And thereby hangs a tail
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
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| "Cats," the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical based on T.S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats," prowls into the Blaisdell Concert Hall beginning Tuesday. Set in a junkyard, the show has felines taking turns telling their tales of woe and adventure. In this scene, Old Deuteronomy bids Grizabella adieu on her journey to the Heaviside Layer.
Joan Marcus photos |
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| Rum Tum Tugger (standing, at left) is played by John Boy with a rock-star persona that appeals to some in the audience and raises the hackles of others. |
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| After its Honolulu run, "Cats" will open April 21 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. |
'CATS' A musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on T.S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. April 15; 2 and 8 p.m. April 16; 2 and 7 p.m. April 17 Blaisdell Concert Hall Opening-night tickets $30, $45, $55; for Wednesday-Thursday, $35, $55, $65; for April 15, April 16 and 2 p.m. April 17, $45, $65, $75; for April 17 (closing night), $35, $55, $65 Opening-night Ronald McDonald House benefit: $100 ticket includes VIP seating and pre-show reception with food, an intermission treat, and the chance to meet the "Cats" cast; www.ticketmaster.com, 973-5683, (877) 750-4400, On Maui: 7:30 p.m. April 21-22, and 2 and 7:30 p.m. April 23-24, Maui Arts & Cultural Center's Castle Theater; $10-$65 (half-price for ages 12 and younger), with discounts for MACC donors Who's who in 'Cats' • Natalie Attino, Grizabella |
John Boy (Boy is a nickname, and he doesn't use a surname) is portraying Rum Tum Tugger — the feline dude with the furry coat and a rock 'n' roll posture — in "Cats," the hit Andrew Lloyd Webber musical returning to the Blaisdell Concert Hall on Tuesday. It's the role often described as Mick Jaggerish.
"I have a thing about animals," he said in a phone conversation recently from San Antonio, Texas, where "Cats" was purring en route to Honolulu.
"I was Bugs Bunny in a show at Six Flags in Chicago," he said. "In the same show, I played a squirrel, too."
In a tour of "Alice in Wonderland," John Boy was a cat — the Cheshire Cat. In a tour of "Snow Queen," he was a crow.
"For some reason, it's been me and animals," he said.
And even when he plays a person, he's had a nonhuman name: "I was Rooster in a tour of 'Annie,' " he said. "So it's animals — and evil people."
Well, the cat's out of the bag: John Boy is a professed dog person, not a cat person, though he said he's so enjoying his life as a feline, he'll consider a cat as a pet after his yearlong commitment in "Cats" is over in June.
He first encountered "Cats" in 1994, when he relocated from Chicago to New York with the intention of finding employment in music or on stage.
"I saw the show twice the first week I was there, and I said to myself, that role (Rum Tum Tugger) is perfect for me," John Boy said. "That was my rock 'n' roll dream."
It's taken him quite a while to lasso the role, but now he's having the time of his life.
"The role has been done so many times, by so many people, you pretty much play it in a certain vein," he said. "But I want to make him a little darker, a little more rock-starry. I guess he's much like Mick Jagger or David Bowie, and these two come to mind when I do the role, but what I like about it is you can rock and you can be goofy."
It took four callbacks and four months after his initial audition last year to land the role in New York.
While he was waiting, he wasn't fiddling with his whiskers. John Boy spent several months in a recording studio to do a CD titled "Choked Not Broken," which should be out before his tour ends this summer.
"The title means kind of like you might be down, but you're not out; you might feel tied down, but you're not. It's all rock 'n' roll," he said.
Throughout high school and college, John Boy was musically inclined. When he headed for the Big Apple, he had dancing in mind. But he wound up as a singer and then a theatrical performer.
"Cats," he said, ideally combines both his interest and talent. And as Rum Tum Tugger, he truly gets to strut his stuff.
"This is the hardest show I've ever done," he said.
His tour credits include "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," "Pippin" and "Big River"; he's also choreographed promotional events for "Wicked."
"My feeling is, if you do 'Cats,' you can do anything else. It's mentally challenging, physically demanding, really hard but lots of fun," he said.
He said the cast is lean and trim, a result of the rigors of the nightly work. "We're all pretty much in shape. You lose weight doing this one," he said.
John Boy doesn't reveal his age.
"But I found out that I'm the oldest cat on stage," he said. "I think I never grew out of being 18. My best buddy in the cast is 11 years younger and we hang out; we're the best of friends.
"I'm like a kid. I enjoy traveling. It helps in this business, because you don't have a family or a house. It's an amazing job, really: you work a few hours a night and you see the country, people ask for your autograph."
Because of Rum Tum Tugger's rock attitude and posture, guys in the audience tend to detest him, John Boy said.
"All the guys hate him; the girls want to sleep with him; the older women often find him obnoxious," he said.
That kind of reception is deliberate. "I love to antagonize people, make them mad," he said. "It's part of the role."
About his chosen moniker, John Boy said: "I was born three months premature. Before I had a name, it was 'The Boy.' And my dad always called me John Boy. So it stuck."
Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, 525-8067 or fax 525-8055.
