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from En Avant Magazine March April 2023

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Lesli Wiesner, who played the role of Cassandra in Cats the Musical (original Zurich and Euro Tour casts) talks all things Cats!

Please share a brief summary of your dance education and career.

I’ve danced ballet my whole life. I was dancing with the Los Angeles Ballet, and then I came to Europe and was with the Ballet de Monte Carlo and Zurich Ballet. After Zurich Ballet was my first musical experience - I did Phantom of the Opera in Hamburg. I was one of the ballet girls and assistant Dance Captain. It was a very good job and it was a great stepping stone because Phantom is all ballet for the dancers I loved musicals, but I just had never followed that line because of my classical career

When Cats was coming to Zurich, I was already missing the city. I thought if I get the job, I'll go back there and do Cats. I got the job as Cassandra and as Dance Captain click to find out more about this job!

I had never seen Cats, but what I had heard was a lot of horror stories about how badly dancers could get injured. I always laugh to this day, because in the beginning I said, ‘I will never, ever, ever, ever do Cats’. Then the opportunity came and I thought, ‘well, for six months I can manage’ and I finally ended up doing the show for 4 years!I fell in love with it because I realised I would do things on stage in Cats as an animal that I would never have done in pointe shoes.

What was the audition process like?

We did a lot of choreographies and after that we had to sing I got a call back and they told me that the next day they wanted me to come ‘looking very elegant’ because they were going to see me for the role of Cassandra click to find out more about this character

I don't remember the first song I sang for the audition for Cats They wanted us to sing the same song in different styles and because we weren't singers, they weren't asking us to bring different songs They asked us to sing something simple like Happy Birthday (but not actually that song) They would say sing the song like a ballad, then sing it upbeat, sing it dramatic, that kind of thing They wanted to see different qualities of your acting

Once you started rehearsals, what was that process like, learning to be like a cat?

For the first six weeks we rehearsed in a town outside Zurich and every day, we would do half an hour of just improvisation of being a cat At first we did it with our eyes closed, and the director would give different instructions, like you're waking up, you're going to eat or something like that We did it with our eyes closed so that we weren't nervous or feeling silly. Once we got used to that, then we opened our eyes, and we started moving around the space. You had to stand up and still create the same feelings.

We had dance rehearsals where we just danced and we had singing rehearsals where we just sang. At one point we put them together and I always laugh because that first time the dancers couldn't dance and the singers couldn't sing. There was such confusion, but very quickly it all fell into place.

What were the rest of the cast members like and where were they from?

We had the most fantastic opening cast ever There were 22 cats in the show and 17 of those 22 cats had done the show already - some of them had done it two or three times with our director Then there were 10 covers plus me There were about four of us who had never done the show before

We were all coming from all over the worldEngland, the United States, Sweden we also had a few Swiss in the beginning At that time the musical scene in Europe was not as strong as it is now They had to bring in more foreigners for the shows It was great We had such a high quality cast of lovely people

In rehearsal, the people that had done the show never once gave you the feeling that they already knew it Do you know what I mean? We all learned it together It was so cool They were just able to help make the show go faster It was a great experience with people Really, really nice, very supportive

Can you tell us about being Dance Captain?

Dance Captain, for me, is a dream job because Dance Captain is like a ballet mistress or ballet master You are teaching the show to new people You are teaching people if they have to cover a role. You’re watching the show, you're taking notes, you have rehearsals to clean the show. You're taking care of the show. Dance Captain in Cats is quite challenging because you've got everything to take care of. In Phantom, the Dance Captain is part of the show. You have a separate resident director who takes care of a lot of the details. The Dance Captain takes care of just the dance part. In Cats, on the other hand, you're doing everything. I loved it.

In the beginning I was just Dance Captain and covering, but then after six months, I was Dance Captain and Cassandra. I would always dance 5 shows a week and watch 3. There were 8 shows every week. This was the absolute dream job because I got to do everything I love. I love to teach, I love to know the show inside out and I love to perform

A bit about finding your character: how did you get into Cassandra?

This was so cool One: you would just think about being a cat Two: you would watch cats I had two cats at the time I had brought them with me from California, they were sisters and they were part Siamese

One of the cats, she was like a Rumple Teaser - she was a tough little cookie and her name was Glitter Her sister Sparkle was my example for both Cassandra and Victoria She had sides where she could be terribly elegant and then also very playful like Victoria

Normally Victoria is played by a small girl because Victoria is supposed to be a kitten. As I'm tall, I couldn't be a kitten, so my director made my character more of a young woman. So I was able to take both my characters off my cat Sparkle.

