This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:01] Mike Abrams: There's a cat over here. There's a cat over there. And the wrong one died. And the wrong one died. Welcome to The Wrong Cat Died, the podcast breakdown that casts atrophy. I'm your host, Mike Abrams, and today we have multiple guests. It was a little while ago, I was on social media and I saw a post about a production of CATS that said it was going to have a Cornish twist. And I commented asking what that meant. And today we're going to get answers. So they are currently in rehearsals for a Young Actors Edition of CATS at the Boom Theatre in Cornwall. And with parents' permission, we have a few members of the cast and a few people from the creative team. So welcome Faith, Matty, Kirsten, Marc. Thank you all for joining me. I'm excited to have you all here.

[0:54] Mike Abrams: Very, very excited because I, you know, a lot of times I get a lot of social media for every version of CATS, like young kids doing it and all this stuff. It all gets sent to me. And so when I saw Cornish twist, I've never been to Cornwall. And I was like, what does that mean? And I kind of just sent the comment out there into the ether and didn't expect anything to come back from it. Or maybe just like a quick reply. But here we are. We're going to get full answers to what that means. So I'm excited. But let's start. I always start. I got to start at the beginning. So for all four of you, when was your introduction to CATS? First time you saw it, first time you learned about it? Who's going in order? Wait, let Faith go. Faith's got an answer.

[1:34] Faith Stansfield: For me, I've got like, right. So when I was a few years back, I had a dance teacher who told me this is my first ever interaction with anything about CATS. I didn't really know much about it until my dance teacher went to go and see it. Her name was Becky. And she was telling me about a pre-show because we're doing a pre-show in our version of the show. And she was telling me that she was sat in the audience with a box of popcorn and that Victoria climbs on the back of her chair, takes out a handful of her popcorn and just eats it. Like just in the middle of the audience. And yeah, I don't know. That was my first ever experience with CATS. I never actually like properly watched it. Probably until about a year ago.

For me, the music came first. So coming from like the top of the pop era and stuff. I was kind of back when it was actually launched. Andrew Lloyd Webber was a bit of a thing and he did Phantom and such like. But yes, so Memory was the big number that was played on the radio all the time. And obviously, you always, when you were young, you always listened to Radio 2 in the car with your parents. So the music came first for me. The first production I actually saw was not that long ago. And it was actually one with Matty in it. Kids for Us. That was about five years ago. I think eight. And yeah, it was again, it was the full version, I think they did. And they had an amazing choreographer from Scotland, I think, come down to do it. I'm sure Matty will tell you more about that. But those are my sort of main memories of CATS.

[3:17] Matty Franklin: Okay. I was obviously in CATS. I was Quaxo when I was like eight. So that must have been about nine years ago, because I'm turning 18 this year. It must have been like 10 years. Well, yeah, I was Quaxo. We had a choreographer come down from Scotland. I don't remember his last name. He's brilliant. He was in Les Mis. You must have done it twice then.

[3:44] Faith Stansfield: No.

[3:45] Matty Franklin: I was only in one production. Because Lin Bastard did it when it was at Kids for Us. Do you remember that?

[3:52] Faith Stansfield: Yeah, they co-choreographed. Because he was like the director.

[3:56] Matty Franklin: But he just choreographed the show and Lin just came down. And yeah, I was Quaxo. And it was a great experience. But we did it like full on CATS, like wigs, face paint, cat suits. And I was like the youngest one, the cat. But real. Anyway, yeah. That's my first experience with CATS.

[4:13] Marc Taylor: And so I was there. Matthew just talked about being eight years ago. And that makes me feel very old right now. So my first experience of CATS was in the West End production in the 90s. And it was one of the first professional shows I went to. We kind of did that. Myself and my wife did that. Andrew Lloyd Webber. So we did Starlight Express and we also did CATS. So I originally went to the Durham Lane Theatre. And we're going to say experience because it was an experience. As I explained, the cat kind of crawled over us and was coming out of the staging and set in different aspects. So, yeah, that was my experience. And then, yes, I just kind of fell in love with it from then really. And I'm hoping to bring some inspirations into this show from that production in the 90s.

