STAGE REVIEW : ‘Cats’ a Howling Success, but the Message Was Lost

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats” can be more than just a cartoon with whiskers for the eyes and ears, long on slinking impressions and short on thought. Like the book that inspired it, T.S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” it should have a poetic heart beating under all that fur.

Making its Orange County debut Tuesday night at the Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, the touring production (which continues through Sunday and is sold out) succeeded as a spectacle--even though it was being done in a theater that, because of its overwhelming size, kept threatening to sabotage any magic spell it might cast.

To compensate for the high-ceilinged vastness of the 3,000-seat hall, lights flickered crazily on Raymond Huessy’s set (a scaled-down, more utilitarian, less vivid version of the sprawling construction John Napier brought to the Schubert in 1985), flash pots went off just like they do at heavy metal concerts, fog spread across the stage, the costumes were imaginative, and the cast, tails a-twitching, regularly ran up the aisles to paw the audience.

And yes, the bizarre climax, when tattered alley cat Grizabella was elevated to nirvana (first on a giant tire, then on a platform that looked like it came off the “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” set), was the eyeful any “Cats” fancier might expect.

But there was a price for all of this. Too often the lyrical delicacy of Eliot’s writing was diminished by the surface brilliance. There was so much razzmatazz going on that it was easy to ignore the witty verses that can give “Cats” its spirit.

Basically, this show amounts to a series of musical skits designed to show off several cats’ idiosyncrasies, but without much attention to Eliot’s affectionate details, we can miss the reasons for all this scratching, purring and hissing.

A further problem: From where I sat, about 15 rows up, the lyrics were muddied throughout the evening (diminishing the strength of songs that, with the possible exception of “Memory,” really aren’t that strong to begin with). Though many of the voices were excellent, the words were frequently lost during the many choral passages.

The cast, for its part, didn’t proceed lightly or lazily on cat’s feet. This is a group that pumps up the songs with tomcat zeal and zips through Gillian Lynne’s sinuous, sometimes acrobatic choreography (reproduced for the tour by T. Michael Reed and Richard Stafford) with tireless verve.

Smug Rum Tum Tugger is played with jazzy narcissism by Bradford Minkoff. Asparagus, an aging “theater cat,” is given plenty of dignity by Jeffrey Clonts. The magical black cat Mistoffelees is played with jump-and-jive liveliness by Eddie Buffum.

As the roughed-up Grizabella, Donna Lee Marshall was appropriately wounded, moving across the stage with a soiled regal quality. But she was only adequate in her approach to “Memory,” the number everyone seemed to be waiting for. Though strong, her voice lacks the urgency that has made other renditions affecting.

‘CATS’

An Orange County Performing Arts Center presentation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical based on T.S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.” Touring production directed by David Taylor. With General McArthur Hambrick, Jeffrey Clonts, Carol Schuberg, Helen Frank, Darlene Wilson, Felicia Farone, Donna Lee Marshall, Lindsay Dyett, Robin Boudreau, Eddie Buffum, Jack Noseworthy, Dan McCoy, Richard Nickol, Randy B. Wojcik, Marc C. Oka, Nancy Melius, Bradford Minkoff, Amelia Marshall, John Scherer, Leon Taylor, Natasha Davison, Richard Bigelow, Bryan John Landrine, Linda Leonard and Terry Mason. Set by Raymond Huessy. Choreography by T. Michael Reed and Richard Stafford. Lighting by Rick Belzer. Plays today through Sunday at 8 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m., at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Tickets: $16-$38. Sold out. (714) 740-2000 or (213) 480-3232.