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[0:15] Mike Abrams: Welcome to The Wrong Cat Died, the podcast breakdown of The Cat's Astrophe. I'm your host, Mike Abrams, and today we have another amazing guest. She is a legend in the Vienna musical theater world and has been in multiple productions of Cats. I'm excited to have her here. So welcome, Denise Jastraunig, and thank you for joining me.

[0:30] Denise Jastraunig: Hello, thank you. I love that name. I love it. It was really great.

[0:34] Mike Abrams: Did I get it right? Okay. We practiced. We're working on it. We're ready to go. I'm thrilled to have you here. Your name came up actually multiple times. I had a couple people message and ask wanting to hear your cat story. And then also you were in the Andrew Lloyd Webber Legends post that he did. So I want to talk a little bit about that after, but I always like to start at the beginning. So for you, when was your introduction to Cats?

[1:04] Denise Jastraunig: I think it was for most of the people. I had to watch the DVD in school.

[1:11] Mike Abrams: Yeah.

[1:11] Denise Jastraunig: In school. Okay. So you did watch it. So were you in a dance theater type of school, or was it just play? Because my school never played Cats growing up. I hear that a lot.

[1:22] Denise Jastraunig: Well, it was a sports school, actually, because I started playing tennis and also professionally. And then we had a very nice music teacher, and he just was very into it. And he just wanted us to know the basics. So he showed us Phantom of the Opera and Cats. But I wasn't into it back then.

[1:44] Mike Abrams: So you were playing tennis?

[1:45] Denise Jastraunig: Yeah, I did play tennis. Not anymore. I stopped completely.

[1:49] Mike Abrams: Yeah. Okay. So you were in school for tennis, and then you're watching Cats because your music teacher is obsessed with Andrew Lloyd Webber, it sounds like.

[1:58] Denise Jastraunig: I guess so, yeah. He was.

[2:02] Mike Abrams: I love that. Okay. So then you're playing this competitive tennis. When did you start kind of that pivot to saying, I'm going to do theater?

[2:11] Denise Jastraunig: I was 16. And I wasn't the best at school, to be honest. I mean, it was math. It was math, to be honest. So I had to take, like, a few rounds with that in school. It was just one extra round, to be honest. So we had a summer camp, and there you could sing and dance and do some sports. And there was also workshops for singing and dancing. And I never really danced and sang before. I just played tennis. And I actually really liked it. And the organizer of the camp came up to me and she said, well, you know, there's a music company and they do, like, little musicals for kids and youth stuff. And I just applied for you, and you have to go there, and you're going there with me. And yeah, no chance.

You have to go there. So there was this little musical, and they played, like, the streets cleaner with one sentence in the whole show. But that made me so happy, being on stage and being with, like, all these people together. And not because, yeah, I mean, yeah, it's very competitive, also musical as well. But it's also, we were always together and we do a show together. We build up a show together. And in tennis, most of the time, you're on your own. And that just, yeah, it blew me away. I loved it. I loved, I started loving musicals. I had, like, an email address called Musical Freak. And since then, my love for musical is just, yeah, growing every day.

[3:45] Mike Abrams: So that was when you started, like, participating and performing. Did you watch or, like, did you go? Because, you know, Vienna has this, like, massive scene. Did you go to shows growing up even while you were playing tennis?

[3:57] Denise Jastraunig: Not back then, no. But when it started, when my passion started, I started going. I think I went to Elisabeth at least 18 times. It's not a lot for, there's some musical fans who went to much more. Oh, I know. I've heard. I mean, amazing. Yeah. And it's I understand it because it's like with Cats, every show is a different show. And you just and you can always look somewhere else. So, yeah, I did that when I was 16. I started watching shows and watching stuff that was on in Vienna. And I really, I said, I want to work there one day. I want to work there.

[4:37] Mike Abrams: Okay. So you're now, like, almost pivoting this, like, journey of, like, you're playing competitive tennis in school, possibly going this professional path. And then all of a sudden, you hard pivot to musical theater at 16. So I kind of, you know, later than a lot of people I talked to who started dancing at, like, four or five and started doing this there. When did, so you, did you, when you saw Cats that first time seeing it growing, like, up the VHS, did you ever, like, when you started doing this professionally, being like, that's a show I got to be in? Or was it something that you were like, I don't care at all? Or just give me anything? Or like, what was the, like, the, before you got that first audition to Cats, that, like, journey through?

[5:22] Denise Jastraunig: I never saw myself in that. I watched it and I thought, yeah, well, I mean, I wasn't really a dancer. I never danced before. I started dancing when I was 16. It was hard. They wanted me to be able to do so much stuff, because as you said, some people, most of the people start earlier. So they have much more experience. And I was just pushed and being like, yeah, you have to learn it. And I was in a school, actually, I wanted to be in a different school where you have more acting and singing, but they, they just didn't take me. So I had to go to another school, which is also a really good one, the Performing Arts Studies Vienna. And there was a lot of dancing, a lot of dancing, and I had to take extra classes. And yeah, I'm not a good dancer still. I'm a very good mover, I have to say, but I'm not, I'm not a dancer.

