The Nottingham Royal Concert Hall, April 2014
How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.
- A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
I was about to meet the first new cast members of the tour and - since I always seem to end up saying goodbyes in Nottingham - it was also my last chance to see Joel Morris as Carbucketty. I was prepared to say an emotional goodbye to my favourite ever portrayal of my favourite character...or at least that's what we all thought at the time! This was the trip where I first met Cassie Clare and Adam Lake...and I even met the legend himself: company manager Steve Diamond! This trip has to go down as the first of a kind of 'golden era' of Cats trips where I was able to take in multiple shows and stay overnight to really make the most of the time and not have to rush everything or cram it in. Our family friend and neighbour came along with us for the short journey over from West to East Midlands to the Nottingham theatre I was so very familiar with and a lovely hotel just a brief walk from the stage door; Nottingham is second only to Birmingham for me in terms of how perfectly set up it is for having an overnight stay. I had tickets booked for two nights, though our friend initially planned to only come with us to one performance, and I was so excited to see the first new cast changes since I had last seen the show - I was in the position for the first time of having been immensely attached to the previous cast members without being so attached as to be scared of a cast change the way I maybe was in the past (this was probably helped by the fact that for those shows Joel was still playing Carbucketty and although Dawn was no longer Jemima she was still with the show as Rumpleteazer.) It was funny to be back in the Royal Concert Hall again for the first time since the cast change of 2007, once again knowing it was time for a goodbye to some of my favourite cast members, but it is such a wonderful venue and so brilliant for Cats and I was thrilled to be back in some good end-of-row seats on the side of the stage I know Carbucketty is most present on. And to my delight our friend was just as thrilled, amazed by the set and excited about all the things I had told her about how the cast come into the audience during the show. And the thrill of seeing new cast members in the show started early from one of those very moments: Cassie Clare as the night's understudy Bombalurina appeared through the door right next to where we were sitting during the opening number Jellicle Songs with some kind of aura around her which just demanded attention - she was glorious and gorgeous and compelling, as she always is, and I was absolutely fascinated by her elegent portrayal of a character I honestly don't usually pay so much attention to from the moment she sashayed past us, because that's the thing about Cassie: she commands attention like nobody else. The next of the new faces to capture my attention of Benjamin Yates as the new Mungojerrie, who of course was paired up with Dawn as Rumpleteazer who I already was certain I would love having seen how brilliant she was already as Jemima. Ben completely matched up to Dawn's standards, have no fear: cheeky, charming and sly, his Mungojerrie instantly stood out to us as already being a brilliant addition to the cast who would only become more impressive as he got used to the part and got more stamina for the Mungo/Teazer number to match Dawn a little more. Another truly fabulous addition to the cast was Fillipo Strochi as Rum Tum Tugger; I took an instant shine to his funny, silly, charming portrayal and he brought so much fun and life to the part which made him larger than life and crazy in a way which works so well for the character in a live performance. Of course, poor Fillipo didn't know me, so when he unsuspectingly picked me to dance with in his number, spun me round then asked me "Who's your favourite cat?'" he didn't get the expected "You are" that most normal, sensible people probably would've given - I don't know what came over me, I truly don't, I knew the answer expected of me and which I should've given and I am normally SO SHY I swear but something happens to me in a theatre, ok? So....I kinda just blurted "Carbucketty" in his face! He blinked and went "Carbucketty?!" and looked back over his shoulder to where the rest of the cast were still dancing and there was Joel, grinning and hiding a laugh as he watched this all happen. Fillipo played it so well though, shaking his head and jokingly sighing as he made his way back to the stage and it was such a funny moment. The final new cast member stealing my heart was Adam Lake as Alonzo: Alonzo is always one of my very favourite characters, I think his balance of silliness, suaveness and protectiveness is fascinating and all his parts in the show give the actors so much room to play and be creative, such as his star turn as a hapless Rumpus Cat (which had me in stitches) and his role in Growltiger's crew. To me, Adam's portrayal simple was the essence of Alonzo: he managed to capture all those sides of him so beautifully and so perfectly and he did it all with a truly spellbinding grace, ease and smoothness - even in Alonzo's silliness moments, even as he extracted that comedy so perfectly (his Rumpus Cat was one of the funniest things in the whole show), Adam never lost that edge of sureness and cockiness that Alonzo has to him and it was