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Eager cast members of a major upcoming theatre production in the kingdom have taken an international approach to promoting the show as they paraded in front of numerous landmarks across the globe.
Enthusiastic participants in Cats, which will be performed in December at the Bahrain Rugby Football Club, wore T-shirts daubed with the show’s logo in an attempt to raise awareness about the production.
Lydia Martin, the brainchild of Inspire Bahrain and its subsidiary MASK which is premiering the show, came up with the idea as a way of keeping cast members enthusiastic as rehearsals took a break during the summer months.
She said: “We have such a diverse cast, with people from all over the world. In fact, I’m confident in asserting that this is the most international production of Cats that you’re ever likely to see in the world!
“So, I thought: ‘how better to display this than to have our cast be photographed at all the locations they visit over summer?’ We have people from places like England, Scotland, Russia, India and Africa and almost all of them went on a family holiday back home where they could spread awareness.
“From April until June we had gruelling rehearsals, so I gave everyone July and August off to enjoy their holidays and relax, but I told them to take their T-shirts wherever they went so that they could keep Cats in their thoughts and be ready to go again once they got back.”
Lydia’s plan was a runaway success as she was inundated with photographs from her fervent charges, from locations as far away as Thailand, the US, as well as Germany’s Brandenburg Gate and the Eiffel Tower in the French capital of Paris.
“We also wanted to show potential backers that we are taking Cats all over the world and encourage corporates and those generally enthusiastic about the arts in Bahrain to sponsor us,” she added.
Cats is the third-longest running show in Broadway history and was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber as an adaption of poet T S Elliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.
It tells the story of a tribe of cats called the Jellicles and the night they make what is known as ‘the Jellicle choice’, where they decide which cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life.
After intense auditions, casting was finalised in April and the multinational group comprises 100 members, with children as young as eight and adults up to the age of 60 taking part in the production.
Lydia explained: “We want to aim for professional standards and no stone has been left unturned. This is a performance with lots of dance and song and very little speaking, so I’m extremely grateful to my choreographer Faten who has been working so diligently with everyone.
“The best thing about Cats is undoubtedly the huge number of nationalities involved. In fact, when I am training my students, I usually focus on ironing out accents in singing, especially in choruses, but because this is such a diverse show we want the accents to come through in the soloists.
“For example, we want to have a Bahraini cat, a Russian cat and an Indian cat and have the unique accents come out in song. This will be backed up with our elaborate costume and design which will emphasise these distinctions.
“This truly is our most ambitious project yet and we cannot wait to actually perform it for theatre fans in the kingdom.”
* Cats will be performed from December 10-12 at the Bahrain Rugby Football Club, with an audience of more than 500 expected for each of the three shows. Tickets are priced at BD7 and BD10. If you wish to help sponsor the production, contact Inspire Bahrain by emailing inspirebahrain@gmail.com
