Tag: CATS the musical

Grizabella was the wrong cat to die. After seeing CATS the Musical for the first time in July of 2016, podcast host Mike Abrams was filled with a whirlwind of emotions. He was amused, confused, and a little angry. Almost exactly three years later when the 2019 CATS movie trailer came out, Mike had enough. It was time to speak his truth – Grizabella was the wrong Cat to Die at the Jellicle Ball. In this podcast series, Mike interviews CATS cast members, CATS superfans, CATS haters, and explores the backstories of the Jellicle characters all to make a case for why they were more worthy to ascend to the Heavyside Layer than Grizabella. I’ve written in the past that in 1986 my life was changed when I was cast as the ‘Magical Mr. Mistoffelees’ in a brand new National Touring company of CATS. To give some perspective, CATS was, in terms of popularity, the Hamilton of its day. All over America, everywhere we went, we were sold out months before we arrived.

Fast forward to Fall 2020, my cast reunited in a virtual event performing material from the show to raise money for The Actors Fund. At the time, as “the journalist” of the group, folks asked if I would try and help with the publicity aspect. At the time, I came across Mike’s very entertaining podcast where, initially, he opined on which cat actually should have/deserved to go to the Heaviside Layer at the end of the show. I booked three of my cast mates to go on the podcast and share, not only about our event, but their time ‘back in the day.’  Mike had interviewed cats from the Broadway revival, but no one from the original days in the 1980s. Listening to his character by character in the beginning episodes, I was charmed to find that my character was – in his opinion – the cat that really deserved that next “Jellicle” life. Some weeks ago, he invited me to come on the show and chat. I believe I’m the first ‘Mistoffelees’ to be interviewed on the show, which is quite the honor. This was much fun to revisit the Hit the play button below or listen wherever you get your podcasts – Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, and Stitcher.