[6:10] Mike Abrams: But you, I mean, you swung into some dance heavy roles in Cats. Like, I mean, you were, as a swing, you had to, you had to dance, like you couldn't, you, there's no way around it.

[6:20] Denise Jastraunig: I'm a, as I call myself, I'm a pretty good faker. I can fake it quite well. I can fake it quite well. And I, you know, if you show it in your face, people don't look at your feet. They don't always say.

[6:33] Mike Abrams: I like, I like that. I like that a lot. Show it in your face and no one looks at your feet. So that you're just ignoring the tap numbers.

[6:39] Denise Jastraunig: Ignoring the tap number. Oh, God. That was also a different story because it was, it changed the number. It used to be a different number. It was like more, we don't wear tap shoes and we just pretend. Like the first time I did it, it was just the easy tap. And then suddenly the Viennese audition came up and I thought, well, I can do that. That's easy. And then they showed us the choreography and I stood there and thought, what the hell is happening? Oh God. But I mean, they took their time and in the end, it was all right, but I'm not a tapper. I can fake it quite well.

[7:19] Mike Abrams: Smile. Get them to look at your face and everything. I love it. Okay. I'm going to come back to that though. I do want to talk because I want to talk about the differences between the two productions, but let's, let's go back to the first one. So when you went on, it's marked as the German tent tour. I know it went to a couple other countries. Where was this in your professional journey? Was this, this was very early on. It was completely the beginning.

[7:37] Denise Jastraunig: The first, first show? The first big show. Yeah. I had like some small tours before to the night of the musicals and like, what did I play as well? Camp Rock, the Disney show. So smaller stuff, but that was like the big first one for me.

[8:00] Mike Abrams: Okay. When you auditioned for it, like again, you're growing up as a tennis player and then all of a sudden you're being cast in one of these, like the, one of the largest musicals ever that's going on tour. What was that like? Did you, was it an aha, like I made it moment? Like, well, like it has to be pretty validating in this journey for you.

[8:22] Denise Jastraunig: I was shocked also as well, because I didn't apply actually. But because I told, we had like an agency in the school and which was one woman. And I told her, you know, this audition is coming up, but I don't see myself in there. So don't even bother putting my stuff there. And she said, okay, well, everybody else wants to go there. So that's fine. And then weeks later, she said, oh, sorry, I forgot you have an invitation now. So you have to go, I guess. And, but the funny thing was, it was for the dancer's call, but it was also invited for the singer tracks. So for Tranny Lawroom and Gumby. Yeah. And then I went there and because I was up for those singer parts, Chrissy, I remember that so well, I was in the dancer's audition and no chance.

Yeah. I mean, I faked it, but yeah, you know, you could tell my, my leg wasn't up there. So she came up to me while everybody was there and she said, darling, do you want to do the movers call? It was embarrassing and sweet at the same moment. And I just said, yeah, I'd love to. Yeah. So I left the room and had to sing first. And then I did the movers call, but it was so nice of her. I mean, she didn't have to do that. But then when like, it's called the movers call.

[9:49] Mike Abrams: Yeah.

[9:49] Denise Jastraunig: I've never heard that. I love that. No, I've never heard that. So that's the, yeah, the, you're, you're, they don't call it the singer's call, it's the movers call.

[9:53] Mike Abrams: Because also, I don't know if you ever saw the choreography of the movers call. It's just a jolly call, cats and jolly good cats. Like the thing, it's just that what we dance with this, it's so easy. So I'm not showing it to you, but nobody sees it. Yeah. But it's really, really easy. Like, it's so different from what the dancers have to do. So I felt a bit like, oh, God, okay, I'm not, I feel like everybody can do that. That's like, you don't even have to be a mover. Yeah. But then yeah, I thought, okay, well, it's actually, I think I did a good job. And also the music director, I think he liked me because I always brought my folder to auditions back then. And I had like a big folder when I was in Germany.

I thought, okay, I bring everything from you. You know, you have everything with you. And he just, we spent like half an hour, and he just went through all the songs, said, okay, sing that. Sing that. Okay, sing up there. Belt that. Okay, classical. I thought, what's happening? Is that normal for auditions? Because it was one of my first auditions. Yeah. And then I think one week or two weeks later, nobody from my school got an offer but me. And everybody hated me.

[11:05] Denise Jastraunig: The one that didn't want to be in.

[11:06] Mike Abrams: Everybody hated me. And I was, I think I was at home at my mom's place. And I got the call. I was, I don't know what I thought. How is it happening? I didn't even want to apply. And now I don't really know the show quite well. I think I have to watch the video again. What are these names? Yeah. Yeah. I was shocked. Positively shocked as well. But yeah. Yeah. Overwhelmed as well.

[11:37] Mike Abrams: One of my favorite questions of and you know, it's been a few years from this for from that first rehearsal process. I'm always fascinated of what you remember from that experience, as someone who had seen the VHS or the DVD, like, but you know, I'm sure you didn't know the whole story. So what was that reaction? Or what do you remember from being told, this is what Cats is about? This is what Joey Lauren was singing about?