[5:07] Mike Abrams: Yeah. I love it. So when you're like obviously this is I've read a lot about the site and kind of looked at everything, the Boom Theatre and everything that you're doing, like a lot of productions, a lot of very cool stuff I think you do about a little over a weekend worth of these shows for these young adult productions. How did you all decide to land on CATS? Like CATS is being done kind of everywhere right now. There's a lot of versions, but it's definitely a very different choice. Like it is a lot happening in this show. And so I'm curious how you landed on it and then what as performers, like how you feel about it, like as a choice.

[5:45] Kirsten Edwards: I would say where I was coming from is that we've been established as sort of for three or four years now or three years. We had our kind of graduating kind of company. They'd really developed with us. And I knew that they were very capable of a fantastic kind of dance-led show. We did look at A Chorus Line as well. So it was like CATS or A Chorus Line, CATS or A Chorus Line. Same story. It doesn't matter. And in the end, we just decided that single set, we could do something amazing with it. And, yeah, I just sort of threw in, how about Mark? How do you feel about a Cornish, a Cornish angle to it? Sent him through some kind of inspiration kind of costumes. And, thankfully, he was open to it.

[6:37] Marc Taylor: Yeah, so myself and my wife, Jane, have been involved with Boom since conception, since the beginning. Our daughter is also in the company. So that's sort of my link. And, yeah, what did they say? Friends with Cats Guild, I think, is one of the things. And that's how we got involved with Boom. But, yeah, CATS came not as a shop, let's say, but it was supposed to be kind of a smaller base conception, basically working with it. But it's just grown. And it's been, yeah, fantastic in development. And the ideas have been bouncing around. So I don't want to give too much away. But we've taken the junkyard aesthetic and made that more of a derelict harbor. So, actually, the concept's changing from that sort of New York junkyard kind of waste, garbage, and things like that, and put it into one of the aspects is changing it to a harbor.

And we've got some derelict boats and buildings and sort of like fishing equipment and stuff that the kids can play around with and use as props. So, yeah, the conception from the idea of, oh, let's do CATS, has then sort of developed into sort of making it more of a Cornish-based. Because there are multiple versions of it out and around at the minute with the Jellicle Ball in New York and then the new tour version of CATS coming to the UK and the Regent's Park version. So, yeah, there's a lot of aesthetic. And I think bringing the Cornish element to it just gives us that little bit of locality and making it special for Boom and the guys getting involved as well.

[8:13] Kirsten Edwards: I was also quite inspired by the Kilworth House production, which was based in London in an underground station in the wartime period. And I just felt that changing the situation, the story is the same, but the situation and the different characters and how that makes you feel differs.

[8:40] Mike Abrams: Yeah, it's happening a lot right now, which I love, because the Jellicle Ball is very full reimagining. It's very different. But there's been a lot of productions in the US, like there was Cowboy Cats in Texas. That was, again, still CATS, but they had a few tweaks and some twang there to it. And then there was the Coaster Cats, which was in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which is right near Hershey's Amusement Park, and they did it as an amusement park. And so there's been a lot of that, which I think is really cool, because the best part to me of CATS is that it's a pretty open-ended world with a through line, and so it allows you to kind of play with it without changing too much. But Mark, you can give spoilers, because it's going to come out after, so you can drop all the stuff.

[9:31] Mike Abrams: So you can drop all the spoilers here, because this will be published after the show is done. I do want to ask a little bit, though, about that aspect of being able to get into the story, because this is a young adult teen version. There's a lot to the story that is not young adult teen friendly. That's always been a fascination to me, because it is a very kids-friendly show, because you can ignore that. But how much of the plot do you get into when you're doing this, versus you're going to do two and a half hours of dance and choreography and all this other stuff that you've got to prep them for? Do you do the story, or what level of depth do you do in the story?

