Likeable Cats on Stage | "Drat! The Cat!" @ Group Rep

[cahwyguy]

I’ve never been a fan of Cats. I don’t mean the little creatures. Those cats are cute and cuddly, although I’m slightly allergic if I’m around them too long (which is why the cat I had was an outdoor cat). I mean cats on stage. After all, they don’t have the greatest of track records, do they?

Let’s start with the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical, which is currently on stage up at Canyon Theatre Guild. This is not my favorite show, although with some it is incredibly popular. To appreciate Cats, you must think of it as a dance show. The music is cute but pastiche-y (ALW is rarely in the top rankings of music and lyrics); it really exists to support and define the style of dance. There is precious little plot. The purpose of Cats is to showcase the dancers. If you go in with that understanding, you can appreciate Cats. With the right cast, it can be a spectacular dance show, as Broadway and countless tours have shown. With the wrong cats (oops, wrong anagram) cast, and the wrong conception, it fails spectacularly (as the movie showed). At the community theatre level (i.e., CTG), finding sufficiently strong dancers, with sufficiently strong choreographers, can be quite difficult. Although I’ve heard some good things about CTG’s production, I don’t like the show strong enough go see it.

Then there are the cats that serve to propel the plot. We saw such a show a few weeks ago in Fake It Until You Make It, where a fight over a cat was the plot element that provided the initial conflict between the two main characters, and kept resurfacing during the story. There were similar cats in the The Lieutenant of Inishmore at the Taper back in 2010; none of these cats at the Taper met a good fate or had a happy ending.

Then there are the cats rarely seen. Last night’s show, Drat! The Cat! at Group Rep, is an example of such a show. That you’ve never heard of the show is no great surprise. It ran for under 10 performances on Broadway in 1965, a victim of low capitalization and a newspaper strike that delayed reviews longer than the show’s pocketbook could sustain. The leads, Elliott Gould and Lesley Anne Warren, were not known as singers and dancers. Its lingering claim to fame was the pop song “He Touched Me”, which Barbra Streisand made into a minor hit for a short bit. A studio cast album was released in 1997 from Bruce Kimmel’s label at the time, and that is how I learned of the show. It was in my group of shows I have heard but never seen.

But this seems to be my year for seeing shows I’ve only heard. From Groundhog Day: The Musical  and Desperate Measures in Long Beach, to Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 at UCLA, to the upcoming Bonnie and Clyde: The Musical at the Rubicon (and many more) — it’s a year for finally understanding the plots of these musicals. So I was very pleased when I learned that Bruce Kimmel was going to produce the rarely seen Drat! The Cat! at Group Rep. I was first in the virtual line to get tickets when they went on sale.

So, last night, guess where I was? Oh, right, I already told you.

Let’s start with the basics. Drat! has lyrics and book by Ira Levin, and music by Milton Schafer. This isn’t the Ira Levin of Rosemary’s Baby or Stepford Wives; it is more the Ira Levin of Deathtrap or No Time for Sergeants. Milton Schafer is less noteworthy (and note that “The Happy Time” cited in the program is NOT the Kander/Ebb property, but an unproduced musical based on the same play). The story, set at the end of the 19^th century, involves the search to capture a cat burglar, named “The Cat”, who has been stealing jewels from the rich and powerful  in society. To capture him, the police turn to the bumbling son of their greatest detective as their last hope. He plans to capture The Cat at an upcoming society party, and enlists the help of the daughter of the the folks throwing the party (although it is more correct to say the daughter convinces him to enlist her). He promptly falls in love with her; she (unsurprisingly) is just using him to have a little fun. But our policeman doesn’t see this, as he is 100% honest and only wants to solve the crime. As this is one of those mystery shows, I won’t unveil the rest of the plot twists.