[12:06] Mike Abrams: This is what Jenny and I got to see about. This is all the things that over 200 plus episodes I've learned about all these backstories and character pieces that are told. What was that for you being in there, again, not really knowing all that stuff going in? My first thought was after like a two hours session with Chrissy, I thought, well, you could have told me that in two sentences what this show is about. Why are we still talking about it? Yeah, but I mean, there's so much like in that story, you know. So in the end, it did make sense. But I thought, huh, why? It's just everybody's auditioning, you know. So just let them audition and that's it. And pick one and die and new life. Thank you.

Did your cast, though, get into the characters and stories and all the like, this could be my sister and this could be my significant other? Or is it just kind of a go out there and do your shows and focus on your choreography? Because it seems like there's a mix of that depending on the cast.

[13:18] Denise Jastraunig: I think in the tent tour, we did like a completely workshop with everything, with what relationships could be. And I mean, it's also very open, you know, we were able to decide what kind of sometimes, you know, because the show is pretty open and you can decide whatever you feel connected with which cat or so. But it was different in Vienna then. It felt like we didn't have that much time.

[13:48] Mike Abrams: Interesting. And the revival? Because that was when it came back to Vienna after like a pretty significant period of time not being there. And so it was a little bit more rushed, not rushing process, like this is still a very professionally well put together process, but less time to kind of talk through all those things before you went up on stage.

[14:14] Denise Jastraunig: Maybe also because it was new to me. But I felt like people who are new in the family of the cats, in the cats family, a lot of cats, they may have needed more information, more background information. That's what I felt, I don't know.

[14:32] Mike Abrams: I wonder if some of that's time, because your first run is like on the fringe of social media, like being where it is, not even today, but like where it was in the Vienna revival in 2019. There wasn't as much conversations about these things happening as locally, and the cast probably isn't having as much coming to them, because you're more of like what you know in the VHS in isolation. And in 2019, though, they're alive and well, where there are theories and people talking about it a lot more. So I wonder if that maybe put an art into it.

[15:11] Denise Jastraunig: Oh, I think definitely. That did play a big part. We're going to take a quick break, and then we'll be back for more of The Wrong Cat Died. I want to go back to the first tour, because at this point, this show is extremely well known. It's not new, and it has a massive fan base in Germany, Austria, that region. What was the audience reactions like as you're going to these new cities that probably has not had cats in that long for the reception for the show?

[15:40] Denise Jastraunig: Most of the time, we were sold out. That's what I remember. And I mean, yeah, it was much more possible to hear what people were thinking, because I was a swing. And I sometimes I sat in the audience, and then I heard what people were talking. But most of the time, it was like, what is this about? But of course, there were many people as well who really did enjoy it. And yeah, I think people must think now, oh, she really hates cats. People that don't hate cats. I really like cats.

[16:19] Mike Abrams: Did you try to answer questions for people that were like in the audience?

[16:24] Denise Jastraunig: Oh, no, no, I would never. But you know, inside of me, I thought, shall I say something? Shall I say something? But no, it's okay. I don't want to. Would you have done it?

[16:34] Mike Abrams: I do it all the time. So I do it every time I go see the show, especially at intermission. And because most of the time when people are saying something like that, they're still enjoying it a lot. They're just a little confused. And I think back to the first time I saw it, I had the same reaction to those people, which is like, wow, that's incredible dancing. This music is catchy. I don't know. I loved what I'm watching, but I wasn't following everything, especially at intermission. So I usually will jump in and answer and help people. Funny enough, I, as a non-German speaking person, when I watched it in Frankfurt, I was sitting around and everyone's talking. I was like, I have no idea what they're talking.

I don't understand them. So I can't help and jump in and be like, what do you need to know? I know everything about this show. But I found that just giving at least the loose plot at intermission to somebody helps them follow the second act a little bit more, depending on what version you're seeing. Of course, I can't explain Peaks and Potholes to anybody no matter what, no matter where we are in the show. But it does. I remember I went to see it in a smaller theater in Pennsylvania and the guy behind me was hilarious, so confused. And then in the second act, I told him, I gave him the intermission talk and he was like thrilled. And at the end of the show, he was like, he called me a hero because he just loved following it along.

But it's got to be hard as a swing though, because you're in the show, you're watching it for other reasons. You're also being ready to go on if there's an issue. So you have to be fully ready as you're watching these people kind of go through. And when you're touring, you have the massive fan base, but you also have some like, this is the show that's stopping by this year, so I'm going to go see it and have zero idea what they're walking into.

[18:20] Denise Jastraunig: But wouldn't it be a good idea to have something like you as a person sitting there explaining it, but like, there are these shows, I don't know what they're called, when they talk before and explain stuff. What are these shows called? Do you know what I mean?

[18:37] Mike Abrams: I don't know what those are. I know what you're talking about. I've seen a few regional theaters put in the playbill, like a loose outline to read. So it's like just enough to actually basically answer what I would tell them, because I wouldn't give too much. And I found that to be really helpful. Now, half the people who are asking questions just don't read that. But it does like give you a, this is our interpretation of the version, especially as some of the regional theaters have done some tweaks to the production of like different settings or different things. That's been helpful.

[19:15] Denise Jastraunig: Okay. I don't know. I would read it.