We'd find we all had stories of funny cat things happening outside the show. I'd be sitting on the tram and all of a sudden I would do a cat movement, scratch my ear or sniff! And then I'd look around and go, ‘oh my goodness, I'm in public’. It was so funny. You just kept searching for different things that you saw cats do, and try to do them. That was what made the show so fun - you would constantly do these things on stage too. Once you had your part in place, you never stopped You were always searching for more, trying new things out every day

What was it like to learn to dance like a cat and where did your ballet and other training support or constrict you?

Ballet did not constrict at all You use every ounce of your ballet or jazz or contemporary techniqueyou just are doing it as an animal You still have to do the steps properly It was all of the in-between things that you could improvise and change Your intention was not that you were in a jazz piece or a ballet You didn't dance anything strictly classical Victoria has a very classical solo in the beginning, but it has a lot of cat things as well, so you just used every ounce of technique to make it work There was no dancing en pointe though

Had you learned singing before you got into musical theatre?

No, I was not a singer I don't think I had any singing lessons, even as a kid I could carry a tune In the musicals, when you're in a dancing role, they are not usually looking for a strong singer All you need to be able to do generally is fit in with the rest of the ensemble

In Cats we had a vocal warmup every day, and we had a ballet warmup every day. For example, on the first day I would give half an hour ballet, and then another colleague gave a 45 minute mini jazz class, and then another colleague would give a 15 minute vocal warmup. The next day I would do a 45 minute mini class, and my colleague would do a half hour jazz warmup, and then we did the 15 minute vocal warm up. In the vocal warmup, he was always giving us a mini class, so he was giving us useful information along the way.

Doing the show every night started to strengthen my voice. Being Dance Captain, I had to sing all the time. By not being afraid to sing, my voice has gotten stronger and stronger. After my performing career I also took private singing lessons, just for my own enjoyment, when I was teaching and not dancing anymore.

Tell me about the first time you went on stage? How did that happen?

The first time I got called on stage as a cover, I never actually got to the stage I was in the audience watching and they came and got me and they said, ‘Lesli, you might have to go on’ Laura, the girl who was Cassandra at the time, had hurt her foot So I go back and I start to put my makeup on My hand is shaking like crazy They come back and they say to me, 'how long do you think it'll take you to be ready?' And I said, 'your guess is this good mine!' The last time I had done my makeup, it had taken me an hour and a half, but I was ready and dressed in 20 minutes I could have gone on, but I didn't have to that day because she was okay

The next time I was called, I was pulled out of rehearsal and I had to go By now I had practised all my makeup - I still wasn't really quick, but quick enough to run on at the very last minute So the first time that I performed Cats was unexpected As I was out there, not one word came out except my first line, because it had to - I was so nervous I was shocked because I had done all the preparation! There was a part in the Jellicle Ball that's called the jitters, where you've got four different groups doing little bits of choreography. The group in the middle would roll up and shake, shake, shake, shake, roll up and shake, shake, shake, shake - there were four sets of that. I was so nervous that I went out and started doing it double time! There are only four and I'm getting to five and I thought 'Shoot. I'm going too fast.' I must have looked like a crazy woman out there. I think I was centre stage, so maybe it worked…

I was nervous that first time, but it was also really fun. It was exciting. The first few times were nerve wracking though, I must say.

What's your favourite song?

Oh, I don't have a favourite. I love them all. I really love them all because they each bring a different memory. Oh! I love Memory, of course! Every time you sing one of them, it brings back such memories of the show If I had to pick a favourite it might be Macavity the Mystery Cat

What was it like dancing in the costume, wig and everything?

It was great It was really fun having the tail and being in the costume and the makeup You could hide behind being a cat You went out into the audience and you could get right up close to people

The idea was that we were supposed to make them uncomfortable You could do anything as a cat because you were covered by this mask of the makeup, even though it was still you inside It was fantastic

And what was the opening night like?

Exciting I didn't dance on the opening night because I didn't do the first cast for the first six months, but I was there watching of course, as Dance Captain. It was great.

In Zurich, we did the show in English and in German. So we rehearsed for six weeks in German and we opened the show in German. Then when we had started the show, we rehearsed every day in English. After about six weeks, we started to do the show in different languages every other day. So the odd days were German, the first, the third, the fifth, and the even days were English.

