firstly i admit that i'm an ALW fan. my first encounter of his work was with THE PHANTOM, after which i heard about CATS, then i bought the VCD at a sale...well it was wonderful, but one of my friends commented that the show was very commercialised, and i thought she got a point there.
i'm not saying that CATS is not art, in fact as one of the comment has said, it is 'art in every sense'. the costume and the make-up was vivid, and fusion of dancing and singing was simply too great (well i cannot possibly hit a high C if i dance like that^^). and many other little details were also carefully designed (i loved that pipe organ made from a rugby ball - brilliant idea^^). no plot - sure, but there wasn't meant to be one, after all. CATS is primarily a show for laughter and relaxation, so a lot of pop factors were added, and i think that's where makes me feel it's 'commercialised'. but if one really goes into the vague storyline he may discover something there... it all depends on the individual who watches it.
i have to mention a few actors here...(yeah everyone loves them, but i must talk about them^^) Michael Gruber is among the best Munkustrap i've seen, he's an excellent dancer and actor. John Patridge finally found his place as Rum Tum Tugger(he once played Munku...i cannot imagine that^^). Jacob Brent's the most suitable person for Misto so far, he's got an innocently 'sly' look...one other actor i've got to mention is Jason Gardiner who did an amazingly good job as Alonzo the proud and arrogant second-in-command...and in my opinion he dances better than Jacob in terms of power and stability (Jacob Brent is a very *sweet* and light-hearted dancer while Jason is a more forceful one).
well...i love CATS, and i confess that its melodies 'haunt' me and i watch it every week...you can call me a freak but i simply enjoy watching Michael Gruber's smile (he's got a very elegant, warm smile...i wonder why no one mentioned about it^^).