[19:18] Mike Abrams: At the same time.

[19:19] Denise Jastraunig: I think I would look at the pictures and be like, oh, there's this one, okay, there.

[19:24] Mike Abrams: Well, and they don't, in Europe, they don't give a playbill to everybody, right? You have to buy it.

[19:29] Denise Jastraunig: That's a very American thing. You have to buy it. It's like a program book and it's like with pictures and it costs like about 15 euros and stuff.

[19:38] Mike Abrams: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that would also not help. But yeah, it's, I also think part of Cats is they don't want to tell you, like, there's a little bit of the, I was told this pretty early on that like, the idea of the whole story of Cats is that you're lucky to be able to, that we're letting you see it. Like the Jellicles are allowing you to watch today and you're lucky to be there. And so part of that, that story is also like, figure it out yourself.

[20:01] Denise Jastraunig: It's a mystery.

[20:02] Mike Abrams: You shouldn't, like, we don't even let you watch this, but we are tonight.

[20:05] Denise Jastraunig: Yeah. Yeah. It kind of fits the show. It's a mystery and solve it yourself. But I don't know if that would be like something that's, yeah, you could help the audience a bit. Not being like, yeah, I'll show you. But yeah, I don't know.

[20:23] Mike Abrams: Just got to go back multiple times. Or sit near me.

[20:27] Denise Jastraunig: Where she's sitting. And I have many stalkers. Do you want that?

[20:31] Mike Abrams: No, the Cats, because, well, that's, I guess the people who are, who would need to find me are not listening to this show. And the people that are listening to the show are fans and don't need me. You know, like they don't, they know the story. I want to hear a little bit about, was this your first time performing as a swing and having to kind of go on for multiple tracks and being prepared for kind of everything?

[20:56] Denise Jastraunig: First big job, first swing jobs, first tour, all in one. First of all, how is, like, as a swing, that's to me such an incredible skill set, to being able to be prepared for multiple people. I guess maybe it's not easier, but as a mover, it's a little bit less crazy, if you have to go. But you have to be prepared for what harmonies you sing and where you sing and all those different pieces and kind of be ready at any moment to go on. How do you prepare for that, especially early in your career, to be ready for those things?

[21:33] Denise Jastraunig: Well, I don't know. You just have to do it. I mean, you have your Bible, your swing Bible, where you write down everything and everybody has, like, a different style of writing it down. I'm a list person. I love writing lists. And so I was actually pretty well organized, I think. I had, like, for every cat a different color. And Jenny was a J, or Jenny was a G for Gumby. So different colors were okay.

[22:05] Mike Abrams: As I say, they're both Js, so Gumby cat, okay.

[22:09] Denise Jastraunig: Or something like two letters for some cats that have same names. Yeah. And then make, like, back then, I couldn't really do, I didn't do any videos back then. No, like, this was in the new production that was easy with videos, you know, and you had everything on the video and just looked it up. But back then, you just had to remember, and we had, I think, we had one video from the back. And you just had to look for your cat. Okay, where am I going? Where is she going? Was it the left foot? Was it the right foot? Yeah. I can't really tell. How did I prepare for it? Just, we had, I mean, we had really good people who taught us stuff. And I don't know, Jo Lucy Reckham was already with you, was she? No?

[22:58] Mike Abrams: No. Yeah, I've definitely met with her. I'm trying to think.

[23:02] Denise Jastraunig: She was our dance captain. She was awesome. She was so good. And then also in Vienna as well. And she knows the show in and out, every step from every person. And just, she's a machine. So you could ask her anything. And she also helped me a lot with the tapping.

[23:21] Mike Abrams: Yeah, we haven't had a full episode with her. I've definitely met her, or talked to her through other things, just through different people that have done the show. So you finish and you do this in 2011. Did you, like, coming back in 2019, you have all these different things in your career between. Was cat something you ever thought you were going to revisit? Or was this a kind of surprise to kind of come back to it? You know, was this eight, seven, eight years later?

[23:51] Denise Jastraunig: I never really thought about it. But when the audition came up, I thought, okay, I always wanted to work in Vienna. I actually really did enjoy playing cats. I loved it. And I thought, well, it's 10 years. Let's do a 10 year anniversary and do it again. Yeah, amazing. Yeah. And when I got the job, I was I was I was crying because I was so happy I could work at home and

[24:13] Denise Jastraunig: At the Faberge, which I always wanted to work, and doing Cats as well, and yeah, Checkpot.

[24:19] Mike Abrams: Yeah. And you mentioned a little bit about this, but I want to hear if you remember anything else, but the differences between the production you did at first and the piece. So it sounds like you had to do a much more elaborate tap number. But what were the other, were there any other changes that you, like, I guess, I guess my question is really, how easy is it to come back in years later of like, there's some muscle memory, you've done this versus a, wow, this is now actually a little bit different from what we did in the other production?

[24:45] Denise Jastraunig: There was lots of stuff that was the same. And the muscle memory was there that I thought, wow, what is happening? It's been 10 years, and I still do, did know stuff, actually, not everything, but a lot. And different was as well. Well, the tap number was just, yeah, out of this world. It was still a lot of fun. But wow, wow. I was proud, I was proud of myself. I was able to do it. But don't cast me as a tapping girl, please, again, please. I did so many tap shows. I don't know why people keep casting me for tap stuff. Please don't stop.

