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- [00:00]
Alison Stewart
All of it is supported by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the Name youe Price Tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try it@progressive.com progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states. You are listening to all of It. I'm Alison Stewart live in the green space in Soho with a special episode of all of it for you. Today it's Broadway on the radio and we are here with the cast of Cats, the Jellicle Ball. During this hour, we'll be joined by the show's directors, it's choreographers, and we'll speak to actors Tempris Chasity Moore and Andre De Shields. And of course, we're gonna have live music show. Let's hear it for the band. If you're not here with us in person or listening to us, you can see this shindig by going to wnyc.org where you can watch a free live stream of today's broadcast. Are you ready for some O P U L E N C E Opulence. Here on lead vocals is Sydney James Harcourt as Rum Tum Tuggar with backing vocals from Darius Wright and Garnett Williams. This is Cats, the Jellicoe Ball.
- [01:34]
Narrator/Performer (Various Cast Members)
The next category is realness. Ta da. Dum Tugger is a curious cat if
- [01:51]
Performer (Various Cast Members)
you offer me pheasant I'd rather have grouse if you put me in a house I much prefer flat if you put me in a flat then I'd rather have a house if you set me on a mouse then I only want a rat if you set me on a rat Then I'd rather chase some house
- [02:11]
Narrator/Performer (Various Cast Members)
girl Tiger is a curious
- [02:14]
Performer (Various Cast Members)
cat and there isn't any call for me to shout out or he will
- [02:20]
Narrator/Performer (Various Cast Members)
do as he will do and there's
- [02:23]
Performer (Various Cast Members)
no doing anything about who I
- [02:29]
Narrator/Performer (Various Cast Members)
mm. Terrible boy.
- [02:38]
Performer (Various Cast Members)
When you let me in then I wanna go out I'm always on the wrong side of every door and as soon as I'm at home Then I like to get about I like to lie in the bureau drawer But I make such a fuss when I can't
- [02:56]
Andre De Shields
get out
- [02:58]
Narrator/Performer (Various Cast Members)
Burrow tuck Tugger is a ju It's n and there isn't any
- [03:03]
Andre De Shields
use for you to doubt it for
- [03:06]
Narrator/Performer (Various Cast Members)
he will do as he tell you
- [03:10]
Performer (Various Cast Members)
and there's no doing anything about
- [03:14]
Narrator/Performer (Various Cast Members)
it.
- [03:25]
Performer (Various Cast Members)
Curies me my dislodging way is a matter of habit if you offer me fish then I only want a feast if There isn't any fish. Then I won't eat a rabbit if you offer me cream Then I sniff and sneer Only like what I find for myself Nah, but you catch me in it Right up to my ears if you put it away on a
- [03:52]
Narrator/Performer (Various Cast Members)
lot of shell it's heartful and know it.
- [04:55]
Performer (Various Cast Members)
There isn't any need for me to
- [04:57]
Narrator/Performer (Various Cast Members)
spy what he will do as he will do when
- [05:06]
Performer (Various Cast Members)
there's no doing anything about
- [05:20]
Narrator/Performer (Various Cast Members)
how.
- [05:55]
Performer (Various Cast Members)
About it?
- [06:02]
Alison Stewart
That was Sydney James Harcourt, Rum Tum Tugger, and the cast from Cats, the Jellicle Ball. This is all of it. We're here live in the green space with the stars of Cats. I'd like to introduce to you right now the co directors of Cats, Bill Rauch and Zaylin Levingston. Thank you for being with us. So you had a memory. You were sitting in a bar and you had this vision of a man at a gay bar, an older man singing. Memory. What about that image was important to you? And what did it strike in you?
- [06:44]
Bill Rauch
You know, the song is so beautiful and so melancholy, and it just felt like being sung by an older person in a queer context would bring out contours in the music and in the lyrics that could be very powerful. So that was the original impulse.
- [07:05]
Alison Stewart
Zaylin, your first exposure was to Cats as a preschooler. You're watching Barney's Great Adventure.
- [07:12]
Zaylin Levinson
That's true.
- [07:13]
Alison Stewart
How did Barney bring you to Cats, and what did you like about it as a kid?
