Saturday, September 21, 2019

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Tonight's picture was taken on September 7, 2008. Mattie was in his second month of receiving chemotherapy. However, Mattie became ACTIVE at night. Well he was active all hours of the day, not just at night. Chemotherapy and living in the hospital 24/7 shut down Mattie's sleep/wake cycle. So literally he was always ON. That evening Peter tried to lighten the mood in the room and blew up gloves for Mattie. Mattie thought they looked like turkeys. So he did a turkey puppet show from the window of his room. Naturally when nurses and others passed by the window, that inspired Mattie to perform. 



Quote of the day: Midnight not a soul on sad scene left, weary heart that has been reft from fleet beat on life's stage. Despite spotlights only echoes haunt empty stalls, castaway cats have sprung their cage. ~ TS Elliott (the inspiration for Andrew LLoyd Webber's musical piece entitled Memories)

This year, Peter and I decided to do something for ourselves. Since we both love music (and met in our college's choir), we bought a subscription to the Kennedy Center's musical series. Today was the first show, Cats. 

I wasn't sure how I would react to Cats. I say this because I saw it in NYC when I was 13 years old. Back then, I can vividly recall that I disliked the show. Even though I have always been a cat lover. But with age, life experiences, and a better understanding for human behavior and the challenges of life, I absolutely LOVED Cats today. I think it is a show that can appeal to all ages, and I have no doubt each person comes away with different thoughts and feelings about the show. Regardless of age, Webber's musical score is memorable. In fact, people were humming it on the way out of the theater. That to me is always a sign for how memorable and good a musical actually is. With regard to Cats, it is 4th longest running musical on Broadway. 

Cats is a remarkable show that requires incredible dancing skills and energy. The remarkable thing is that these dancers were singing the whole time while doing jumps and feats in the air. Even if one doesn't like the story line (and critics don't as they feel there is no meaningful plot and the show has no substance), you can't ignore the talent that performed in front of us. The whole cast got a standing ovation, which doesn't mean much at the Kennedy Center - since people stand for just about everything, but in this case IT WAS WELL DESERVED!

In a nutshell..............Cats is a sung-through musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the 1939 poetry book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. It tells the story of a tribe of cats called the Jellicles and the night they make the "Jellicle choice", deciding which cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life. I included a review and a trailer for the musical below. You will see what I mean about the dancing, costumes, and music. It is a show that makes cats come to life, but in all reality each of these cats in a way mimics our human lives, personalities, and existential issues. 


The trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7tU5HQE0sE


Washington Post Review of Cats:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/cats-the-musical-proves-again-it-has-way-more-than-nine-lives/2019/09/20/52fbdfae-dbbb-11e9-adff-79254db7f766_story.html