[25:22] Mike Abrams: You're going to go to dance calls now, not the mover calls.

[25:26] Denise Jastraunig: What did I want to say? Yeah, and then as a gel in the room, we had Billy McCall. I think it was the, Billy, Billy McCall. We had back then that number instead of the ARIA.

[25:43] Mike Abrams: Oh, interesting. Okay.

[25:45] Denise Jastraunig: Which was boring.

[25:47] Mike Abrams: I've never seen a version with that number.

[25:49] Denise Jastraunig: I wasn't a big fan of that number. It was a very slapstick number.

[25:56] Mike Abrams: I've heard it on album, but I've never seen a version of that production. That's interesting.

[26:02] Denise Jastraunig: Okay, so that's a big difference. Another, you did Grizabella, though.

[26:06] Mike Abrams: In the second, yeah, in Vienna, I did it, yeah.

[26:08] Denise Jastraunig: Yeah. How was your first time going on as Grizabella? That has got to be a moment to sing Memory on the Vienna stage. What was that night like?

[26:18] Denise Jastraunig: Yeah, I was speechless. I thought, well, I'm being, I'm Grizabella. What the hell? What happened?

[26:27] Mike Abrams: Did you have a heads up, though? Like, did you have like, was this a known thing of like, hey, this is a planned vacation or time off?

[26:34] Denise Jastraunig: Yeah, we had a plan. I was like, first Grizabella is not a 20 minutes before the show. If there would have been an accident or something, yeah, that would have been all right as well, because to be honest, it's not the hardest part. And she doesn't really, you know, do that much. The princess track, for sure. I had different roles, like Mary Poppins, where I had to go on as Mary. That's different. But it was such an honor to be able to play Grizabella.

[27:06] Mike Abrams: Just the, I mean, it's got to be such a moment of like, you have like, all eyes on you. And you do too in Gumby Cat and some of the other moments in the show, but Grizabella. And then did you, after doing that, like, as you said, it's a, it's kind of a different track. Was this a, wow, this is, I want to do this one every time I, you know, I get to be on stage for like, 15 minutes, belt and leave?

[27:28] Denise Jastraunig: I mean, yeah, if you get the money and it's fun, you know, why not? Yeah, actually, I love being a swing. I love have like different tracks and doing different stuff. So if I get sometimes that track, sometimes a bit more dancey, if it has to be a tapping number, then okay, one tapping number time, okay. A bit of classical, a bit of belty. I love that. I love the mixture.

[27:57] Mike Abrams: With Cats being so early in your career, and you've done a million other things, like you've been in a bunch of amazing shows. How much did like, do you bring some of those things from Cats or some of the experiences? Obviously, there's like the professional experience of like, how you're learning to be touring in a swing and doing these shows. But is there anything like Cats feels like such a unique and at some point, strange version of theatre? Do you carry that into other shows? Or is it very much a contract ends, next contract starts, start fresh?

[28:28] Denise Jastraunig: Cats was different, also, because it was my first job. And it was a tour and hard, eight shows a week. That did change the way I thought about musicals as well, about the job. It made me also think about, think more about the shows I do, because it was, because Chrissy taught us so much about it, and told us so much about the backstory. And I thought, huh, how? Where? So much that people don't know that you don't know. But, and so many musicals do have backstories. But sometimes you asked a director, and you're like, okay, what's the story behind that? And the director's like, I don't know, just do it. So that's, ah, that's so sad. And then you have to do your own backstory. But that's all totally fine.

But that's the cool thing about Cats is that you always ask questions, and you always know everything, that every step makes sense. And everything, every step, everywhere you go, it has a meaning and it makes sense. And I love that. And that's what I always carry to every show. I think I'm annoying as hell. I ask many questions. And I want to know everything. And like the eight shows a week. And like what you do with your body. I mean, I wasn't even a dancer dancer, but like, eight shows a week as a dancer in Cats, I had so much respect for all the people and had then different respect for all my colleagues. And also that changed a lot. So like, that changed everything that show for me.

[30:13] Mike Abrams: Yeah. Yeah, it is interesting, though, like, the story of Cats, it's funny, because it's like, there feels like at times there's none. And then it's like, at the same time, everything is so thought through that it's like, if you know, it's almost like if you know, you know, and you get to watch. And I think that's a lot of the repeatability of seeing the show is that you can watch a different character every night, and almost feel like you're getting a totally different show just based on where they're reacting and who they're talking to, or, you know, doing their dances with. And I think that's part of what the why there's fans.

[30:48] Denise Jastraunig: It depends on who's playing which part as well. That's also them different, of course, because everybody plays their characters in a different way, which is awesome. I mean, of course, in other shows, you're also you have like a bit of possibilities to change it up. But if you're in a Disney show, Mary Poppins is Mary Poppins. You have to, you know, that's she has to be the way she is with a hint of it.

[31:13] Mike Abrams: Would you revisit Cats if offered again?

