A quick word: Shane Cortese

Shane Cortese in all his feline glory. Photo / Supplied

Cats is opening this week so we thought we should give you a ring and talk about it.
Yeah, it's all going really well. We've sold 19,000 tickets so far, which is 1000 more than My Fair Lady closed on.

Really? Were you slightly concerned when that whole debacle happened? That you might suffer the same fate?
It's not really been a concern because Cats is such an iconic musical. My Fair Lady is fantastic but I don't think it was really a commercial proposition for Auckland at the moment. Cats is because we all know what we're going to see. I was a travel agent in the 80s before I became an actor, and that was one of the first musicals that people travelled to Australia to see. It introduced a lot of people to musicals. I think it's almost retro now, people know what they're going to get. I never, for one second, thought it was going to suffer the same fate as My Fair Lady.

Were you one of those people in the 80s who went to see the show in Australia?
I didn't. My first musical was Les Miserables. It was a little bit later. And that night at the theatre in Sydney was what made me want to be involved in theatre. That show was incredible

So when was the first time you saw Cats? Or haven't you seen it?
I have never seen it. I was in London for all of that time and worked with many people who were in the show, and the theatre was just two doors down from us. But I never had the opportunity to go and see it.

But you were aware of the lycra, I assume?
Very much aware of the Lycra! Hence the diet and the training with Monty Betham. Every time I have a sandwich, I think 'PVC and Lycra, PVC and Lycra'.

What has the diet and training regime comprised of?
A lot of conditioning work. We do a bit of boxing, a lot of running. He really puts me through my paces. But then when you do the show, that's a 90-minute aerobic exercise in itself anyway.

And have you been dragged into dance classes as well?
This is the thing, in all musicals, there are specialised parts and my part is a strutting, mainly singing cat. I wouldn't like to pour scorn on the other dancers by suggesting at any point that I was a dancer. It's very much a jazz-based dance show - it's where the costumes stem from. I managed to do a TV programme a few years ago where I held on to someone for dear life and they got me round the dance floor. All of a sudden everyone thinks I'm a dancer, whereas these kids train their whole lives and are dancers.

Who approached who about the show?
I was approached last year in June or July by the producers. It was a no-brainer, it was something I was very interested in because 1) I love musical theatre and 2) I love working. I don't see the point in sitting on your butt. I just love to work. The more different types of entertainment I can do, the higher are the chances of me being paid.

You must have been filming Outrageous then?
Yes, we'd finished season four and had a little hiatus and were just about to start season five. But they didn't clash at all. Rehearsals for me didn't start until four weeks ago, so we'd finished filming season five.

And who is the more fun character to play? Rum Tum Tugger or Hayden Peters?
[Laughs] Well if Outrageous Fortune was a musical then I could compare them both. But they're not. I love playing Hayden Peters. I'm so lucky as both the jobs I have at the moment are very much ensemble-based. I love going to work on Outrageous because it's a bunch of mates getting together to tell some great stories. I'm really looking forward to the audiences take on season five because I think it's setting a benchmark. As each season goes on I think it sets a new benchmark, even greater than before. They follow absolutely no rules, Rachel and James [Lang and Griffin,Outrageous creators]. If they want to kill someone off, they kill them off. It is an explosive season.

Cool. Now back to Cats, you said before it is a little bit retro, it was an 80s icon. Has it been updated from the original version?
It's an updated version. The set's come out of Melbourne - instead of being set in a rubbish dump, it's set on rooftops now. But the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber and the poetry of T.S. Eliot is all still there.

And finally, are you actually a cat person?
I'm a pet person. I love animals and I've had both dogs and at the moment I have a cat and her name is Delphi. I found her as a little runt.

After your Shortland Street co-star!
After my Shortland Street co-star. This little cat was tiny and she wasn't being fed by her mum. I showed up at my mother's place and these seven kittens just scattered except for this one little tortoiseshell, who came bounding up to me, very weak but wanting to play. She was cheeky so the perfect name to call her was Delphi, after Anna Hutchison.

And have you been keeping tabs on your old co-star?
I have. I spoke to her four weeks ago and told her what I thought of Underbelly. She was exactly the same, she's great. We used to have a rule at Shortland Street, which was you were never allowed to give Anna sugar after lunch. She's so full of energy, if you give her a little bit more it's all over, red rover.

Cats opens at the Civic Theatre this Saturday until June 27. Tickets from the-edge.co.nz