- [07:18]
Zaylin Levinson
That's a great question. So, yeah, I would watch this movie, Barney's Great Adventure, and on the trailers, they would show a trailer of the pro shot of cats from 1997. 98. And I didn't know what I really was looking at. I just knew that the way these people were moving and what they dressed like felt like they did something tingly in my stomach. And I didn't know what was going on. And one day I went to Blockbuster with my mother, and I saw the box set of this pro shot with the black case and the yellow eyes. And I said, I want to watch that. And she was like, you don't want to watch that. And I was like, I do want to watch this. And so she was like, okay, if I get this, you have to watch it, because, you know, Blockbuster cost money. And so I got it. And the story goes, she put it in the vhs and I sat five inches away from the television, and I didn't move for two and a half hours. I didn't ask for food. I didn't go to the restroom. And then that's when she knew I had a problem.
- [08:27]
Alison Stewart
You said before that you and Bill were joking with a friend about turning cats into a production where there weren't cats, the cats weren't cats. What was interesting to you about that idea and that. Why did it seem. In what way did it seem impossible? We know it's possible, but at the time.
- [08:44]
Zaylin Levinson
Yeah, well, I mean, Bill had been on this journey with trying to investigate cats as humans before I was. And it was just like this serendipitous thing where it just so happened at the beginning of his process, I had been asking the same question around. Could there be a production of Cats where there were no cats? Would it be called Cats? No ears, no tails. And could it be situated in a, like, cultural context? And it just felt like it could be artistically possible because in the 20th century, everyone called each other, you know, look at that sly cat. That's a dangerous cat over there. Look at that sexy cat right there, you know? So I was like, this is possible, probably, but just felt like that could never happen. Andrew Lloyd Webber would never allow something like that to happen with his material. And then I was talking to who eventually became the casting director of the show, Victor Vasquez of Ex Casting. And I was joking with him. I was like, can you believe that that would be a crazy idea? And then he didn't laugh, and he said, you need to talk to Bill Rauch. And I was like, okay. And then, so two days later, I was on a zoom with Bill, and he started to tell me about the year of work that he had been doing with our dramaturg, Josie and Omari Wiles, who's in the building. And we just started to connect. And I can let you talk about that meeting.
- [10:07]
Bill Rauch
It was our first conversation, and 90 minutes later, we had agreed that we were going to co direct this production. In our first conversation.
- [10:17]
Alison Stewart
I'm going to ask you to spill a little tea. Bill, Who was someone who didn't quite believe in your vision, who did you have trouble convincing that this would be an important show?
- [10:32]
Bill Rauch
Everybody. I think it was always greeted with curiosity and fear that it might not work. But there was enough encouragement, and we just kept believing in it. And the incredible colleagues that we got to work with just kept fueling us to keep moving forward. I would say that the relationship with Andrew Lloyd Weber's company and his colleagues was a wonderful but very twisty road, as you can imagine, because, you know, it's a big deal to ask to not only do a Non replica production. But to completely rethink even sometimes the music.
- [11:18]
Zaylin Levinson
Yeah, no, I was just going to say that, like, yes, that has also been my experience. Anytime before we did the show, we would mention it. People would like, in my face be like, okay. Which is strange. But I think too, just to say, so many of the cast members that you're gonna see perform have been with the show for so many years and have believed in the vision for so long, even if we didn't know exactly how we were gonna reach it. And so even when the outside world was like, what are y' all doing? To have actors who have been so trusting and vulnerable and courageous and rigorous and critical without ever being fearful or doubtful, I think it was a really big ingredient for us pushing through all of the naysaying.
- [12:11]
Alison Stewart
When did ballroom come into the equation?
- [12:14]
Bill Rauch
As Shaelyn mentioned that Josie, our dramaturg, and Omari and I began to work on this during the pandemic. And we knew from the very beginning that it was ballroom. I had thought about, as we talked about earlier, a gay bar. But picking up the libretto again years later, it's clearly set at a ball. It's a competitive ball. It goes all the way through the tsle Awards. It's a once a year ball that happens. Everybody's vying for the grand prize and being able to collaborate with Omari as a ballroom icon. So many of the categories just clicked into place immediately where it was very, very clear. This character, this song, this category. There were others that we worked on for years trying to find, but many of them were apparent from the very beginning.
- [13:07]
Alison Stewart
We're going to hear another song in just a moment from the show. Zell, what was a challenge for you in directing this show, and how did you get through that challenge?
