From Broadway to the Beck, There's No Stopping 'CATS'

Mr. Mistoffelees, The Rum Tum Tugger, Old Deuteronomy and the rest of your favorite “CATS” characters are coming to the from May 13-21.

After months of preparation, the Beck Youth Theater troupe, in collaboration with the Beck Center Dance Workshop are bringing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s internationally renowned play to the Mackey Main Stage for a special one-week engagement, marketing director Kathleen Caffrey said.

“We have 80 students involved in the production,” she said. “It’s a total collaboration among our actors, dancers and stage crew, and we’re eager to see them working together both on stage and behind the scenes.”

The actors will hardly be recognizable as they’ll undergo a full make-up and costume treatment in order to assume the unique feline characters that have been entertaining audiences for the last 30 years.

And, unlike most youth shows, the stage crew that’s handling the make-up will be comprised, in part, by a team of students who were specially trained by New York actress and Beck alum Lisa Kuhnen.

“Performing Cats with this many actors and dancers requires a new way of imagining the storytelling and a new way of rehearsing, It has been an exciting challenge and a great opportunity for everyone involved.” Beck associate director of theater education Jonathan Kronenberger said.