CrisAnna Lauds Cats, A Purrfect Purrformance!

Last night Cris and I enjoyed watching Cats Now and Forever at the famed Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). I had been dying to watch Cats, the best-loved musical the world has ever known, since I saw that Citibank billboard at the Edsa-Magallanes flyover last year. Back then, July 2010 seemed faraway.

Due to the current situation at work (which has been dragging on, now on it's 2nd week), I nearly lost hope that we'll be able to watch it; I was hesitant to shell out money for the tix because of the possibility of being jobless in the coming months. My last option was to use plastic to purchase tickets and I was psyching myself to buy the second to the cheapest worth P1500, but I kept thinking that if I get laid off, how in the world will I be able to pay it when my bill comes?!

By some stroke of good luck, Ate Anne gave us tickets! To my amazement, I discovered just this morning that the tickets she gave us were worth more than four thousand! That's according to Ticketworld's website. Thank God for such blessings. Salamat po Ate!

Cris picked me up from work then we had dinner at Reyes Barbecue in Harbor Square. After which we strolled around for a bit para bumaba yung kinain namin because we were super busog! Then we walked over to CCP. As a couple it was our first time to set foot in CCP so we were both giddy with excitement. We felt big time, haha! *big grin* Yun lang, I hated the fact that they confiscated our cameras prior to entering the building. Sana bago nalang kame pumasok ng mismong venue. So that we could have taken photos at the lobby.

The show started right on time, true to claim. The play of lights were purely amazing. But I felt like the opening could have been more explosive, I mean nagulat lang ako sa lights but the sound? Not so much. Or maybe that's how it really works. Eventually it increased in tempo that you could almost feel the atmosphere charged with energy. In addition, it seemed to me that the instrumental portion was too long. After a few seconds of brilliant display of light effects coupled with music, I was already impatient to hear some singing. And when they did, damn, tumaas talaga balahibo ko! Their voices were phenomenal, blending wonderfully with each other, thrilling me to no end. I felt like crying with happiness! And boy, do I envy them! *giggles*

Apart from music and voice quality, we were also impressed by the choreography. It was unbelievable! It wasn't the usual dance styles and steps you see. Every movement was distinctly feline and it was evident that they have an extremely talented cast of singer-dancer-actors. I could hardly fathom how vigorous their exercises must be. They were all so energetic and flexible. And their blockings? Purrfect! It was awesome how they maximized the stage, dancing from one corner to the next. I hope Cris was able to pick up some of those cool choreography that he can use in his future rackets. *grins*

There were parts where the audience laughed, cheered and clapped with admiration and appreciation. For me, one most worthy of mentioning is the part where another female cat sang a stanza of "Memory" in FILIPINO. It appeared that majority appreciated having a foreigner sing in tagalog. It was funny in a way because she pronounced darating as dara-tsing. Nakakatawa lang, slang kase.

As for the stage or set design and lighting choreography, one word describes it all: ASTIG!

Lastly, our very own kababayan, Ms. Lea Salonga, made Filipinos proud once again. The award-winning Filipina played the role of Grizabella appearing only a few times, but garnering the most applause. On one hand, I was so captivated by her voice. On the other, I was quite disappointed to hear her sing only a few songs. One of which was sung twice. Bitin!!!! Note to self: next time watch Lea Salonga in concert. :)

With a magnificent music composed by legendary Andrew Boyce Webber, purrfect choreography by Jo-Anne Robinson, Gillian Lynne, and Sharyn Winney, an incredible set and stunning costumes, CATS is a song and dance spectacular not to be missed!

Hurry, final extension of performances is only until August 22, 2010!