[10:04] Kirsten Edwards: So I think from my perspective, sorry, Guy. I'll let you kind of chat and give your guys' perspective in a second. But the aspects of some of the characters in there, for example, the Macavity, Demeter aspects, and some of the storylines that pull through, I do have quite adult themes. And I think from my perspective, I tried to gain an understanding of what the kids' understanding of the characters were, and I've kind of opened it up to the guys. And I'm hoping both Matty and Faith sort of agree with this. They might not. That's fine. But I've given them sort of free reign to bring their own takes on their characters. Guys, jump in. I don't want to talk for you, but, yeah, give us your thoughts.

[11:01] Faith Stansfield: That's going to be my question, is what are you all adding? Would it be useful for me to talk a little bit about the tribes that we came at from a concept?

[11:07] Matty Franklin: Yeah, so we felt that, for me, I felt like coming from Cornwall, we have a rich heritage of folklore and legend. We've got some really amazing industry down here, and we've got moors and mythology and things going on. And then, of course, there's pirates, pirates and wreckers. So we have created sort of three tribes within our storylines and our cast. So the first one is villager cats that are based around the Cornish harbour in the village. So they are drawing their characters from the kind of cats that you might find in the village. So you might find one in the schoolhouse. So Jelly Aurum, for example, kind of has quite a teacher kind of approach to things. You've got – I'll let Matty talk about Bumble Arena.

[12:04] Matty Franklin: Yeah, and then you've got Gus who's retired to the village. You've got then the villager cats, which are some of the other less identifiable cats. We've got three little kittens who are some of our younger cast members. And then we have mystical cats who we've taken the inspiration from some of the things that you would find in the moors and the legends. So you might find granite. We have lots of granite in Cornwall. We have lots of gorse, which is like a succulent yellow plant, lots of moss. And so we've got our mystical cats that live out on the moors or are magical in some way. And Mr. Mistoffelees, for example, is a Merlin-type figure that sits within that tribe. And then we've got our pirates and wreckers who are kind of outsiders. So Macavity is ultimately the wrecker who destroys everything around him. And then Alonzo is one of our pirate cats for this production. So I'm sure that Faith can tell you a little bit more about how she's had.

[13:22] Matty Franklin: She's delivering Alonso through a pirate character.

[13:27] Mike Abrams: So, Matty and Faith, I'd love to hear from you about how you're developing your character and what type of research you're doing and how you're talking to the other cast mates to figure this out. Do you want to go first?

[13:35] Faith Stansfield: Yeah. Well, after we got our roles, Marc had put out a post that's like, it's like this exercise called like Utahagen, I think it's called. I always think I'm talking about the ice cream when I say that. And it's like the questions. I get it up, but it's on my iPad, which I'm on. And it's like, who is your character? Where are they? How old are they? And that really helped. Marc's been really helpful in that. And we also did like a what three words. So it's like three words that describe your cat. That's been really helpful.

[14:15] Matty Franklin: Yeah, I mean, obviously Bon Ballerina in the musical is like, not that she's not PG, but she's quite out there. She's quite flirty and like in your face. So I guess we've kind of made that more like, she's just kind of the life of the party. Like she just definitely is.

[14:35] Faith Stansfield: Yeah, and she's kind of like, I think it's Demita and her and Jelly Lorem and like MonkaStrap who are kind of, they're all kind of villagey cats and they're all like kind of storytellers. And they're just there to like, help guide the story, kind of, if that makes sense. But Marc's been really helpful.

[15:02] Matty Franklin: I try, I do try. But yeah, it's kind of bringing out that sort of slightly more adventurous side in Bon Ballerina, more so than Demita, her kind of equal art, really. Demita's definitely kind of, I've asked the guys to sort of channel that sort of more like, I need to behave and be proper. But then Bon Ballerina, I'm actually doing a fantastic job at pushing those boundaries a little bit more with Macavity and with Rumtum. And yeah, just basically pushing those boundaries a little bit.

[15:30] Faith Stansfield: Yeah, I feel like with Alonzo, I've sort of, I feel like in the original Cats, he's quite like, he's like protective, isn't he? He's like, almost kind of like a leader sort of vibe. But I've sort of taken him in like, a bit more of a mischievous direction, like, like, you know, like in the scene just before Macavity comes out, I'm like, just sort of giving, giving it like, oh, I'm actually kind of quite interested in what Macavity's doing and stuff. Because obviously, I am part of the like, pirate tribe that they've put together. So I'm, I'm a little bit more like, like cunning and different, almost.

