New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu



 

MEOW!​​​​​​​ Cats is Back!


By Bruce Chadwick

originally published: 03/08/2023


Photo By Matthew Murphy, Murphymade

Years and years and years ago, when the musical Cats opened on Broadway, my late wife and I went to see it. We both fell in love with the oddball cat named Rum Tum Tugger. Several months later, we got our first cat and immediately, right away, named her Rum Tum Tugger. She was a handful - food strikes, carousing with the neighborhood Tom Cat, knocking over garbage cans, hiding in the attic over the garage once for three days complaining about everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of her favorite tricks was to stay out all night and then, with her whiskered boyfriend, sleep leaning against the outside of the front door. We’d open the door in the morning and she’s tumble in, just after we shooed away the Tom Cat.

We loved her madly.

This lost chapter from my distant past came back to me a few days ago when I interviewed the actor who plays Rum Tum Tugger in the current production in the long running, classical and much, much beloved musical Cats at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, this coming weekend (Friday at 8:00pm, Saturday at 8:00pm, Sunday at 1:30pm & 7:00pm) I hope they have two, not one plates of vittles out for Rum Tum Tugger!

The show’s longevity, and popularity over the years is just as astonishing to me as it is to Hank Santos, who play Rum in the current show and has been on the road with it since September.




Promote your shows at New Jersey Stage! Click here for info



“The show is amazing. We get people who saw the show in the 70s and now bring their kids and even grandkids to the show. We’ll get that in Morristown like we get it everywhere else. I don’t know the right word to describe Cats. Not legend but, er, but. Oh, I’ve got the rid word - iconic. Yes, Cats is Iconic.”

The irony of Santos and all the other performers in this play, with a lot of music and dancing, is that many of them have not actually danced on stage in two years.

Huh?

“The pandemic,” Santos said. “Many of the nation’s plays were shut down, such as Cats, so our first dancing in it, in my play, is right now. It’s tough to get back in shape, learn all the dances again.”

People do not understand how hard dance is in the theater. “It’s not just the steps, but the movement. And it’s you amid a group of people or with other people. It takes time and a lot of effort to get it right.”

Actually, Santos started out in a school for ballet as a teenager. “I liked it, but I liked acting a lot more. Now, luckily, I do the acting and the dance. It’s all very enjoyable,” he said.

Photo By Matthew Murphy, Murphymade

What is the secret of the success of Cats, though? All those years on Broadway, touring and sold out audience everywhere you turn.




Promote your shows at New Jersey Stage! Click here for info



“It’s a couple of things. First, the show has great, great music. When we do that song ‘Memory’ you can hear a pin drop in the theater. People cry. Second, a good storyline with cats acting as people and the acceptance of the animals as people in this wider story. Third, all those cats! Everywhere you turn! Cats, cats and more cats! People love them. Still do,” he laughs.

Then he groans. Just about everywhere is impressed that people can act so wonderfully to an actor playing a cat’s costume, but before and after the show people will come back stage and say they are disappointed because the cats are so much larger than their cats at home,” he chuckled

“Don’t laugh,” he said. “They do. You would not believe some of the things people say to us.”

Reason for show success four - Cats is different.

“It would be too easy to say it is…… a ‘different’ show, but it is. All of the great musicals are up there – pretty much the same. Cats is a very different kind of show. If you’re there for the first time you won’t know what is coming at you next, and if you’re there for the fourth or fifth time you’ll know what’s coming, and can’t wait for it to arrive.”

The actor has fallen in love with the show “It grows on you,” he said. ‘You remember a few songs, such as that gorgeous ‘Memory’ but there are 7-9 great songs in the play. Together, they are memorable. You don’t forget them,” he said.

And good old Rum Tum Tugger? She’s in heaven now….and a wonderful “memory” for all of us in the family still down here.



Cats comes to Mayo Performing Arts Center for four performances from Friday, March 10th to Sunday, March 12th. Tickets range from $69-$109 and are available for purchase online.



Bruce Chadwick worked for 23 years as an entertainment writer/critic for the New York Daily News. Later, he served as the arts and entertainment critic for the History News Network, a national online weekly magazine. Chadwick holds a Ph. D in History and Cultural Studies from Rutgers University. He has written 31 books on U.S. history and has lectured on history and culture around the world. He is a history professor at New Jersey City University.




Promote your shows at New Jersey Stage! Click here for info




 

EVENT PREVIEWS

Two

Two River Theater Announces "Be More Chill" 10th Anniversary Concerts

(RED BANK, NJ) -- Two River Theater is proud to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the World Premiere of Be More Chill, the hit Broadway musical, with two nights of concerts on July 24-25, 2025 at 8:00pm. With music and lyrics by Joe Iconis, book by Joe Tracz, and based on the novel by Ned Vizzini, Be More Chill was originally commissioned and produced by Two River, directed by Stephen Brackett and choreographed by Chase Brock, on their Red Bank stage in 2015, and ran on Broadway in 2019.



"The

"The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" Returns to NYC for an Off-Broadway Run at The Gene Frankel Theatre

(NEW YORK, NY) -- After a critically acclaimed run in 2022, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance returns to The Gene Frankel Theatre for a limited Off- Broadway run. Thomas R. Gordon, Artistic Director of The Onomatopoeia Theatre Company, directs the production. The revival runs June 26 to July 26, 2025.



LoMotion

LoMotion Live presents "The Diary of Anne Frank"

(BOONTON, NJ) -- LoMotion Live is proud to present The Diary of Anne Frank, a play by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, newly adapted by Wendy Kesselman, based on the book Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. The production runs from July 18-26, 2025 at The Parsippany Arts Center in Boonton.



NJ

NJ Playwright Duo to Receive NYC Premiere of New Historical Satire, "Sacco & Vanzetti are Dead"

(NEW YORK, NY) -- Wayne natives Joey DeFilippis and Matthew Ferrara take to the page and stage with their latest endeavor: a satirical retelling of the historic trial of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italian immigrants caught in the web of prejudice and political persecution during America's first "Red Scare". Sacco & Vanzetti are Dead will receive its New York City premiere this July at The American Theatre of Actors. DeFilippis and Ferrara conceived and wrote the play, and will also star as the titular characters.



Algonquin

Algonquin Arts Theatre presents the Timeless Musical, "The Wizard of Oz"

(MANASQUAN, NJ) -- Algonquin Arts Theatre is thrilled to announce the cast and creative team for its upcoming production of The Wizard of Oz, running from July 12-27, 2025. Step into the magical world of Oz featuring all the beloved moments and iconic songs of the classic MGM film.



FEATURED EVENTS

ART | COMEDY | DANCE | FILM | MUSIC | THEATRE | COMMUNITY

To narrow results by date range, categories,
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.


Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice Jr. TAP Youth Cast (Ages 8-12)

Friday, July 25, 2025 @ 2:00pm
Hamilton Stage at Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC)
360 Hamilton Avenue, Rahway, NJ 07065
category: theatre


 

Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice Jr. TAP Teen Cast (Ages 13-18)

Friday, July 25, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Hamilton Stage at Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC)
360 Hamilton Avenue, Rahway, NJ 07065
category: theatre


 

The

The Mallard

Friday, July 25, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Premiere Stages - Bauer Boucher Theatre Center
1000 Morris Avenue, Union, NJ 07083
category: theatre


 

CAU

CAU Community Players Presents: The Lion King Jr

Friday, July 25, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) - Main Stage
1601 Irving Street, Rahway, NJ 07065
category: theatre


 

The

The Wizard of Oz

Friday, July 25, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Algonquin Arts Theatre
60 Abe Voorhees, Manasquan, NJ 08736
category: theatre