- [13:20]
Zaylin Levinson
Oh, I mean, just remembering that challenge is innate to the process. And that, like, challenge is not a sign that you are on the wrong path. That, like, we're making a thing that's hard. And, like, all the way through the process, from workshops to off Broadway to figuring out, how do you extend a show like this to transferring to Broadway, anytime we would come up against a kind of existential wall, we would always remind ourselves that, like, oh, a characteristic of making this show is that it is hard. And so just reminding myself that, you know, for this work, so much of the job is standing in public and failing publicly as quickly as you can to get to the right answer.
- [14:04]
Alison Stewart
Everybody, let's thank Bill Rauch and Zaylin Levinson. Thank you so much for being with Us. We're going to get to another song. Please welcome Nora Shell as Bustopher Jones along with Kendall Grayson Stroud, Bryson Battle, Darius Wright and Garnett Williams. This is from Cats, the Jellicoe Ball.
- [14:47]
Narrator/Performer (Various Cast Members)
Christopher Jones is not skinning bones. In fact they're remarkably fat. They do not hunt hugs. They have eight or nine clubs for their loves and change the street cats they're the cat we all greet when we walk down the street under coats of the steady is black no commonplace mousers have such well cut trousers or such an impeccable back in The hall of St. James is the smartest of names Is the name of this provost of cast and where all of us bow to be nodded or bowed to White Bus Stop by Jones and White Spats. My visits are occasional to the senior educational and it is against the rules for any one cat to belong biff to that and the joint superior schools for a similar reason. When game is in season I'm found not at foxes but blimps I am frequently seen at the gay stage and screen which is famous for winkles and shrimps in the season of medicine I give my from my Benson to a port hunter Sacking it boons and just before news Not a moment too soon to drop in for a drink of the drones When I'm seen in a hurry there's probably curry at the Siamese or at the Gladia if I look of gloom then I've lunched at the tomb on a cabbage rice pudding at myst of pains is the name of this problem of ca and we're all of us proud to be knotted or bound to white Bust up our toes in white bus stop our toes in white from some controls in white stats. Ooh, I see the category is body. Judges score muscular body get into that body Judges scores women's body get into that body. Judges scores luscious body. Get into that body. Judges score model body. Get into that body. Yes, sir. Fit to me body yachting yes, get into that body. Ody tens across the board so much in this way Monsters, buster. First day at one club or another they're found. There could be no surprise that under eyes they have grown unmistakably round. They're a 25 pounder or I am a bounder Putting on weight every day day But I'm so well preserved Because I've observed all my life a routine and I'd say I am still in my prime I shall act up my time that's the word from the startest of G It must and it shall be springing. And the winner is Busta for Jones. Tooty Pip. Yeah. Yeah.
- [19:07]
Alison Stewart
We have more music on the way. This is Broadway on the radio from all of it on wnyc, live from the green space. Stay with us. This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart and we are in the green space at WNYC with a special Broadway on the radio event here with the team from Broadway's Cats, the Jellicle Ball. If you're listening on the radio, you can go to wnyc.org to watch the live stream. And now, please welcome Bebe Nicole Simpson and Garnett Williams and the cast of Cats to introduce us to a one of a kind cat. The this is Macavity, the mystery cat.
- [20:11]
Narrator/Performer (Various Cast Members)
Macavity's a mystery cat? She's called the hidden paw? For she's a master criminal who can defy the law? She's the baffle men of Scotland Yard? The flying squads despair for when they reach the scene of crime? Macavity's not there. Okay, walking labels, y'. All. She say she loved me? She put me in Chanel?
- [20:51]
Alison Stewart
Call me the devil baby?