[16:13] Matty Franklin: And like, yeah, like in the opening number, genital songs for genital Cats, I feel like I, I'm sort of like, I'm sorry, I'm just thinking of how to put this. It's like, in the opening number, I'm, I'm sort of like running around quite a lot. I do a bit of everything everywhere. So I sort of have just taken Alonzo in the more direction of, he's cheeky rather than he's like, second in command to Monkestrap, if you know what I mean.

[16:47] Mike Abrams: Yeah, yeah. Okay. How does Grizabella fit in these tribes? Is she in one or is she still an outsider?

[16:54] Matty Franklin: Well, she's, she's kind of, well, I'll introduce it and then Mark can go into detail. She's on the edge of the mystical tribes, because she's kind of coming in from, sort of, from a distance. I'll pass over to Mark now.

[17:07] Marc Taylor: So yeah, so with the different tribes, we're trying to work definitely a nautical or sea, seafaring folk versus a land-based folk. And from the aspect that we've kind of bringing in, we're looking at, sort of, deuteronomy is, is sort of from, from the sea, from the ocean. So he's bringing that element to it. And Grizabella, we're kind of basing her more on the, the sort of folklore aesthetic of being from the land. What I've asked the guys to do, Tom and, and Isabelle is, is sort of imagine that, that they were effectively the, the previously the leaders of the whole Jellicle world within their, their relationship. So they're, they're well known to each other and, and friends and, and comrades as such as to the heads of the two aspects of the tribe.

[17:59] Marc Taylor: And I've asked those guys to sort of work on that dynamic between them, their relationship and, and, and commitment to each other. But then for whatever reason, and I haven't specified a reason that, that sort of, Isabelle is playing, Grizabella has sort of fallen from her, her position of authority effectively. And to bring her back into the fold as part of their relationship building through the show and, and then numbers through, through sort of Grizabella's entrance into what then the phenomenal sort of music from memory and that then acceptance.

[18:40] Marc Taylor: And yeah, so, so basically there's a, there's an empathy that I've asked Tom to bring into his performance to, to try and know, knowing the person who Grizabella was back in, in when they were leaders of the tribes that actually then he can open up an opportunity for her to try and come back to a sense of dignity and respect from the rest of the, the theme. So yeah, that's, that's kind of where we've come from. So, so long-winded way, but the two, two leaders of both tribes working together and Grizabella coming back into the fold throughout the, the theme.

[19:15] Mike Abrams: We're going to take a quick break and then we'll be back for more of The Wrong Cat Died. I want to come back to the tribes piece. I have a question about that, but I want to ask while we're on the like relationships and kind of concepts for Maddie and Faith, how much have you chatted with your castmates on like trying to piece together either things that are, there's not a lot stated. So it's like, there's obviously some relationships that are a little bit clearer of like, there's something going on, whether you want to play it as sisters or lovers or whatever, but there's a lot that are not just depending on where you're staged and who you're friends with, you know, offstage type of stuff happening. How much have you all discussed this as you're in this kind of rehearsal process to figure out some of those things and what are you maybe adding that aren't traditional cats relationships or thoughts or friendships?

[20:02] Matty Franklin: I mean, me and Matthew have like been speaking about this a lot. Obviously she's Bombalurina and I'm Alonso and we, I don't know if it's just that we're best friends outside of the show as well, but we've sort of come up with this thing called Bombalonso. Almost like, not that we're like, you know, in love or anything, but we are like quite close in the show. Like we spend quite a lot of time together on stage.

[20:34] Faith Stansfield: Yeah. But otherwise, I mean, like, Alonso, I just sort of base it around who I'm spending the most time with on stage. So like, I spend quite a lot of time with Monkstrap. So I almost have it in my head that me and him are like, best friends in the genital world and stuff. So yeah, that's, that's me.

[20:52] Matty Franklin: I like Bombalonso, that's good.

