Dawn Parker dlparker@lsj.com
EAST LANSING – The musical “Cats” has had just about as many lives as any feline. The Andrew Lloyd Webber standard, which debuted on Broadway in 1982, will make a stop at the Wharton Center for Performing Arts Friday and Saturday, June 10-11. Perhaps best known for the song “Memory”, the story is based on “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” by T.S. Eliot. Among the cast is Troy, Mich. native Laura Cable in the role of Jellylorum. The character is something of a mother cat; she protects the “kittens” and others in need of nurturing. Cable is a Troy Athens High School graduate who studied theater at New York University. The acting bug bit Cable very early on, with her first role coming at age 3. “My Dad was the band and orchestra director at Sterling Heights Stevenson,” she recalled. Dad needed Munchkins for a
Laura Cable production of “The Wizard of Oz,” and so Cable and her older sister were drafted. It was love at first line, and Cable continued with theater through high school before going off to New York City. “I’ve been fortunate enough ever since to be a working actor. It’s a rare and beautiful thing that I don’t take for granted,” she said. While some might have been apprehensive about moving to the Big Apple at age 18, Cable said it was the “perfect time” to pursue
her dream of becoming an actor. Cable had a good grounding in the musical before auditioning, having seen it twice in Detroit as a youngster. The family also had a copy of the soundtrack recording. “I was surprised to hear it was still on the road,” she recalled thinking upon seeing audition notices. #Rich memories Cable joined the tour in January 2010 as an emergency replacement. On her first night, she was given a ticket and told to watch the show from the audience. “I was so surprised at how many memories I had from when I was little,” she recalled. “This show is very visual – seeing light bulbs, costumes or cat faces. This show sticks with you – it’s very powerful, and I think it’s one of the reasons this show has lasted long as it has. It’s as much about reliving the memories as it is creating new ones.” Of Jellylorum, the “alpha cat”, Cable loves that she is a storyteller.
“Her specialty number (Gus the Theatre Cat) fits into the greater context of show. Things slow down, and I love that my character has a chance to tell that story at that particular moment,” Cable said. “It’s a love song, but the song is not about her – she sings about Gus. Some are singing about how great their friends are, and Jellylorum is one of those. If you are quiet enough you can listen to his story, and I think that’s what theater is all about. The power of a story, Cable continued, is the main reason she pursued acting as a career. “I was read to so much as a child, and I grew up with people who loved to tell stories. Dinnertime was story time, and it’s not that way in every household,” she said. “I definitely feel like I am able to bring that sense to the story, in how much I truly love to do that.” For more information or to purchase tickets, call (517) 432-2000 or 1-800WHARTON, or go online to www.whartoncenter.com
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