truly hypnotic and so much fun to watch. Of course my eyes weren't only for the new cast members, but of course I could talk for far too long about how much I love every move Joel made as Carbucketty - needless to say I watched him every moment I could and was as amazed as ever by how perfect he was in the part. As the final notes of the show rang out through the theatre I was already so excited: I was so giddy and delighted that these new cast members had just come right in and stolen my heart, and I was truly desperate to meet some of them as well as to see Joel and Dawn again. My main memories of stage door that night both actually involve Joel! Joel was actually one of the first people out of stage door that night, coming straight across to me and being his lovely self, we talked about his plans for when he left the tour and stopped performing and about the cast change and how the tour had gone since I had last seen it. My memory of how it came about is somewhat hazy, but I believe after Joel and I had taken a picture together I went back to my spot at the top of the steps to wait for more of the cast when I noticed that a familiar face had appeared and was standing by where Joel was on his phone. In another moment of pure "I am a different person at stage door apparently" I took my moment and went up to him and asked "Excuse me, are you Steve Diamond?" - he was bewildered but he answered yes and I explained to him how I remembered him from the 2006 tour. Joel had finished on his phone by then and came across, curious, and was very amused as I explained that Steve Diamond was kind of a legend to me after the 2006 cast changed the lyrics of Gus the Theatre Cat to "His name's really Steve Diamond" on their final matinee. Joel gasped "Did they really do that?!" and Steve Diamond laughed, rolled his eyes and said "Yes, they really did!" with a put upon fondness which was very amusing! He oh-so-kindly indulged the weird Cats tour stage door girl and let me have a photograph with him which I think Joel took for me and truly that is one of my favourite ever stage door pictures because of how silly, random and obscure it is! During this whole interlude I am pretty sure I missed a couple of cast members leaving, and I also was aware of some waiting for others in the background but didn't want to interrupt their conversation (Adam was one of them and I was reeeeally torn about whether or not to go for it but decided I could try again the next night at least.) So it was that in the end I only got the chance to talk to one of the new cast members that night, and that was again at least in part thanks to Joel! I was waiting at the top of the steps once more, Joel was waiting at the bottom still on his phone, and the stage door opens and Fillipo Strochi strolled out stretching and whistling happily. Then he spots me and points, grinning teasingly: "Carbucketty?! Really?!!!" - I was laughing and trying to formulate a response when, without missing a beat and without even looking up from his phone, Joel dryly put in "Of course! Some people just have taste, babes" and...I think that is possibly one of my favourite things to happen at a stage door ever. Fillipo also couldn't resist telling Grizabella (Sophia Ragavelas) when she came out "She's the one - I pulled her up to dance and I asked her her favourite cat and she goes 'Carbucketty'!" and she found it very funny - I get the impression word had spread quickly about the incident amongst the whole cast and crew honestly! In fact, the next night when I was at stage door Fillipo managed to appear when I was talking to Joel yet again - he saw who I was with and gave a little mock roll of his eyes. He was also so sweet and kind to me from that stage door on and as embarrassing as it is in some ways to think back on I am also so glad it gave us this little in-joke.
The next day we met up with our friend for some breakfast and shopping before she had to catch her train home and she could not stop talking about how incredible the show had been and how amazed she was by the cast - she loved the whole thing from the show to the stage door, but most of all she was in love with Cassie!! She kept asking me a million times over "Who was that red one? She was stunning" and we kept subtly suggesting that if she enjoyed it so much maybe she could stay for the show that night, especially as she kept saying how she wished she could see the show again - we still had a spare ticket for the show that night as she had been taking a ticket someone else we had planned to go with could no longer use, and I was so overjoyed she had fallen in love with the cast and the show as I adore sharing the wonder of my favourite show with people and it seeing it work its magic on them! By lunch we had offered her the spare ticket a couple of times and I had looked into her train tickets for her to see if they would be valid for the following day and they were, so I told her that it seemed like it was meant to be and she agreed! She had decided to ask her friends who she had plans with if it was ok to move it to the afternoon of the next day rather than the morning so she would have time to get back on the train and when they agreed we were all set. She asked me again who the beautiful red cat had been and I told her once again her name, her character's name and the fact she was an understudy, and I also vowed I would definitely be waiting for her at the stage door that night.
