator Kathy Verstraete, whose watercolor makeup designs are based on other "Cats" productions. "It's one of the three shows that intimidate me."

OTP veteran actor Brett Nichols is drawing from observation of former pets and his friends' cats as well as online study of cat mannerisms to play handsome tomcat Rum Tum Tugger.

"It's kind of a different concept," said Nichols, who is also on the artistic board that selects OTP plays. "We really try to throw shows out there that will not only please audiences -- plays audiences want to see, Broadway shows they might not get to see -- but to challenge ourselves, push that limit and see how far we can take ourselves."

Besides the unique challenges of the show, cast and crew are facing the seasonal spectre of flu, which Dungjen said has kept a few away from rehearsals.

"I was very clear: Even if they had a tickle in their throat, I sent them home and told them not to come back until they were better," said Dunjgen, who wore a mask for two nights after suffering a fever. "We've bought sanitizing gel. So far we seem to have kept it at bay."

The show runs through Nov. 28 and will be accompanied by cat-themed displays, including pet adoption literature, cast photos, and stories, poems and drawings by local students. Audiences are encouraged to bring cat -- and dog -- food. litter and cash donations for the Cherryland Humane Society.

Tickets are $20 for adults, $12 for children and $18 for students and seniors on Thursdays and Sundays only. They're available at www.oldtownplayhouse.com or at 947-2210.

'Cats' by the numbers

7 -- Rehearsal weeks

12 -- Minutes in the longest dance number

14 -- Orchestra members

21 -- Show numbers

27 -- Cast members

30 -- Minutes of aerobic conditioning before rehearsals

45-90 -- Minutes it takes to paint one "cat" face

80 -- Crew members

$5,000-$6,000 -- Costume budget, including hair and makeup