As a show, Drat! is cute and cuddly, but dated.  I don’t mean dated in terms of its setting. It mean is it just a silly story of the type we were seeing on Broadway in the 1950s and early 1960s: a show that was designed to entertain, produce quite a few laughs, have enjoyable music, and have some fun dances. It wasn’t meant to convey or import a major social message. If one finds one — such as the message that you can’t trust the rich because they will steal the jewels from your neck while you aren’t looking while maintaining a smile on their face, and they will corrupt law enforcement from doing their jobs with their money — it is purely by accident and unintentional. This doesn’t make them bad; it just means that they are out of step with many of the newer musicals on Broadway today. They become more of a throwback museum piece, along the lines of the recent Once Upon a Mattress. With the right cast and the right production, they can succeed.

How does GRT’s Drat! succeed in this area? For the most part, quite well.

The leads of the show are outstanding, most notably Sydney DeMaria as Alice Van Guilder. She was the greatest surprise of the show: A wonderful singer, strong in movement, and with outstanding comic chops. Just watch her face, and you’ll see this playful imp coming through. She was having a lot of fun with this role, and it clearly came through in her performance. This is something that I love to see and is something rare on stage. I hope this young lady goes far, and I hope to see more of her performance on stage. Just outstanding. Playing against her was Alec Reusch as Acting Detective Bob Purefoy. Reusch wasn’t at the stratospheric level of DeMaria, but was quite good. He had a very pleasant and strong singing voice, and captured the naivete of his character well. He also had strong comic timing.

Below the leads, the cast was drawn from a mix of GRT regulars and newcomers. The performances were a mix as well: some were particularly strong, and others were entertainingly earnest. I particularly enjoyed Hisato Masuyama (who I swear we’ve seen before at GRT), who has an incredibly strong singing voice and Savannah Mortenson, who also has this incredible voice. Other particularly notable folk from the supporting cast included Constance Mellors and Lloyd Pedersen as Matilda and Lucius Van Guilder, Alice’s parents who played the silliness of their characterizations to the hilt.

A note on the ensemble: Their portrayal of the cops was very much in Keystone Kops style of policemen. Kids these probably have no idea what I’m talking about. Look it up on your favorite search engine. But this is a particularly Mack Sennett style of comedy from the 1920s of the bumbling cop, with the twirling baton. It served the comedy of the story well, and provided support for the dance in the Ballet sequence. The style takes a lot of skill to pull off, and the company did reasonably well with it.

The show was directed by Bruce Kimmel, who is an expert at this sort of thing. He has a lot of fun with these shows (I still remember The Brain from Planet X many many years ago at the Chance, his productions of Los Angeles Now and Then and Levi at LACC, and his recent 70 Girls 70 at GRT), and it comes through in the direction. When one loves a piece show, it shows in the direction. I initially thought some points were a bit overplayed, but then thought back to Ira Levin and the style of comedy seen in Deathtrap, and I came to the conclusion that this was appropriate for the style of comedy. Overall, Kimmel brought out strong performances from the cast.

The dances, primarily by Cheryl Baxter, although I understand that Kimmel staged some of the numbers, were very nice. I was particularly taken by the “Dancing with Alice” number, but I’m a sucker for a good Waltz. “Today is a Day” was also a fun dance number. I’ve already discussed the ballet.

Did I have any quibbles with the production? Yes, but I think overall they were minor. There were costuming problems, likely due to the fact this is a smaller theatre with limited budget. My particular complaint was with the cop costumes. There was this black polyester jacket/cape/something that just didn’t fit with the period right. There was the fact that each cop had different shoes. For a Keystone Kops style to work, they need uniform uniforms, appropriate for the style. The differences were a minor distraction. But this was a production of a small company with limited budgets, so it really is only a minor quibble. In theatres of this size, one gets creative and does the best with the resources on hand, which is what they were doing.

I had some other minor quibbles. Some of the performers gave off a sense of “pasted on smile”. Smiles come off better when they come naturally from within (and we saw this with the lead, who was a joy to watch). Some of the ensemble had a “Smile, June, Smile” smile. Hopefully, over time, the joy of performing will bring the more natural smile. Performers have this unique skill which they probably don’t even realize they have: they can inhabit and become another character, and take joy in that character. I’m an engineer who has done cybersecurity for 40 years, and I don’t have the skill and ability to do that: I deal with the real world. I wish I had the ability to do what they do, but I don’t. My joy comes from watching their joy in performing. I’m happiest when I see that joy come through naturally, and the audience can tell.