[20:58] Faith Stansfield: I think we saw it on TikTok at one point and I sent it to Matty and I was like, this is brilliant. Yeah, all of our contact information for each other is now Bombalonso.

[21:09] Marc Taylor: We've got another lovely relationship, I think, between sort of the mother cat who's taken charge of the three little kittens. So she's a cast member called Isabelle, and she has named herself Mouser, which is quite a Cornish kind of name. And she basically is in charge and looking after the kittens all the time and making sure they don't get into trouble. So that's super cute, that little relationship, how that's evolved. Mouser is a well-known Cornish cat. So there's a story theme of the Mouser cat, which is a place down in Cornwall, and Mouser is the name for that cat. So yeah, Isabelle has taken that on board and made that a real nice little character as the mother of her three or four little kittens that she has, keeping them in check and stuff.

[22:01] Matty Franklin: So yeah, that's great. Obviously, also me and Damita, which is helpful because me and Macy have been best friends since we were eight. Genuinely, I've grown up with that girl. And when we got cast as Damita and Bombalorina, we were on call to each other, and we were screaming at the top of our lungs. We were like, oh my god! And we've always wanted to be opposite each other. So obviously, that dynamic is fully there. We are best friends in real life, just as much as we are on stage.

[22:29] Mike Abrams: So is it friends or sisters?

[22:36] Matty Franklin: Friends. I don't think they're sisters. It's the number one example I use when people talk about this, because I still... I'll never forget. I made a joke about them being lovers on social media, and I had so many... It's the most responses I've had to any meme I've made in terms of just complete anger or finally somebody said it. And I put a poll up, and they said, are they best friends, lovers, or sisters? And even within different former cast members, I had them responding to me and then messaging me, being like, this is absolutely the way it is. And I'd be like, well, I just talked to a different Bombalorina who told me the opposite.

[23:14] Mike Abrams: So it's the example for me of this is what I love about the show is you have that freedom, because the relationship's kind of the same, whether you just play a little bit more flirty or a little bit more friendly or a little bit more family-based, but it doesn't change much. And so that's what's kind of cool about this show is it gives you all those. I think that's one of the beauties of how the show's written and formulated, because it's about individual characters.

[23:35] Matty Franklin: And looking back to the Old Possum's book, the rhymes and stuff and that poetry that was written by T.S. Eliot, it's about individual characters. And the performers in it, and that's something I wanted the kids to really take hold of, is this is your version of the show. Nobody else is going to do your Bombalorina, your Alonso, your Monco Strati, completely and utterly open to the performers to interpret. And I hope I've brought that true with the guidance and stuff I've been giving to the cast. And yeah, I think that's one of the beauties about the show, that it can be as diverse and as quirky as you want it to be.

[24:29] Matty Franklin: So that's great.

[24:35] Marc Taylor: Yeah, one of the things I'm quite enjoying at the moment, one of my favorite costumes, is the underrated beetle tattoo. So obviously in the main productions, there's nothing to write home about with the costumes. So we've gone full on. There's a tradition in Cornwall. We're similar to other Celtic nations. So you've got Scotland, Wales, Ireland. So we have a Cornish tartan. So well, we've got three Cornish tartans actually. And obviously, there's quite a big brass band and military kind of influence down in Cornwall as well. So we've got our beetle tattoo. It's basically young people, young beetles in tartan kilts and little tartan bows. And yeah, so we've gone full on tartan for that.

[25:53] Marc Taylor: And also in terms of Munkostrap, we've gone with the St. Pirren's tartan for him as being the main authority within the village. So we've got various kind of costume references for that from the village. So we love, I'm particularly fond of all the Cornish tartan that I can scatter throughout the production.

[25:59] Mike Abrams: I love how you've added these elements that are going to make it feel local without, again, changing a ton to still make it Cats. But I want to ask all of you, but especially Faith and Maddie, I'm curious for you two. This is such a unique show if you're not familiar with it and you've never seen it. And you're doing a handful of performances. So you're going to have friends and family. You're going to have support from people that maybe aren't theater people or Cats people. What prep are you giving to them? Or how are you preparing them for what they're going to see? Are you telling them anything? Are they going in blind? What is going to be your pitch to, hey, when you come see this, and by the way, this is what it's going to be?