[31:20] Denise Jastraunig: Absolutely. In 10 years. Ask me again.

[31:25] Mike Abrams: No, I would go there early as well. Not for the dancing parts.

[31:30] Denise Jastraunig: Yeah, yeah. The movers call.

[31:31] Mike Abrams: I'm not sure.

[31:36] Denise Jastraunig: Yeah, I think you've got to just come as Grizabella.

[31:39] Mike Abrams: Just full time Grizabella.

[31:41] Denise Jastraunig: Yeah, I'd love that. And I also would love to work with Chrissy again. She's awesome.

[31:46] Mike Abrams: Yeah. What are some of your memories from the show? Like, what are the things that you'll never forget? Either funny stories, experiences, like from either times doing the show?

[31:56] Denise Jastraunig: There is one story I will never forget. A colleague of mine, it was like in a tent tour back then. And a colleague of mine, he played MonkaStrap, MonkaStrap. Sorry, I fell asleep for a second. The names. He played MonkaStrap. And we were during Peaks and Pollicles. And he had troubles with his tail. I think that the nut opened and he wanted to like, just get it off and he ripped on the tail. And his ass was open. Like he could see the whole thing. He had a really nice ass. He has a really nice ass, I guess. I haven't seen since then. But the whole number. I'm always so happy. I was on stage as well. And we were carrying these hats, of course. Everybody was just like laughing so hard. And shivering. And it was special. That I will never forget. I'm sure the audience that night also will never forget. They got extra stuff for their money. He's a nice ass to look at.

[33:16] Mike Abrams: So the Peaks and Pollicles can be in different parts of the show. Was that in Act One or Act Two? Like how long did he have to dance with his ass hanging out before he got to go off stage and get fixed?

[33:27] Denise Jastraunig: I think it was just the number and then he went off. It was pretty fast then. But it was, oh, David, bless his heart.

[33:38] Mike Abrams: Those stories are always so fun, because it's like, there's a group of people that probably in the audience knows and probably still talks about it. And then there's some other people have no idea that that even happened. I mean, he always tried to turn around and not to make people see. But of course, then he had to go back and it was so good. It was really good. Yeah, and I was happy it was me. Awesome.

[34:04] Mike Abrams: Yeah, it's so true. The other thing I wanted to hear a little bit about is being highlighted in that post from Andrew Weber. He put some of the celebrities that he had in there and you were in there and tagged in there. So what was that? I mean, they tagged everybody and shared it very wide and far. So when that happened, it was recent. What was that moment for you? Did your phone blow up with people messaging you and asking about it?

[34:26] Denise Jastraunig: I mean, I got some messages being like, did you see what's on Instagram? And I said, what's happening? Don't know. And I didn't have time. I don't know. I think I had a singing lesson or something. Okay, I'm going to look at this later. And then on Instagram, I got so many messages with that post and I looked at it. What's happening? I was overwhelmed again. I thought, what an honor. How did he? I don't know. I mean, yeah, of course, he sees on cast lists who plays what, but why me?

[35:07] Mike Abrams: Yeah, I mean, all the things you've done, I mean, in your career. And then I saw he replied to you too. And I made a mistake writing. I wrote something really stupid. I don't know. There was one word. It was embarrassing. I'm like, I know my English is not the best. But yeah.

[35:29] Mike Abrams: I think what was cool about that is it reminded people from your productions, like the fans too, because that was when I started getting messages more of being like, I saw your performance. I saw you. Have you had her on yet? That was when it really started to spark. So I think it was almost a reminder of like, hey, because it's been five, six years since the revival. And then even more from the other tour. That was like, oh, yeah, I remember that production. I remember that. It was cool. It was special. Still is.

[36:06] Mike Abrams: Yeah. Is there anything else about, before we do the rapid fire on Cats to get to the million dollar question, anything else that we didn't talk about today from your Jellicle journey that we need to have on this show and capture? I'm going to look on my list here.

[36:20] Denise Jastraunig: Some dates I put in if you ask like dates or stuff, so I know.

[36:24] Mike Abrams: Yeah, yeah.

[36:27] Denise Jastraunig: No, I think we talked about everything. I mean, it's funny because my makeup skills, they were zero when I started this journey. I was not a big makeup fan. I just love it naturally. And it's a lot of work doing makeup. So when I started this show, I thought, okay, because we had this introduction where the makeup artist does one half of the face and then she was like, okay, now you do it. And I thought, really? You want me to do that now? And the left side, even my bad side? Yeah. And I was really happy because my best friend, he does a lot of drag stuff as well. And he was always really, really talented with that. So he showed me a lot how to do makeup, because I was lost. And now actually, I love doing it. And it's like, so it's like doing yoga, putting on that cat's makeup and getting into the role. And when we had like the Vienna production, it was easy. And I taught people, I helped others. So that was cool.

[37:37] Mike Abrams: It's got to be a part of Cats, too, where I mean, I think other shows like, you know, like you said, Mary Poppins or stuff, you put on the costume and you get into the character, Cats, it's like you actually transform yourself. So there's got to be this moment of where you look in the mirror, and you don't even almost look like you anymore. And it kind of gets you right back into the, like, into the role to start your night.