Another quibble: Compare the splash credit page (the opening page of the program with the two QR codes) with the bios of the creative staff in the program. A number of folks are missing from the bios: notably, the stage manager, sound designer, and lighting designer. At this level of theatre, folks aren’t paid much. Having the bios is very important for these folks to get known and recognized, and they deserve that minimal spotlight.

But these are truly minor quibbles. Overall, this production of Drat! The Cat! is quite fun, and it is a chance to see a rarely produced gem. If you get the chance, visit GRT to see Drat! The Cat! and learn what Broadway missed thanks to a newspaper strike. Someone should encourage Encores to see this: it could fit will with the shows they do. Further, I encourage GRT to keep doing shows like this: Revisiting shows that either failed or missed originally, or have been forgotten. Everyone seems to revive the same shows (why, oh why, is The Sound of Music on tour yet again). It’s nice to see something that we haven’t seen in ages. Perhaps it is time for that revival of I Love My Wife?

Drat! The Cat! continues at GRT through April 27, 2025. Tickets are available through the Group Rep website.

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Drat! The Cat!  Book and lyrics by Ira Levin. Music by Milton Schafer. Directed by Bruce Kimmel. Choreography by Cheryl Baxter.

Cast (^æ indicates Actors Equity): Sydney DeMaria Alice Van Guilder; Alex Reusch Bob Purefoy; April Audia^æ Mrs. Kate Purefoy; Lee Grober Mayor; Doug Haverty Superintendent of Police Pincer; Constance Mellors^æ Mrs. Matilda Van Guilder; Lloyd Pedersen^æ Roger Purefoy (Former Chief of Detectives), Lucius Van Guilder; Rob Schaumann Chief of Police Mallet; Ben Anderson Ensemble, Patrolman; Riley Croman Ensemble, Delmonico’s Chanteuse, Dance Captain; Lareen Faye Ensemble, Robbery Patron; Amy Golding Ensemble, Opera Soloist; Angie Lin Ensemble; Hisato Masuyama^æ Ensemble, Butler; Savannah Mortenson Ensemble, Patrolwoman, Maid; Maxwell Oliver Ensemble; Nicole Slatin Ensemble; Melissa Strauss Ensemble, The Dowager; Steven Young Ensemble, Doctor, Judge.

Music Department: Gerald Sternbach Music Direction, Piano; Tim Christensen Bass; Paul Cotton Flute/Clarinet; Tom Marino Trumpet; Craig Pilo Percussion.

Production and Creative: Audrey Szot Scenic Design; Shon Le Blanc Costume Design; Echo Brejcha Lighting Design; John Harvey Sound Design; Robbie Myles Lighting Consultant; Terrie Collins-Grant Props Design; Krys Fehervari Wig Design, Hair and Make Up; Cynthia Payo Asst. Director; Cathy D. Tomlin Sound Mixing; Denise Downer Marketing; Kristin Stancato Online Marketing; Nora Feldman Publicist; Maxwell Petrie Stage Manager; Koushik Producer.

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Administrivia: I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

• March: ✡ MoTAS/MoTBH Mens Seder at TAS
• April:  ◊ Ren Faire (Southern); ✡ First Night of Passover; ⌬ California Science and Engineering Fair; ♦ All The Devils Are Here at the Broad;
• May:  ♦Bonnie and Clyde: The Musical at Rubicon Theatre; ♦ Life of Pi at CTG/Ahmanson; ⊕ ♦ Spitfire Grill at Actors Co-Op; ♦ A Dolls House, Part 2 at Pasadena Playhouse.
• June: ⊕ ♦ Flower Drum Song at East West Players; ♦ Parade at CTG/Ahmanson; and possibly some Hollywood Fringe Festival shows.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Likeable Cats on Stage | "Drat! The Cat!" @ Group Rep by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link to the left. You can sign in with your LJ, DW, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. Note: Subsequent changes made to the post on the blog are not propagated by the SNAP Crossposter; please visit the original post to see the latest version. P.S.: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.