[26:30] Faith Stansfield: I'm just sort of telling, I've told my parents, just sort of preparing.

[26:44] Matty Franklin: You might think it's a bit weird, but I don't know, because I feel like you have to be quite tasteful within theatre to fully understand the concept of Cats and what's going on throughout the show. So like, you know, not everyone is going to really understand things like the Heaviside Lair. So I just, yeah, I mean, I told my parents just like, be prepared to use your imagination through the show a little bit and sort of try yourself to understand it because it's not exactly sometimes like the whole story is fully explained and told. Like the naming of Cats, it's like a really confusing spot, isn't it? So I mean, they're all a little bit confusing. I think they're all a bit like, what now?

[27:29] Faith Stansfield: Yeah, I remember going to see it for the first time. I didn't have a scooby doo what was going on. I just really enjoyed it because the dance was great, the music was great. And then you just started to piece it together as you became a bit of a fan of the music and dance. Then you started to dig a little bit more deeply into why it's a fun show. And I mean, it's not so dissimilar to things like Six these days, is it? Where it's kind of them talking about their characters and doing a song about their characters. It's just one way of doing a musical that is slightly different to the storytelling ones that have a plot to them. There's very limited plot to Cats and it is all about the characters. And that's why it's a great show for the class to really dig deep and enjoy.

[28:20] Matty Franklin: Well, my mother is a big fan of Cats. I can't lie to you. She walked out of the 2019 movie and went, that was quite good.

[28:29] Faith Stansfield: Are we allowed to mention the movie? Is the movie a thing we can talk about?

[28:34] Matty Franklin: We can if we want to get into it. I have hot takes on it. I don't know if we've got enough time. We really don't know if we have enough time.

[28:41] Faith Stansfield: Yeah.

[28:42] Matty Franklin: Yeah, she walked out. Obviously, I've been in Cats before that. My whole family loves Cats. I don't know how, but they were like, I love it. It's Les Mis and Cats. Those are her favourites. And we walked out of the 2019 movie and she was like, Taylor Swift was amazing. That's a great casting. And then we watched it recently and she goes, what was I thinking? That was really bad. But yeah, my family loves Cats. And my friends, I've had to be like, it's a bit wacky, but you'll love it.

[29:14] Faith Stansfield: I talked about this recently with somebody on this show. I don't even know if it's come out yet or not because they kind of blur. I had the same reaction when I first saw it. I was like, what am I watching? I didn't know anything. I barely knew "Memory." I didn't know any of the plot lines and I was not ready. I just moved to New York. I was not ready for that experience. You kind of get it. But now my favourite thing to do is sit in these regional theatres or theatres that aren't on Broadway and then listen to people around me at intermission, trying to piece together what's happening and then trying to fill in the blanks. Because I had this conversation with a very big Cats fan not long ago about how this plot's actually so clearly stated in the beginning about like, you're coming together once a year to make the Jellicle choice.

Here's this, here's our leader. It's actually as clearly stated as you can get in the first like 15 minutes. But then it's just so wildly wacky after that that you're kind of trying to figure out why Grizabella's peeking in and what's going on and all the other stuff and all the different relationships. But it doesn't really matter because it's a dance show and great music and it's just amazing to watch. But I do kind of feel like the 14 versions that I saw as an adult later on, for the first time, having seen plenty of theatre before in my life, I can't imagine someone who's not a theatre person or used to the theatre walking into having this being one of their first experiences. Because it is just, it is a lot going on. Especially if you're doing the pre-show. Like before you even start you've got a cat, you know, crawling around you and messing with you a little bit. Like that's a lot to walk into.

[31:04] Matty Franklin: Are you gonna mess with friends? Do you have people picked out that you're ready to go out with?

