Where Seattlest Interviews a Cat!

For a big gay musical theater geek like Seattlest, it's kind of embarrassing to admit that we've never seen Cats. Lucky for us, the touring production is making a quick four-day stop at the Paramount next week (Apr. 15-19, tickets start at $20 and are available from the Paramount). We'll be here to give you our thoughts when we finally watch those crazy singing and dancing felines next week. But, while we count down to that fateful day, we'd like to share with you our recent conversation with one of the stars of the show, a delightful young actor by the name of Drew Roelofs:

You'e originally from Iowa. Were you involved in a lot of theater as a kid?
Not really. There weren't as many opportunities when I was younger. I was always in choir and I sang in school. What really got me motivated to do theater in college—there's this program in Iowa called Celebration Iowa, which is an auditioned 20-member song/dance ensemble and a band. We put on a show that was a montage of different types of music, singing and dancing, and we'd tour around the state for three months in the summer. I had a blast doing that and that was the catalyst for going to New York City and making a career out of this. I mean I did shows in high school and stuff, but...

How long have you been with Cats?
Rehearsals began August 11 last year in New York City. I originally auditioned about a year ago this time.

You play Macavity - the mystery cat - kind of a criminal. What kind of research did you do for this role? Anything you do ritually to get into character?
Well it's tricky because I'm only Macavity for ten minutes of the show, the rest of the show I'm his...it's kind of a Jeckyll and Hyde type of deal. The rest of the show, I'm a cat named Plato who's a lackadaisical cat. In the second act, I have to change my costume and wig and make-up into Macavity to do a balletic fight with a few of the other cats. After I make my grand exit, I have to change back into original cat once again. So, getting into character...I don't know. I've played a number of villains before so maybe I just have that quality about me or something. Who knows. Type-casted, I guess.

Seems like this is one of those shows where the costumes are half the battle.
The make-up is half the battle. That's what takes the most time for anybody. The Macavity costume is fun. You've got to look like a fireball onstage—red, yellow, orange spikes coming out of me. The makeup is definitely what takes the longest.

After 30 years onstage, what do you think it is about Cats that keeps people coming back?
At the time, when it first opened, it was such a unique experience. It was the beginning of the age of the mega-musicals—Cats, Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera—ninety percent of the songs are memorable. There's "Memory," which is a big power ballad...they're all such catchy numbers with lasting power that's gone beyond the songs in other musicals. I think it has to do with the music. The entire family will enjoy it. At the end of the show, there are little kids on their feet, everyone from age two to ninety every night. I'm sure it'll be around for quite a while.

Do you think it's aged well?
It hasn't aged that much. We're still wearing those leg warmers and arm warmers. [laughs] You look at pictures from the original productions and some of the costumes are exactly the same. The make-up plots are very similar. From Broadway to the tour, the set has downsized a little bit but it's still the same basic concept of the junkyard. You'd be surprised if you saw the original, it's really not a whole lot different.

When you're coming into a musical like this that's been around for that long, so many other people have played this role before you in a very high-profile way. How do you honor their work, or do you have to just make it your own?
I've never seen it on tour and I vaguely remember it on Broadway. I didn't have much to go from. Our director, who is also choreographer, and the assistant choreographer were in the Broadway show for 10 to 15 years so they know what needs to happen. They're very good at keeping the integrity of the original production because it's a big part of their lives. They're able to give us the ideas and reasons behind what we're doing so we can keep the character how it was originally intended.

Have you ever been to Seattle before?
No this is my first time. There are a couple people from our company that are from Seattle.

What's your favorite sandwich?
[laughs] A good BLT always goes down well.

Apr. 15-19 // The Paramount // Tickets start at $20