- [20:53]
Narrator/Performer (Various Cast Members)
Cause we wearing Prada? Macavity, Macavity? There's no one like Macavity? She's broken every human law? She breaks the law of gravity? Her powers of levitation will make a faker stare? For when you reach the scene of crime? Macavity's not there? You may seek her in the basement? You may look up in the air? But I tell you once and once again? Macavity's not the hell. The cavity's a ginger cat? She's very tall and thin? You would know her if you while her eyes are sunken in her brows deeply lined with thought. Her head is highly domed? Her coat is dusty from neglect? Her whiskers are uncombed? She sways her head from side to side with movements like a snake? And when you think she's half asleep? She's always wide awake? The cavity we got like the cavity? But she's a feeding feline shape a monster you may meet her in the by street? You may see her in the square? But when the crime's discovered, then my cavities are not. She's outwardly
- [22:36]
Omari Wiles
I know who she cheats
- [22:39]
Narrator/Performer (Various Cast Members)
at cards she do. And her footprints wanna float in any aisle of sky lanyard? And when the lord is lit out? The jewel case is rifled? Or when the milk is missing or another piece been stifled? Or the greenhouse glass is broken and the trellis Pass prepared. There's the wonder of the flame, the cavities not there. Will work a cat of such deceitfulity. She always has an alibi and one or two to spare. Whatever time the deed took place, my cavity wasn't there. And they say that all the cats whose wicked deeds are widely known. I might mention Mungo Jerry, I might mention Griddle Bona. Are nothing more than agents for the cat who all the time just controls the operation. The Napoleon of Crash, A monster undergravity. You may meet her in a by street, you may see her in a square. But when a crime discovered that My cavity, my cavity.
- [24:53]
Alison Stewart
That was Bebe Nicole Simpson, the cast of Cats, the Jellicoe Ball. This is Broadway on the radio. On all of it. Live from the green space. Let's hear it again for the band. And now, please welcome the co choreographers of Cats, Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons. It is so nice to see you. Oh, hello. Hello. So I read that you were born in Senegal.
- [25:19]
Omari Wiles
Yes, I was.
- [25:20]
Alison Stewart
And you took African dance when you were six years old?
- [25:24]
Omari Wiles
Yes. My mom and dad are known African dance teachers and drummers. Musicians. Baba Olukoshe Wiles and Marie Bas Wiles.
- [25:32]
Alison Stewart
I'm glad you said their names. How did your early experience prepare you for ballroom?
- [25:37]
Omari Wiles
Well, African dance is theatrical. African dance is almost like a Broadway show. All the layers of music, singing, dance, theater, the storytelling. It's all layered within itself. So I felt like I grew up already on stage. I was pretty much born on stage.
- [25:58]
Alison Stewart
Artur, your dance credits run deep. You helped launch HBO's Vogue competition. Legendary. How did you meet Amari?
- [26:06]
Arturo Lyons
I met Amari in Senegal, I'm not gonna lie. Boreham. Yeah, legendary boreham. I know Amari for 20 years now.
- [26:21]
Alison Stewart
For real? For a long time.
- [26:22]
Arturo Lyons
A long time.
- [26:23]
Alison Stewart
We'll talk later. Amari. We're talking about Arturo like he's not there. Why did you know he was the. Why did you know he was the right person to help you on this project?
- [26:33]
Omari Wiles
Well, honestly, he was my Jellicoe choice from the beginning. Arturo's mind, Arturo's engineering, Arturo's heart and love and passion for dance and creativity. It really stood out for itself. I joining the boreham scene. He was already a legend and someone that I admired when I saw hit the floor competing and then being invited by him to do various projects, dance videos that he would be. That he would choreograph, really just kept me on the right path of being a professional dancer, but also being a passionate dancer. And through his passion Grew my passion, and I would not have picked anyone else to take this journey with. He has helped me grow. He has helped this show grow. He literally tells me yes and no to what you know. And you need someone that's going to be honest with you. You need someone that's going to encourage you. But also, we work so well together, and the energy that we bring together, I mean, it's a dynamic duo. You cannot split us apart.
- [27:50]
Alison Stewart
Arturo, what did you learn about Broadway now that you've been on Broadway?
- [27:55]
Arturo Lyons
It's very strict.
- [27:58]
Performer (Various Cast Members)
It's strict.
- [28:00]
Alison Stewart
Tell me more.
- [28:01]
Arturo Lyons
So, you know, in ballroom, we have rules, but it's very lax about it. They don't play that here. You need to be on time. You need to know your cues, you need to know the terminology. You need to know how to read music. It's a lot, but it's great.
- [28:19]
Alison Stewart
In the show, you mix ballroom with Broadway. How did that shape the choreography?