[31:09] Faith Stansfield: Those guys might have. It's not been directed yet. But yeah, that's where we're heading into rehearsals now. But yeah, I think one of the cool things, I think you've touched on a few things, is that it's a hugely recognisable song musically. People do, especially if you're from the theatre world, but also choreographically as well. We're working with a local choreographer who's professional and he's also been cast in Cats previously. So Ben Diat, he's working really hard to actually make this different and he's bringing his own interpretations from his experience performing in Cats to actually direct his movement choices and things like that. And the aesthetic that we're trying to bring is like the equinox of the Jellicle Moon and using some of the movements and some of the pictures that we're creating choreographically are to do with like the tide coming in and being pulled by the moon.

And the guys have got some fantastic moves. We're very lucky that we have a strong sort of ensemble and company that are all strong dancers. So he can really get creative with that and create some fantastic pictures and stuff like that. So it's really, really well been put across really well.

[32:32] Kirsten Edwards: Before we go to Rapid Fire, I want to hear what are you most excited for? Like what's the part that you're looking most forward to from this show?

[32:40] Matty Franklin: I think my favourite number in the show is definitely "Gumby Cat." I really enjoy "Gumby Cat." I mean, I'm one of the tapping Beatles, so I think that's definitely almost like the dance break that I'm most excited for within the show.

[32:56] Faith Stansfield: Okay. I mean, I'm just really excited about seeing it all come together because obviously Mark and I have been working a little bit independently on the set and the costume. And yes, we've been speaking to each other, but actually the physical fabrication of our Jellicle world is one that I haven't visually seen yet. So we've got this great big moon. He's talked about an engine house. Do you know what an engine house is?

[33:25] Matty Franklin: I do not.

[33:26] Faith Stansfield: So it's like from the old mining industry, there were like these buildings with like a big chimney on them. And they're often situated just right on the headlands of the coast. And so he's been talking about having an engine house highlighted by the moon. He's also got scent coming through the auditorium, sea scent, that he's ordered, which I'm really excited about. I was going to revert to just bringing loads of seaweed into containers underneath the underneath. But I think there's health and safety restrictions around that.

[34:04] Matty Franklin: Yeah, no, I think so.

[34:08] Kirsten Edwards: Sorry, go ahead, Kirsten.

[34:09] Faith Stansfield: Sorry. And just so the whole for me, the whole bringing everything together, bringing all the tribes together and all the costumes from the different tribes, bringing all the elements of Cornwall in, it's just really exciting for me. I'm very excited. And it's my first costume gig as well.

[34:26] Matty Franklin: So exciting.

[34:30] Kirsten Edwards: You go, Matt.

[34:31] Matty Franklin: Matty, you go.

[34:32] Matty Franklin: Okay. I love Tugger and Gumby Cat. Those two numbers go into each other. And that's my favourite part of the show, fully.

[34:41] Kirsten Edwards: Okay.

[34:42] Matty Franklin: Very Bombalonzo of you two.

[34:44] Kirsten Edwards: Absolutely.

[34:44] Matty Franklin: What can I say?

[34:46] Kirsten Edwards: Absolutely.

[34:48] Matty Franklin: Very me.

[34:49] Marc Taylor: I think for me, it's more of a sort of a casting my memory back. I would, I'm waiting, I'm excited to see the audience coming in and into this experience we're trying to create with the set. And Kirsten alluded that there are, I want it to feel as if they're walking into a broken down, old working industrial harbour. So there's going to be low fog, there's going to be scent machines that are bringing in sort of that aspect when you go to the beach or you go to something and you can smell the ocean, you can smell the seaweed and the fish and bring that aesthetic in and walking into, so the guys that have had that experience previously, just briefly on it, going into that theatre and going, okay, this isn't just a black box stood up and on this beautiful cross arch.

I want the audience to feel this aesthetic and this odd vibe that they're walking into a situation, not just to come and watch a show for the next hour and 15 minutes. I want them to experience it with it. And I hopefully with the pre-show, the cats and the guys can get involved and bring that across as well. So I'm excited to see the audience's reaction to it.

[36:13] Faith Stansfield: You need to set up something to where you can watch when they walk in, because I think that's like such a fun part of having the Junkyard is that you, it's one of the few shows where you walk in and you're in the show before it starts. Like it's really, you're immersed in a different way. And it sounds like you have that with the scent and all this other stuff coming as well, which is fun when you can get to look around and, you know, not just read a playbill type of thing. Like you have the ability to really get your mind into that space.

