Wearing many stripes

Seeing cats around Libertyville High School is not big news.

After all, they are home to the Wildcats.

But when Libertyville plans to bring Andrew Lloyd Weber's "Cats" to school, that grabs attention and ticket sales.

Libertyville expected such brisk sales that the school added a 2 p.m. Saturday matinee in addition to shows at 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday. As of early this week, most of the seats for all performances have been sold.

"If a high school can do this musical, we can do this musical," said director Tim Frawley adding that Libertyville was one of the first schools to present "Les Miserables."

Staff and students still are taking the responsibility of bringing such a recognizable show to the stage seriously.

The directing staff talked to students last spring about performing "Cats" to prepare students who wanted to audition in August. Many students took dancing and singing lessons over summer break.

Frawley said everyone needs to be a triple threat, to act, sing and dance.

"It's the most demanding show we can ask of any performer," he said. "They sing, dance and need to be a different species."

While many of the 80 students who auditioned thought about the intense dancing and singing their roles would require, junior Brett O'Connor thought about the costume.

His thought was, "Oh my God, spandex."

Frawley said "Cats" shows through a simple evening how cats make a spiritual and personal journey.

"It's about life, death and afterlife for cats," he said.

Senior Brent Rawlinson, who plays Rum Tum Tugger, said all but two lines are told through song. Each song tells the story of another cat and, through every song, the characters change just a little more.

"By the end of the show, each cat has to be a completely different character from where she started," he said.

While Webber's music is a classic, senior Dena Goldberg hopes the audience will remember the story.

"I hope they understand the story," she said. "Some think it's just a collection of songs."

While the cast is working hard to perfect the story, technical director Kevin Holly and his crew want to make sure what the audience sees onstage also is memorable.

Holly said all the items on stage including tires, a potted plant, and even a hammer, are being made bigger to model the appropriate size of a human playing a cat.

"Everything designed is 2½ times bigger than normal size," he said.

One of the biggest challenges was reproducing a memorable scene at the end of the story when Grizabella is lifted off the ground to go to the "Heaviside Layer" to be reborn.

"We could not do the show unless we did some type of spectacle event," he said.

The orchestra is being moved from the front of the stage to the back to bring the cats closer to the audience. But those who sit in the middle of the theater should not be surprised if all of a sudden a cat appears beside them during the show.

It is this ensemble of humans turned cats who hope audiences will leave the show impressed that high school students have brought this beloved but challenging show to the Libertyville stage.

"We have a lot to live up to," Rawlinson said.