- [28:25]
Omari Wiles
Well, honestly, when you think of ballroom and you think of the theatrics and the whimsical energy that we bring, it goes hand in hand with Broadway. And I think the energy on stage is to perform. Right. It's to entertain. And both worlds go hand in hand with that. So it was really, honestly, besides understanding the difference in the music, it was really easy to understand the character in what we wanted to represent as far as ballroom, as far as musical theater, how we wanted to approach the choreography. But not just the choreography, but also just the energy of each piece and each number to the point where you don't need to see the choreography, you don't need to see them in costume. You can just feel it in their voices that they're being ballroom and that at the same time, they're enjoying musical theater.
- [29:26]
Alison Stewart
Yeah. Arturo, each song gets its own competition category. Can you explain how you adapted that from ballroom culture for Broadway?
- [29:35]
Arturo Lyons
Yes, because each character has their own personality, and in ballroom, each category will have their own personality. Like, for instance, Tuggar, he wouldn't necessarily be a vulgar or vogue femme because realness is something that's more masculine presenting. So he would be realness. That's his category in the show. So it would be something masculine as something like tug. I mean, something like the tag team would be evoking category. Something more feminine, something more sneaky, more cunning, more catty.
- [30:09]
Alison Stewart
Cats is a super athletic show, but it also has reverence for age and wisdom. The elder cats and the house mothers received a great deal of respect in the show, and the show was willing to take its time. How did you go about balancing the death drops with the reverence for experience?
- [30:31]
Omari Wiles
Well, we didn't want anyone to die, clearly, so those death drops had to be out of the show. And we called them. And we called them dips. And the dips were. Honestly, it depended on the category that you walked. Not everyone needs to dip, and, you know. And not everyone needs to vogue in ballroom. You have to find what category is for you. And I think that speaks to how human each character is and how human the ballroom scene is. We find what is your skill set, your trait, your talent, and we heighten that up through competition, through sportsmanship, we level each other up. Because of all the shade that was received from society, we decided we'll turn that shade around. Right. And how do we turn shade into friendly competition? How do we turn shade into allowing us to see our own growth and our own special or how special we are? Right. In that sense. So with the choreography, with the age, it was really paying homage to our elders. I mean, coming from Senegal and from West Africa, ancestry elders is so important. And being able to honor our elders is a big thing that we do. And I think in black culture, and it's really important, too, to respect our elders. So it wasn't saying, oh, you can't do this. It was saying, no, you're seasoned, and you do this this way. Right, right. And it was that type of energy, that type of love that the entire cast shows, and type of respect as well, too, that the cast shows to the elders. I mean, they are the ones who started. They are the ones who threw the first brick. They are the ones who really helped understand or help the young ones understand who they are, where they come from, and how to love.
- [32:28]
Narrator/Performer (Various Cast Members)
Yes.
- [32:28]
Alison Stewart
Clap for that. All right, Arturo, someone's seen Cats, and they really want to get into ballroom. Where should they go in New York?
- [32:38]
Arturo Lyons
I would say OTA first.
- [32:40]
Omari Wiles
Yes. There's a Vogue Club in Brooklyn. OTA, a $3 bill. It's that $3 bill every other Monday. I think now they have it. It used to be every Monday, but I think it's every other Monday now you can go there, and you can experience a taste of ballroom.
- [32:57]
Arturo Lyons
A little bit.
- [32:58]
Omari Wiles
A little salmon paste, a little taste of ballroom. Right. You get to taste that. But there's so many balls that are going around, going on around the world, not only in the States, but you can go depending on where you are. You can be in Spain, you can be in Paris.
- [33:13]
Arturo Lyons
You can come to my ball in Paris on September 19th.
- [33:15]
Omari Wiles
Yes. Arturo's having a ball in Paris, that's an invitation.
- [33:18]
Alison Stewart
I've just heard one.
- [33:20]
Omari Wiles
You know, there's so many balls that are happening. A lot of people who didn't know about ballroom always came to the latex ball held by the organization GMHC August 22nd. That's August 22nd. Going to be at terminal.
- [33:33]
Alison Stewart
Who knows, right?
- [33:34]
Omari Wiles
There's a lot of access. Now. Ballroom is no longer underground because this is a community that needs to be seen. This is a community that needs to be spoken of and be celebrated. And so now the doors are open for you to see again how human we are and just how talented these individuals are. But a ball, honey, you can go to the pier on Christopher street on that green turf and see a ball happen, okay? And that's what I remember growing up. I remember going to the pier and there were balls that were happening and we would do. Grand prize was a movie ticket or grand prize was $1. You know what I'm saying? Or grand prize was come with me to get you a slice of pizza.