For the performance that night I focused mostly on Joel, determined to take in everything I could of what I thought at the time would be my last chance to see his amazing portrayal of Carbucketty; I remember almost tearing up during his solo in the Jellicle Ball because he danced it like I had never seen him dance before, he was truly giving it so very much. In the finale he stayed a little longer than usual on the stage doing gorgeous leaps, favouring the side of the stage I was sitting on, and one of my last images of him as Carbucketty that night was an adorable Proud Kitten Pose which he struck as I gave him one last big cheer, before he tried to march centre-stage for a final star turn only to be told off by the grown-up cats! I also got a lovely kitten shoulder-nuzzle from him in the Finale too and he blew me a kiss as he leapt off the stage and into the wings for the final time...I was a MESS, definitely crying - I couldn't believe I'd been so lucky to have seen him play that part and I wished with all my heart I had somehow drunk it in more whilst I had the chance, because you always feel like you forget so much - too much - and you are never able to climb back inside the memory the way you want to. The fact he was intending to stop performing added an extra layer to the sadness, because it felt all the more final that he was leaving, and I was desperate to get to the stage door and give him the biggest thank you hug and wish him all the best before bidding him goodbye. He was out fairly promptly that night and all too soon that goodbye came: I thanked him from the bottom of my heart and wished him well and watched him go on his way into the night on the somewhat worrying revelation that he didn't realise where in the country he even was anymore! It was a very sweet goodbye conversation, with me full of praise and thanks and him so full of gratitude and kindness as he always was and I was sad to see him go but in a way relieved to have the goodbye over before I tried to meet the new cast members as having the task of spotting those cast members ahead of me gave me something to focus on so I didn't completely end up crying and feeling that post-show sadness too soon. The first person I saw who I really desperately wanted a to talk to was Adam Lake who kindly agreed to a picture; Adam is actually a little shy so we didn't get to talk much that night, but he was still extremely lovely and appreciative of me telling him how much I had loved his performance and since he was one of the people who made the biggest impression on me from the new arrivals I promised myself I would try to catch up with him a little more the next time I saw the show. The next person out was Dawn who kindly helped me get a picture with the new Bill Bailey Adam Salter, telling him I was a fan of the kittens ("Carbs, Jemima and Bill are her favourites!" to be precise - technically Alonzo too but that would've spoilt the kitten vibe!) After seeing these two I then had a longer wait to see anyone else, but I was resolved completely to make sure I didn't miss Cassie Clare as I so badly wanted to let her know how incredible we all thought she was as Bombalurina - she was one of the last out that night, but I recognised her the moment I saw her. I stepped forward with my usual "Excuse me..." and asked if she was the understudy who had played Bombalurina that night and she gasped, so surprised that I knew. I told her how bowled over we had all been from her performance and explained that Bombalurina wasn't usually my favourite but she was so captivating I couldn't help watching her the whole time - I explained how big a fan I was of the show and told her how much she reminded me of Rosemarie Ford from the 1998 production. At some point during all this, either before or after the Rosemarie Ford thing I can't be 100% sure, Cassie gasped and said "Can I hug you? I'm going to hug you!" and gave me the sweetest squeeze, explaining to me what a fan she had been of the show growing up and how she used to watch the 1998 production over and over and how she always wanted to be Bombalurina and would try and emulate her. It was the loveliest conversation between Cats fans, honestly, and I was so delighted how much it meant to her that I recognised her as being the understudy as she said people didn't usually know. The really adorable part of all this, of course, was Skimbleshanks Ross Finnie standing in the background watching and listening to this whole interaction with the warmest beaming smile on his face like he was so proud and happy for her - I thought that was a lovely thing which shows just how much people in shows and on tours truly do look out for and look after each other and always root for each other too. It was a dazzling end to a sparkling night and for all the sadness of my goodbye to Joel there was something full of promise about seeing and meeting these new cast members which cheered me and comforted me as I knew that, despite losing my favourite ever Carbucketty from the tour, the show was in not only incredibly safe hands but also incredibly talented, lovely ones - and I had tickets booked already for multiple shows to to get to know them all the better giving me something to look forward to even as I sadly had to make the journey home.
