Burswood Entertainment Complex has a pest problem – a tribe of street-wise cats have invaded its theatre and made a home for the next four weeks.
The famed Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats has travelled the world and was among the longest running shows to be staged in the West End, London and Broadway, New York – each about 20 years long.
Set to prowl the Perth stage from April 11 are Delia Hannah as Grizabella, Adrian Ricks as Mr Mistofellees, Shaun Rennie as Munkustrap, John Ellis as Old Deuteronomy and Western Australian-born performer John O’Hara as Rum Tum Tugger.
And making his Australian musical debut is WA Performing Arts graduate Brent Dolahenty, who plays Quaxo, the bodyguard of Jellicle tribe leader Munkustrap.
Dolahenty says Quaxo is a ‘very strong character’.
‘He doesn’t come from a home, as such. He’s a bit of a stray cat but he’s not a feral cat, I would say,’ Doherty said.
‘But yeah, he’s quite strong and can be aggressive but also knows his place in the group of cats, so he follows the leader and doesn’t rebel at all.
‘There’s a few moments in the show where I kind of love to let my hair down and just really get into the fun of it all, but there’s others where I like to think that I’m a bit of a security guard, as such, for the night and keep my eye out for any danger or things that are happening.’
The cats come together for one big night of the Jellicle Ball, dancing and singing about each of their stories.
‘The drama of the piece really lies in the most famous female character, Grizabella, who sings Memory,’ Dolahenty said.
‘There are a lot of cats who don’t believe she belongs in our group any more but she’s come back just to plead with us to accept her again.
‘So there’s a lot of relationships that she has with some of the other cats that are quite strong and some people haven’t seen her for quite a long time and they kind of play out during the show.’
Dolahenty also plays an understudy to seven other roles – the singing cats Munkustrap, Rum Tum Tugger, Old Deuteronomy and Gus, and then Skimbleshanks, Alonzo and Plato.
‘They’re very strong dance cats, so my dancing has improved immensely,’ he said.
‘I’ve never really used my body in that way before, so it’s been really exciting to learn new things.’
He said it has also helped keeps things fresh for him after touring with the show for two years through Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and then on to his Australian debut in Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne.
‘A big part of Cats is the improvisation every night, so there’s a lot of freedom to do new things and mix it up and just go with impulses and whatever the audiences kind of give you,’ Dolahenty said.
‘We have a couple of moments in the show every night where we go out into the audience and some audiences are much more vocal, so we know they’re enjoying it a lot more and also the response at the end is amazing.’
He looks forward to performing to his home crowd.
‘I feel like Perth people really love the arts and are interested in the performing arts and musicals and are really supportive and I think it’s probably been a while since Cats has been performed there so it seems like there’s a lot of people in Australia that are quite big fans that are really excited to see it again,’ Dolahenty said.
‘So yeah, I’m looking forward to getting to Perth and making fans happy and also introducing the show to new people who haven’t seen it before.’
While Dolahenty denies there are any cat fights behind the scenes, the Jellicle tribe’s late nights certainly take their toll.
‘It’s quite an exertion,’ he said.
‘Our director, from when we start the show, she really likes us to act as feline as possible so she has instilled a lot of feline physicalities into us and obviously, as humans, we don’t really move like cats, so that kind of brings with it problems.
‘Then there are times, for me, when I’ve had lots of busy rehearsals and the eight shows a week. By the end of the Sunday night you’re kind of just ready for bed.’
His make-up alone takes 20 minutes to apply but ultimately, he says, it is just a lot of fun and frivolity.
‘We all kind of spur each other on and get each other through it and it’s a really supportive group of people and we are a family.’
Aja Styles