[37:57] Denise Jastraunig: Nothing like that. Like you also put on that special costume and this makeup, it's just the wig, the tail. Oh, God, the tail, always in your way.

[38:09] Mike Abrams: We're going to take a quick break and then we'll be back for more of The Wrong Cat Died.

[38:16] Mike Abrams: Okay, let's do some Cats rapid fire. If you could go on for one night, any cat, male, female, doesn't matter if you can sing it, dance it, but you could go on for one show, who would you want to perform as?

[38:28] Denise Jastraunig: Who do I want to perform as? That's a good question. I mean, a male cat would be nice. Maybe Monk or Jerry.

[38:39] Mike Abrams: Yeah, Jerry.

[38:40] Denise Jastraunig: I like that.

[38:41] Mike Abrams: I love it. Get the full audience with you around what you're watching.

[38:47] Mike Abrams: Who are your favorite and least favorite cats from a personality standpoint? So like, which one would you really enjoy hanging out with? And which one would bug you to hang out with?

[38:56] Denise Jastraunig: I mean, the biggest Bombalurina fan.

[39:00] Mike Abrams: Okay.

[39:01] Denise Jastraunig: Yeah, she's. Yeah, I don't know. I think I wouldn't hang out with her. It's just not.

[39:07] Mike Abrams: Yeah, no.

[39:08] Denise Jastraunig: Too beautiful. She knows she's beautiful and shows everybody how beautiful she is. Annoying. Let her live her life.

[39:17] Mike Abrams: Who would be your best Jellicle friend?

[39:21] Denise Jastraunig: My best Jellicle friend. Hmm. Maybe Rumpelstiltskin. Yeah, Monk or Jerry Rumpelstiltskin. Yeah, I think I could.

[39:31] Mike Abrams: Okay, cause a little mischief.

[39:33] Denise Jastraunig: Yeah, and do some stuff that's not allowed. So just for fun. Yeah, I'd like that.

[39:39] Mike Abrams: I love it. Favorite song in the show?

[39:44] Denise Jastraunig: Old Deuteronomy. Don't know why.

[39:48] Mike Abrams: I like that answer.

[39:49] Denise Jastraunig: I just love, I just loved the music. And in that, I have a little, a small story, like a makeup story. I had to go on during that number. They just told me five minutes before, okay, you have to be Gumby, you have to go in now because she's going off. So I had to do like a really quick makeup. And back then in the tent, my makeup, you know, as you know, wasn't that good. So quick makeup, went on stage, and I know it was, we did the steps forward, and I really stepped into the clump with all the guys, thought this is the perfect timing. But then I saw the people looking at me. And I knew how bad my makeup looked. And everybody was laughing so hard, because it was so bad. Like, you know, the Gumby makeup is not the hardest, but if you do it like really fast, and yeah, five minutes. Oh, dear Lord. We were laughing at this beautiful song. I felt sorry for it. But yeah. But yeah, I love this song. It's one of my favorites, but also this story is in my heart.

[40:57] Mike Abrams: That moment will stick with you.

[41:03] Mike Abrams: Yeah. I always like to ask one fun one. So which cat do you think would be the best tennis player?

[41:06] Denise Jastraunig: Hmm, the best tennis player? Good question. I think Skimbleshanks.

[41:13] Mike Abrams: Skimbleshanks, okay.

[41:14] Denise Jastraunig: Because he knows his ways with the trains, and knows how everything is built, and knows statistics. And I think he would be a really good tennis player.

[41:26] Mike Abrams: I like that. I was thinking Bombalurina, or like somebody tall. Like, I want tall.

[41:31] Denise Jastraunig: Bombalurina is sometimes a bit lazy. She would be like,

[41:35] Mike Abrams: Okay, that's fair. Who would you want as your doubles partner?

[41:40] Denise Jastraunig: Still Skimbleshanks? Or is there somebody that would fit your game?

[41:43] Denise Jastraunig: Fit my game? Hmm. Maybe, just thinking of, no, annoying. I'm just going through it now. Jenny would be annoying, because she would always be, oh, it's okay. If you make a mistake, it's all right. It's okay. Just go on. No, no, not happening. And also Gus would always just stand there and would get hit by balls.

[42:08] Mike Abrams: Yeah, Gus wouldn't be able to do it.

[42:11] Denise Jastraunig: Maybe, maybe Tantomile.

[42:14] Mike Abrams: What about like a...

[42:15] Denise Jastraunig: Tantomile, because she's also fast, and everything is very elegant, but still very well-planned. And sometimes there's a choreographer standing there, and you're like, oh, God, what's happening? So it's a triple, actually. They would know before the ball's coming, where it's coming.

[42:41] Mike Abrams: That is good. Yes.

[42:46] Denise Jastraunig: Yeah. So that's definitely my choice.

[42:46] Mike Abrams: The other ones I was thinking about were Tumblebrutus, or like an Alonzo, just like super athletic.

[42:50] Denise Jastraunig: Yeah, and just before he hits the ball, he does like one of his tricks, and people look at it, and then they miss the ball. Perfect. Yeah, it's all very good. Yeah. I like that. I like that question. Thank you.