For the performance that night I focused mostly on Joel, determined to take in everything I could of what I thought at the time would be my last chance to see his amazing portrayal of Carbucketty; I remember almost tearing up during his solo in the Jellicle Ball because he danced it like I had never seen him dance before, he was truly giving it so very much. In the finale he stayed a little longer than usual on the stage doing gorgeous leaps, favouring the side of the stage I was sitting on, and one of my last images of him as Carbucketty that night was an adorable Proud Kitten Pose which he struck as I gave him one last big cheer, before he tried to march centre-stage for a final star turn only to be told off by the grown-up cats! I also got a lovely kitten shoulder-nuzzle from him in the Finale too and he blew me a kiss as he leapt off the stage and into the wings for the final time...I was a MESS, definitely crying - I couldn't believe I'd been so lucky to have seen him play that part and I wished with all my heart I had somehow drunk it in more whilst I had the chance, because you always feel like you forget so much - too much - and you are never able to climb back inside the memory the way you want to. The fact he was intending to stop performing added an extra layer to the sadness, because it felt all the more final that he was leaving, and I was desperate to get to the stage door and give him the biggest thank you hug and wish him all the best before bidding him goodbye. He was out fairly promptly that night and all too soon that goodbye came: I thanked him from the bottom of my heart and wished him well and watched him go on his way into the night on the somewhat worrying revelation that he didn't realise where in the country he even was anymore! It was a very sweet goodbye conversation, with me full of praise and thanks and him so full of gratitude and kindness as he always was and I was sad to see him go but in a way relieved to have the goodbye over before I tried to meet the new cast members as having the task of spotting those cast members ahead of me gave me something to focus on so I didn't completely end up crying and feeling that post-show sadness too soon. The first person I saw who I really desperately wanted a to talk to was Adam Lake who kindly agreed to a picture; Adam is actually a little shy so we didn't get to talk much that night, but he was still extremely lovely and appreciative of me telling him how much I had loved his performance and since he was one of the people who made the biggest impression on me from the new arrivals I promised myself I would try to catch up with him a little more the next time I saw the show. The next person out was Dawn who kindly helped me get a picture with the new Bill Bailey Adam Salter, telling him I was a fan of the kittens ("Carbs, Jemima and Bill are her favourites!" to be precise - technically Alonzo too but that would've spoilt the kitten vibe!) After seeing these two I then had a longer wait to see anyone else, but I was resolved completely to make sure I didn't miss Cassie Clare as I so badly wanted to let her know how incredible we all thought she was as Bombalurina - she was one of the last out that night, but I recognised her the moment I saw her. I stepped forward with my usual "Excuse me..." and asked if she was the understudy who had played Bombalurina that night and she gasped, so surprised that I knew. I told her how bowled over we had all been from her performance and explained that Bombalurina wasn't usually my favourite but she was so captivating I couldn't help watching her the whole time - I explained how big a fan I was of the show and told her how much she reminded me of Rosemarie Ford from the 1998 production. At some point during all this, either before or after the Rosemarie Ford thing I can't be 100% sure, Cassie gasped and said "Can I hug you? I'm going to hug you!" and gave me the sweetest squeeze, explaining to me what a fan she had been of the show growing up and how she used to watch the 1998 production over and over and how she always wanted to be Bombalurina and would try and emulate her. It was the loveliest conversation between Cats fans, honestly, and I was so delighted how much it meant to her that I recognised her as being the understudy as she said people didn't usually know. The really adorable part of all this, of course, was Skimbleshanks Ross Finnie standing in the background watching and listening to this whole interaction with the warmest beaming smile on his face like he was so proud and happy for her - I thought that was a lovely thing which shows just how much people in shows and on tours truly do look out for and look after each other and always root for each other too. It was a dazzling end to a sparkling night and for all the sadness of my goodbye to Joel there was something full of promise about seeing and meeting these new cast members which cheered me and comforted me as I knew that, despite losing my favourite ever Carbucketty from the tour, the show was in not only incredibly safe hands but also incredibly talented, lovely ones - and I had tickets booked already for multiple shows to to get to know them all the better giving me something to look forward to even as I sadly had to make the journey home.