The hardest part was when you came up to the 31st and 1st of the month and had to sing twice in German. Then it was so nerve-wracking. In fact, there were songs that started with the same word, no matter the language, like Gus! the Theatre Cat, or Gus! der Theater-Katze. We had to make sure we were in the right language, so every day we would sing the opening number together in the dressing room in the language we were performing in In the beginning it was quite stressful for us to change languages and we had a couple of instances of confusion Once I was on stage as Cassandra and Munkustrap came in and he started singing and everyone around me started getting kind of giggly and I was getting so annoyed as Dance Captain, I was like, ‘what is going on!?’ Switching languages was so normal to me at this point, I didn't even hear that he had started in the wrong language and he was singing the first verse in German! Tugger came in and took it back into English It was so funny

We were in Zurich for two and a half years, and then we went on a Euro tour When we were in Strasbourg in France, the show was sold in English, but Strasbourg is right on the border between France and Germany. We started the show in English and all of a sudden the French house people came running back and said the show's been sold in German. You have to sing in German. As I was Dance Captain, I went around to everybody - ‘next entrance is German, we sing German!’ The next entrance, everyone changed language, it was like turning the record over. Our director was in the audience and didn’t know anything about it, and he said, 'oh dear, something’s happened!' But it was the coolest feeling and nobody was stressed. We just simply changed languages.

Where did you perform on the tour?

After Zurich we went to Basel for three months, and then we went on a Euro tour. We went to Geneva, Graz, Lausanne, Bregenz, Bern, Milan, Strasbourg, Klagenfurt When I had left the show for Phantom in Basel, they also went to Vienna

Having actually been in Cats, what do you think makes it such a phenomenal and well loved show?

You're seeing people on stage trying to be an animals! And when the cast is very good, as in very good at remaining cats not just when they were in the spotlight, but on the side as well.

Also because Andrew Lloyd Webber had the band backstage because he didn't want the public to be able to see people next to the cats. In fact, the band never even came on stage for a bow in the original versions. It was fantasy and fun and everybody always brought their own personality to the choreography, and that's what made the show really come alive.

And finally, could you please give us a few tips for our students who are taking part in the CATS summer school? For how they can get the most out of the experience.

It is a great opportunity for kids to have fun and explore If you're going to try to be a cat, the most important thing to get the best experience is to be willing, willing, willing, willing to explore and to really try Watch a lot of cats to prepare, and don’t just do typical cat things You can't just go Meow! It’s more than that There was only one place in the show where we were allowed to make a cat noise A Meow or a Rawr! The rest, it had to be done with energy in movement

What wa happened during the

Oh my God ny things

A little vocal preparation can help, too Even just la la la la la la la la la or humming Humming is very good Warm up dance wise a lot, because you're putting yourself into very, very strange positions as a cat

Just have fun and be magical Be magical

So we had a few people that were called ‘super swings’, and they covered about six roles We had one guy, Nick Boland, and he was the best Sometimes he could only remember what part he was playing by looking at his costume! Well, in the pirate scene, we were the Siamese cats In the choreography, we all went shuffling fast to stage right, but he went to the left Then he realised, he looked over and came running back to us, but we were already moving to the next position! It went on and on It was like a Pacman show! I think this was one of the funniest big things that happened There were always small little things that could happen that maybe nobody really saw But this was a big one!

Lesli now teaches dance and conducts workshops like the one pictured above, where she taught portions of Cats to students at an ice skating school Click here to read the full interview with 6 bonus ques to beat the heat this summer! to beat the heat this summer!

Summer is the perfect time to indulge in fresh and healthy snacks that will help you stay energized and cool throughout the day. The season offers an abundance of fruits and vegetables that can be used to create light and flavorful snacks and drinks! Get ready to add some new recipes to your cooking repertoire with these four tasty options! We hope these recipes delight your taste buds!

By Kenisha Rao

Watermelon Popsickle

Equipment:

> Blender

> Popsickle mold

Ingredients :

> 4 cups seedless watermelon chunks

> 1tbsp fresh lemon juice

Instructions :

1 Cut up the watermelon into chunks and then put the watermelon and fresh lime juice into a high-powered blender and blend until you have a very smooth puree

2 Pour the watermelon juice into six popsicle molds Leave a ¾ inch gap between the liquid and the lid to allow for expansion. Add the lid to each popsicle mold and then freeze it for 2-3 hours or until fully frozen

Notes :

When you pour the watermelon puree into the popsicle molds, leave a 34-inch gap at the top of the popsicle (above the liquid) to allow for expansion

> Store the popsicles in the freezer for 2-3 months

Mango smoothie with banana and figs

Equipment :

> Blender

Serves: 2 people

Ingredients :

> 1 cup chopped mangoes or 2 medium-sized alphonso mangoes

> 2 bananas - medium sized

> 1/2 cup milk (sub nut/oat milk if vegan)

> 3 to 4 cubes - optional

Instructions :

1 Peel and chop the mangoes and bananas

2 Add the chopped fruits and dried figs to a powerful blender. If the figs are hard or chewy, soak them in hot water for 30 to 45 minutes prior to blending

3 Pour the milk in the blender and blend till smooth

4 Pour the mango banana smoothie in tall glasses and serve immediately.