Last weekend to catch Broadway hit in Carson City

The Bob Boldrick Theatre has been overtaken with cats " 31 cats prowling, playing, stretching and yowling on stage at the Carson Community Center.

This is the last weekend to catch the Carson Performing Arts production of "CATS," the award-winning Broadway musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. A matinee will play at 2 p.m. Sunday.

"It's been quite an experience, I can tell you that. It's the first time we've done anything of that nature," said director Karen Chandler, the drama instructor at Carson High School. She described the musical as very physical with complex vocals, and the students' performance as "jaw-dropping."

"There is some difficult stuff in there and these kids are amazing."

Besides the drama students playing cats on stage, the production includes an orchestra of 16 led by Jarod Sorum, about eight backstage technicians and 20 people who worked on the sets and costumes before the curtains rose. Vocal director for the production is Susan Sonnemaker and Gina Davis provided the choreography.

Drama student Brooke Gallyan designed the 31 cats as her senior project. She learned the craft last year while doing makeup for the Nevada Opera as an intern, Chandler explained.

The cats' fur patterns were painted on the unitards while the actors wore them.

It takes each cat about an hour for dress and make up. Gallyan held makeup workshops to teach the "cats" how to do their own makeup, which they would be expected in a professional production.

"CATS" first opened in London in 1981 and burst onto Broadway in 1982. The musical is loosely based on the book "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" by T.S. Eliot. "CATS" is the second longest running show on Broadway and it's most popular song, "Memory" has become a global hit, translated into more than a dozen languages.

"CATS" tells a roaming story about cat society. Old Deuteronomy is the patriarch of the Jellicle tribe, which has assembled for The Jellicle Ball. At the ball, Old Deuteronomy will chose a cat to go to the Heaviside Layer. The villainous Macavity captures Old Deuteronomy. Eventually the patriarch is restored with the help of Magical Mr. Mistoffelles. The scraggly and rejected Grizabella is chosen to go Heaviside Layer and ascends to the cat paradise.

For the Carson Performing Arts production, United Rentals loaned the players the equipment needed for the special effects, Chandler said.

"I love it when the community gets involved," she said.

The production is very family-oriented. The cats move around in the audience. During intermission, kids can come up on the stage and meet Old Deuteronomy, "just like they did on Broadway," Chandler said.

Tickets prices are $8 for children and Carson High School students; $9 for other students and senior citizens; and $10 for general admission. They can be purchased at Comma Coffee in Carson City or by e-mail at boxoffice@carson.K12.nv.us. For more information call 775-230-8919.