Paramount reimagines ‘Cats’ as high-flying circus spectacle

Paramount Theatre‘s Broadway Series caps its season in Aurora with the mega musical “Cats,” Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic seven-time Tony Award-winning musical. I can only state this production is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

Director Trent Stork, Paramount’s artistic producer and casting director, stated the musical has been “living in my head” for 11 years. The first time Paramount produced “Cats” was in 2014, when Stork served as associate director.

“I’m very excited and grateful to be able to bring [this] vision to life with so much talent in the cast and behind the scenes,” Stork said. “It’s going to be unlike anything the world has ever seen and totally something new for our audiences at Paramount.”

His concept conjures a second life for “Cats.”

For a tremendous production showcasing an ensemble of 36 characters/29 performers all possessing phenomenal talent, Stork as director needed a dedicated and creative team – and he got it.

Choreographer Kasey Alfonso and circus arts trainer Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi showcase aerialists, tumblers, acrobats and joyful expressions. There’s definitely a new layer and new energy.

A Paramount favorite, Kory Danielson serves as music director and conductor with a live, 10-piece orchestra complete with reeds, cellos, keyboards, guitars, basses, horns and drums. They are met with well-deserved applause and cheers as they strike the first note.

Izumi Inaba’s costumes and Katie Cordts’ makeup and wigs are exquisite and appropriate to each feline. Greg Hofmann’s lighting and Adam Rosenthal’s sound keep the ensemble both perfectly illuminated and heard on Jeffrey D. Kmiec’s magnificent set under the Victorian big top.

Inspired by T.S. Eliot’s 1939 collection of poems titled “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music and lyrics deal with themes of identity and redemption as a group of cats called Jellicles meet at the annual Jellicle Ball to make the choice of which cat is worthy to ascend and come back to a new life as decreed by Old Deuteronomy.

Lorenzo Rush Jr. merely has to step on stage before the audience reacts with thunderous applause to his Old Deuteronomy, beloved patriarch of the Jellicle Cats and leader of the ball. Rush engages consistently with vocal prowess and traits of wisdom, justice and spiritualism.

As many times as you’ve heard “Memory” sung touchingly as the most recognizable and signature song of “Cats,” that’s not the familiar treatment here. Sung by Emily Rohm as Grizabella, and Emma Ogea as Sillabub, it is performed with power, heartbreak and recognition of a different life. Emily Rohm’s Grizabella is a proud, once glamorous star living in the gutter, exiled and disgraced. Rohm portrays her regret and loneliness.

Donovan Hoffer’s Rum Tum Tugger is vain and curious, the rock star of the tolerating cats, and brings much charisma to the production.

Christopher Kelley’s Mistoffelees is wonderful. He’s compulsive, neat, electric, lithe, a magician – and he astounds. The song “Magical Mister Mistoffelees” is a favorite of the audience. Listen to the lyrics describing how he gets up to mischief.

The diminutive and glowing Victoria is captured by Kara Brody as a kitten resplendent in white fur. Brody does an adept job of convincing us she’s young, well-liked, uninhibited, curious and gracefully coming of age. She’s also kind and accepting and reaches out to Grizabella. This is Brody’s Paramount debut.

Matthew Weidenbener is Macavity, the main antagonist of “Cats.” His portrayal is malevolent and a looming presence, always striking fear in the Jellicles. “Macavity the Mystery Cat” is sung by Demeter and Bombalurina and cast in Act Two.

Whether you’ve already experienced versions of “Cats” on Broadway, in revivals or on the big screen (I’m surprised it’s not yet a Netflix miniseries), why not go see “Cats” at the Paramount? It’s an exhilarating, enlightening experience purr-fect for these times.

• Regina Belt-Daniels persevered through the poetry of T.S. Eliot in school, and was fortunate enough to see “Cats” in both London and in Chicago via a touring company, but it was not her cup of tea. Paramount’s production may very well have jelled her fandom. Theater reviewer for Shaw Local News Network for more than 11 years, she can be found onstage, backstage or in the audience somewhere.

IF YOU GO

• WHAT: “Cats” musical

• WHERE: Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora

• WHEN: Wednesday through Sunday until June 15

• INFORMATION: 630-896-6666, paramountaurora.com