- [34:15]
Arturo Lyons
A long time ago.
- [34:16]
Omari Wiles
A long time ago. But now the grand prizes are a little bit more, you know, now you're giving $10,000 away. You're giving 5,000 miles away. But it's because of the competition has gotten so fierce. It has gotten bigger. But it's also, I think, the need to celebrate someone, to give someone a grand prize so that they can take that and excel within their self and with their craft or within their life, really.
- [34:46]
Alison Stewart
Omari Walls and Arturo Lyons, thank you for joining us. We'll have more with Broadway on the Radio. Stick around. This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. I'm here with the team from Broadway's Cats, the Jellicle Ball. Here's a song that you will definitely know. This is Tempest Chastity Moore with Teddy Wilson Jr. And Darius Wright. Here is memory.
- [35:21]
Narrator/Performer (Various Cast Members)
Sam. See the dew on a sunflower and a rose that is fading Roses wither away like the sunflower I earn to to turn my face to the dawn I am waiting for the day. Now Old Deuteronomy just before dawn To a silence you feel you can cut with a knife Announces the cat who can now be reborn and come back to a different angelic life. Sam. Memory Turn your face to the moonlight Let your memory lead you Open up into rain if you find there the meaning of what happiness is Then a new life will begin Memory all alone in the moon Alight I can smile at the old days I was beautiful then I I Remember the time I knew what happiness was Let the memory live again Burnt out in the smoky days the stale cold cement of morning the street lamp dies Another night is over Another day It's dawning daylight I must wait for the sunrise I must think of a new life and I mustn't give in when the dawn comes Tonight will be a memory too and a new day will begin. Life through the trees Summer and less Night's grading like a flower as the dawn is breaking the memory is fading. Touch me it's so easy for me all alone with the memory of my days in time if you touch me you'll understand Whatever is Look. A new day.
- [41:20]
Alison Stewart
That was temperate. Chastity Moore from Cats. Chastity. That is probably one of the most famous songs sung on Broadway. What do you think when you are singing that song?
- [41:42]
Temperance Chastity Moore
I always say that that song has a lot of pain and comfort. Like, I. I've been here for a half a century, and I remember the times where there was things not happening to my body. And I remember the good times, you know, so I'm remembering the good times and things that I once regretted that now make sense. So it's a lot of pain and comfort. I try to just make everyone else remember their happy times in that time.
- [42:11]
Alison Stewart
We're making a little bit of noise over here because we are joined by Andre de Shields, everybody. I remember seeing you in the Wiz when I was a little girl.
- [42:29]
Andre De Shields
You're not that old.
- [42:31]
Alison Stewart
I am that old, but that's another story. You were on Broadway long before cats started in 81, when you heard that it was coming back and they were using ballroom. Why did you want to be part of it?
- [42:43]
Andre De Shields
I wanted to be part of it because my formative years are the 60s. My very first professional show was Hair. That was another attempt at mixing generations that had been so far apart for so long. And now right here beats the heart of an unreconstructed hippie. So. I am constantly looking for the next revolution because I want to be on the front lines. It's not about spilling blood or anything like that, but when there's an intersection, such as the first 25 years of the 21st century has presented with us this intersection between history and evolution. And finally, the change that's been sitting on the horizon. The paradigm that says, come, it's my turn. Let me in. The power of the feminine, there's a
- [44:02]
Alison Stewart
noun,
- [44:06]
Andre De Shields
a generation of people who have been traditionally marginalized to the edges of society who can do exactly that.
- [44:16]
Alison Stewart
Nice. You Play Old Deuteronomy.
- [44:23]
Andre De Shields
Old Deuteronomy.
- [44:25]
Alison Stewart
What is his role in the production? The way you play him.
- [44:33]
Andre De Shields
The leader, The progenitor of. All the cats that you will meet through your entire life have come from my thighs. Old Deuteronomy is also the connection between the microcosm and the macrocosm. He's not a God, per se, but he is the overlord of these unusual creatures, each of whom has, at a minimum, nine lives.
- [45:22]
Narrator/Performer (Various Cast Members)
Yeah.
