The dance-musical ‘Cats’ at the Sistina, first time set in Rome

For the first time, the dance-musical ‘Cats’ will be set in Rome, based on the text of the writer Thomas Stearns Eliot Nobel Prize for Literature and music by sir Andrew Lloyd Webber: it will be produced and directed by Massimo Romeo Piparo for PeepArrow Entertainment , on stage from 7 December at the Sistina theater, of which he is the artistic director, before the tour in Milan and other Italian theaters. It will also be an opportunity to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the opera’s debut in 1982 on Broadway where it recorded the world record for consecutive performances, which allows ‘Cats’ to still rank among the four most represented musicals in theatrical history. In particular, this ‘Cats’ made in Rome will be set in a hypothetical and futuristic landfill of works of art, archaeological finds, with the Colosseum in the background, among statues of Marcus Aurelius, fragments of the Bocca della Verità, capitals, columns and other finds. In addition of course to music and dance, for a show that is considered as the prototype of the dance-musical, a strong role in the packaging of the show directed by Piparo will have illusionism, magic and special effects, which will be entrusted to the cat- magician Mr. Mistoffelees. “It will be an opportunity to reaffirm once again to the whole world the cultural and artistic centrality of the Eternal City, its history and charm, which can confer on purely Anglo-Saxon stories like this one of the Jellicle cats narrated by Eliot – Piparo points out – The show will be adapted, but remaining very faithful to the musical score and the spirit desired by its creators and with complete adherence to the taste of the Italian public. The characters-cats will all bring a style and character very much in line with the our habit of interacting with this animal that is often also a companion in our lives “. But who will be giving voice to the main characters, from Grizabella the glam cat our who will sing the timeless ‘Memory’ – recorded by 150 different artists, including Celine Dion, Luciano Pavarotti, Barbra Streisand, Placido Domingo, José Carreras, Milva, Ute Lemper, Susan Boyle, Jennifer Hudson – to Rum Tum Tagger the cat -punk-rock and Old Deuteronimy the cat-chief ?. “Without doubt this work – also entirely sung, like ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ and ‘Evita’ by Webber himself – lends itself to the involvement of stars of the Italian pop-rock song, with roles that are well suited to some faces very popular in our pop and rock scene. We are working on it … “, Massimo Romeo Piparo is not unbalanced. Instead, we already know that it will be Billy Mitchell, the current associate choreographer of the latest productions, to sign the choreography of the Italian version by Webber as ‘School of Rock’ to ‘Cinderella’. The musical direction, the conduct of the band that will play strictly live all the evenings as well as the programming of the original sounds of ‘Cats’ will be entrusted to Emanuele Friello; while the evocative Roman archaeological setting scenes will be by Teresa Caruso and the costumes by Cecilia Betona, who will supervise the entire look of the transformation from human to feline of the cast of ‘Cats’. (by Enzo Bonaiuto)