Once more with felines

Sophia Ragavelas as Grizabella in Cats. Photo / Supplied

With Cats returning to Auckland, Eli Orzessek takes a wander down memory lane and talks to one of the stars of the show

I can still remember my first and only live experience with Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats.

As a child, sitting in the cheap seats at Auckland's St James theatre, I peered through my grandmother's old opera glasses at the strange hybrid cat-people leaping about in tights on the stage below.

I didn't have a clue what was going on, but ended up with Memory stuck in my head for weeks - in fact, just the mere mention of it starts the song playing again.

Many kids of the 80s and 90s are familiar with its hit soundtrack, featuring the memorable songs of the Jellicle Cats like McCavity: The Mystery Cat, Mr Mistoffelees and of course, Memory - a sorrowful tune belted out by many wannabe divas.

Based on T.S. Eliot's well-known book of poetry, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, Cats opened in the West End in London in 1981 and quickly became a runaway hit and ran for 21 years. A year later, it debuted on Broadway with the same creative team, where it ran for 18 years.

The long-running productions won numerous awards and set plenty of records. Testament to its immense popularity, the musical has been translated into 15 languages for performances all around the world.

A new British production of Cats will return to Auckland's Civic Theatre next month and familiar characters and musical numbers are bound to delight those who've seen the show before, while introducing a whole new generation to the feline spectacular.

West End star Sophia Ragavelas plays Grizabella the Glamour Cat in this latest production - a role she's been waiting her entire life to play. It's her second time around as the nine-lived glamour puss, having played her in a recent British tour - plus she's a bit feline herself, so it's hardly a stretch.

"It's a show that I watched since I was a little girl and I longed to be in it," she says. "My mother always said I was a cat in my former life, so it was like coming home."

A wizened and washed-up old cat longing for her days as a youthful dancer, Grizabella was originally created by acclaimed English singer and actress Elaine Paige, who reprised the role for the video release of Cats.

"She is a strong woman, she's a fighter - a definite fighter - but she's got vulnerability around her that reaches out to a lot of people," Ragavelas says. "She's a very complex character, she's got a lot of layer and she's been through the mill."

Sophia Ragavelas plays Grizabella in Cats. Photo / Supplied

It's an iconic part that comes with an iconic feature song that many actors have longed to make their own. And unsurprisingly, it's Ragavelas' favourite part of the show.

"Finally getting the chance to be up there and be amongst amazing dancers and sing one of the most iconic songs in musical theatre and put my take on it is an honour and a dream come true."

The latest production of Cats contains some updates to the musical numbers, which Regavelas hopes will surprise those familiar with the show. For example, the rough and tumble alleycat Rum Tum Tugger is now a rapper who performs some "serious breakdancing moves".

"I think they were trying to aim it to the teens and the teenyboppers and they've done a great job," she says. "It's a totally different element to the show and it goes down a storm."

We'll have to wait and see if teenage audiences are impressed by a grown man dressed as a tomcat in tights, rapping, but stranger things have happened and it does sound like quite something.

Hopefully they'll be bringing back some of the classic 80s merchandise, because even if you don't like musicals, you can't deny those black T-shirts with yellow cat's eyes are cool. Hipsters have been wearing them ironically - maybe secretly non-ironically - for years now.

Either way, Ragavelas is convinced everyone who goes to see the show is sure to fall in love with the world of the Jellicle Cats. Her passion for the production is evident and she's nearly convinced me I need to go see the show again.

"I think it will take them on an amazing journey," she says. "People love to come for the music or they come for the dancing. Some people come and they don't have a clue what's going on but they love it anyway."

Who: Sophia Ragavelas as Grizabella
What: Cats
When and where: Civic from September 12

- TimeOut