- [45:23]
Alison Stewart
For Grizabella, glamour takes on a new meaning. What does glamour mean to her?
- [45:31]
Temperance Chastity Moore
Well, I mean, in the ballroom aspect, you have the woman. The women of trans experience who came before me were just very glamorous. We call them femme queens. And so here she's a glamour girl. Like, she's like. They always show up and show out, you know, that a glam, you know, a femme queen is in the building when the. The femme queen is in the building, because she's just extra and she's just glamorous. And this, you know, she's holding onto things that she had before when she once felt more glamorous. But in her mind, she's still glamorous. So Glamora just shows up as confidence and pride in who you are and being your full self. And that's how it shows up here.
- [46:14]
Alison Stewart
Andre, we're going to hear the addressing of Cats, the grand finale. What does this song mean to you?
- [46:22]
Andre De Shields
It was an education. Now, I had seen several versions of Katz because for many years I knew the person who was playing Old Deuteronomy. As a matter of fact, the original Old Deuteronomy on Broadway was Ken Page, a lovely friend of mine who is now in his own version of the Heaviside Layer. I investigated his title because if you know the first books of the holy Scripture, Deuteronomy is the last, and it is when the second time the law is delivered. So I take on that special. Activity with this group of people. I've come back to lead the Jellicoe Ball so that another person, another cat can be chosen to experience what I know.
- [47:44]
Alison Stewart
Let's hear the addressing of Cats with Andre de Shields and the cast of Cats.
- [48:25]
Andre De Shields
You've heard of several kinds of cat, and my opinion now is that you should need no interpreter to understand our character. You've learned enough to take. Get the view that cats are very much like you. You've seen us both at work and games. You've learned about our proper names, our habits and our habitat. But. But how would you address a cat? So first, your memory of dog and say a cat is not a dog
- [49:45]
Narrator/Performer (Various Cast Members)
over your memory adult.
- [50:02]
Andre De Shields
With cats some say one rule is true. Don't speak till you are spoken to. Myself I do not hold with that. I say you should address a cat, but always keep in mind that she reasons familiarity. You bow and taking of your heart, address him in this form, O cat, with candid and treat you as a trusted friend. A little token of esteem is needed like a dish of cream. And you might now and then supply some carriers or Strassburg pie, some potted grouse or salmon paste. He's sure to have a personal taste and so in time you reach your aim and call him by his his name.
- [53:16]
Narrator/Performer (Various Cast Members)
Ham.
- [53:48]
Alison Stewart
And that's Broadway on the Radio. Once again, Cats, everybody. Thanks to Bill Rouse, Zaylin Levinson, Omar Wilds, Arturo Lyons, Andre De Shields, and Temperance Chastity Moore. All the cast members, thank you so much. And to the band as well. You can catch Cats the Jellicoe Ball on Broadway, and you can watch this event back on our live stream. Thanks again to team all of it. Simon Close produced today's event. Thanks to Ryan Wilde and the whole team here at the Green Space. We have one more Broadway on the Radio event coming up. Today we're announcing a surprise addition to our 2026 lineup. On June 11, we'll be joined right here by the cast of the outstanding Outsiders. Oh, yes. Go to wnyc.orgevents to register and get your tickets. I'm Allison Stewart. Thank you for coming. Get home safe.
- [54:52]
Omari Wiles
And, Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go
- [54:55]
Bill Rauch
to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual, even if
- [54:59]
Narrator/Performer (Various Cast Members)
it means sitting front row at a comedy show.
- [55:02]
Alison Stewart
Hey, everyone. Check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date? Oh, no.
- [55:06]
Omari Wiles
We help people customize and save on
- [55:08]
Bill Rauch
car insurance with Liberty Mutual Together.
- [55:09]
Omari Wiles
We're married.
- [55:10]
Alison Stewart
Me to a human, him to a bird.
- [55:12]
Narrator/Performer (Various Cast Members)
Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.
- [55:14]
Bill Rauch
Anyways, get a've@libertymutual.com or with your local agent.
- [55:17]
Alison Stewart
Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Hi, I'm Maggie Smith, poet and host of the Slowdown. Each weekday, I share a poem and a moment of reflection, helping you turn listening into a daily ritual. It's five minutes to slow down, pay attention, and begin the day with intention. Find it in your favorite podcast app and make the Slowdown your new daily poetry practice.