[43:05] Mike Abrams: Yeah. My million dollar question. So this whole podcast centers around me not thinking Grizabella was the right Jellicle choice. Now, you've obviously played Grizabella, but as a Jelly Lorem, you've really petitioned for Gus. But I'm asking for you, Denise, who is your Jellicle choice and why?

[43:20] Denise Jastraunig: I have to say it is Gus still.

[43:21] Mike Abrams: Yeah.

[43:23] Denise Jastraunig: Yeah. Team Gus. Do you count how many people said Gus? Do you know?

[43:29] Mike Abrams: I do. I do.

[43:30] Denise Jastraunig: Do you want to say?

[43:36] Mike Abrams: No, I'm happy. I actually share the posts with like the updates like every 50 episodes or so. So I can tell you right now, I can look this up because I have it. I have it at least somewhat percentage wise. As of today, Grizabella is still 40 percent of the votes. Gus is 33 percent of the votes.

[43:58] Denise Jastraunig: And then there's a bunch of like a couple here and there for Old Deuteronomy and Mistoffelees and Macavity.

[44:08] Mike Abrams: Yeah.

[44:09] Denise Jastraunig: A bunch of others have a couple votes, but it's really between Grizabella and Gus. So that's the percentages. Gus is just the obvious choice, I think, for me as well, because I think he deserves it. But also I have a bit of a personal history with that, because I played with one colleague. His name was Eric Lee Johnson. He already died. He passed away a few years ago. But he was Gus. He always like when you talk to him, he told you stories about when he played in Berlin and when he started playing there. And we always called each other. I called him, Daddy. And he said, Mommy. We were just really good friends. And for me, if he would have gotten another life, that would.

[45:01] Denise Jastraunig: Yeah. I've always been team Gus for the same kind of thing of like, it feels like he needs it. And it's time. He's ready for that. I also, and I guess it depends on the Grizabella productions that you have, but a lot of the Grizabellas I saw when I saw the show in the beginning of seeing it and more recently, the Grizabellas are kind of younger. They're not... And some of that's casting on non-equity tours and stuff like that. But I've always kind of hated the fact of you get this welcome back to your family and then immediately sent off versus like, she can be next year's choice. Like spend a year with us and then go next year. Send Gus now. One year, you know, enjoy us. And then in a year, bye. Give it to Gus. He deserves it. Give it to Gus this year.

[45:54] Mike Abrams: Well, I'm glad to add another tally to team Gus. Slowly raise that percentage a little bit here. My goal is I really am hoping at some point I can get team Gus above team Grizabella. But right now we got a little ways to go to catch up. But I've joked that this show, the mission is to just eventually get somebody to make one production where the audience votes or somebody else chooses.

[46:10] Denise Jastraunig: Whoa.

[46:11] Mike Abrams: Oh my God. What's the show called? Where you can decide what the ending is?

[46:16] Denise Jastraunig: Edwin Drood.

[46:21] Mike Abrams: Oh, yes. Where you can decide how it's gonna end. That would be awesome.

[46:27] Denise Jastraunig: So I want, I'm dreaming. I try every director that tells me they're doing it. I ask and everyone says if they want to do any other Andrew Lloyd Webber show in their career.

[46:34] Mike Abrams: But dear Lord, so many, so many ends.

[46:37] Denise Jastraunig: So many, I mean, yeah.

[46:41] Mike Abrams: I think it'd be so fun. And it'd be the reason I'm like amped about it is I've been to a few shows where I've knew a performer and they were, I told them like, hey, I'm coming to see you. And they're like, oh, this will be a fun one. My entire dance studio from growing up is coming. Or when you're on tour, it's like you hit your hometown and the whole town is coming. And I love the idea that some not obscure, but a cat that like you probably wouldn't think is going to win. We'll win that night because for that performer and that person gets their spotlight because of their friends and family.

[47:05] Denise Jastraunig: That's so fun.

[47:06] Mike Abrams: Yeah. I voted for that.

[47:07] Denise Jastraunig: Yes.

[47:08] Mike Abrams: Well, if you, if you know anybody that can make this happen in the Andrew Lloyd Webber family, it's still my dream.

[47:22] Denise Jastraunig: If we're doing it in 10 years again in Vienna, I'm trying my best.

[47:30] Mike Abrams: Yeah, perfect. I'll keep this. We'll see if the show is still going at that point. But this has been so fun. How can people stay in touch with you on all the things you do and future shows you're going to work on in 10 years from now, your next Grizabella experience?

[47:47] Denise Jastraunig: In 10 years, I will let you know. It's on Instagram. Like I post most of the time, everything. So that's like Denise on the line on the line. Yes.

[47:57] Mike Abrams: Awesome. We will tag that. So that way people can find it. This has been so much fun. Thank you for coming on and sharing your experience.

[48:05] Denise Jastraunig: Thank you for having me.

[48:08] Mike Abrams: Awesome. And thanks, everyone, for listening to this episode of The Wrong Cat Died, the podcast breakdown of Cats Ashby. To follow along, you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, podcast, also social media at TheWrongCatDied or check out our website at TheWrongCatDied.com.