[36:44] Matty Franklin: We're going to take a quick break and then we'll be back for more of The Wrong Cat Died.

[36:50] Kirsten Edwards: Okay. Let's do some rapid fire. So each one, I want you to answer this. You're answering this as yourself, not your character, not your role, just as you. So if you could go on for one night, any cat, doesn't matter. If you could do it, sing it, male, female, whatever. Who do you want to perform as?

[37:02] Matty Franklin: Oh my God, Tugger. Straight in, Matty. I love it. Straight in.

[37:09] Faith Stansfield: Dreamy. I think for me, either Rumpelteazer or Mr. Mistoffelees, I think would be really fun to play.

[37:15] Matty Franklin: I'm a big Skimbleshanks fan. So I think that just the upbeat nature of that song, I just could sing it all day long.

[37:21] Marc Taylor: For me, for my sort of, my character and who I'd be is definitely Mungo Jerry. It's that sort of cheeky messing around, never fully concentrating, but actually always, always aware. I'm just, just trying to get all the people there to play along with me.

[37:44] Kirsten Edwards: Yeah, that'd be good. Mungo.

[37:47] Faith Stansfield: Okay. Favourite and least favourite cat. So who's the one that you want to hang out with and which one would bug you to hang out with?

[37:53] Matty Franklin: Is it biased to say Bombalurina is my favourite cat? I'd want to hang out with her. She seems like a great time.

[37:57] Faith Stansfield: Okay. Least favourite. I'm a Grizabella hater. I'll say it. I'm a Grizabella hater.

[38:03] Matty Franklin: I think my favourite, my cat that I would choose to like be best friends with, I think, I think also maybe Bombalurina or if not, Tugger. They just both seem like a fun time, to be honest. And the cat that I wouldn't choose, probably like someone like, like the Korica Pat and Tan Smile, maybe. I think I'd be a bit like weirded out by them.

[38:32] Faith Stansfield: Yeah, they're a lot. They're a lot.

[38:36] Matty Franklin: Um, I guess I'm, yeah, I'd like to hang out with Bombalurina as well. Or Tugger, either of them. I like a good time too. Um, but least favourite, maybe. I, yeah, I'm scared of Macavity. I'm not really kind of keen to spend much time with a guy that kind of wrecks ships and causes people to drown. He's as bad as Davy Jones, isn't he?

[39:05] Marc Taylor: Who'd I like to hang out with? For me, I think I've got a lot of respect for Gus. I think I could sit and chat with Gus for quite a long time. So Gus, hanging out with, definitely. Who would I want to be? These guys, I'm not sure if the guys will know this, but I'm, I'm not a Buster for Jones fan. It isn't in our version because it's a condensed version and Buster for Jones is one character that's been taken away from the full version. So, but yeah, I'm not a Buster for Jones fan.

[39:35] Matty Franklin: That's actually a very common answer, which is kind of crazy that, because Buster for Jones is not in the condensed version. And a lot of times it's also the Gus character performing both. Thankfully, the Jellicle Ball version is made, kind of given Buster for a little bit of a renaissance because Nora performs in a very unique way and a very different, it's a very different story arc in a way. And they get, they get their moment too in the categories. But okay. Favourite song in the show?

[40:02] Matty Franklin: It's got to be the Rum Tum Tugger, hasn't it?

[40:06] Matty Franklin: I think it's really like, it's just really upbeat and fun. Either that, or I do see Skimbleshanks as quite a good song as well. And I also like, because of all the harmonies and everything in "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats," I really like that for the big sound that it makes. Yeah, and I think, again, I like, so for me, it's "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats." And the guys are doing fantastically, because we have split the six-bar harmony on that. So yeah, the guys, they're working really well on that. But also for me, just for the fun and audacity of it, and the technical aspects of "Skimbleshanks," for me, is going to be fun. Creating a train on stage is always interesting to head around.

[41:00] Kirsten Edwards: Well, I was going to say, are you doing a boat or are you doing a train?

[41:03] Matty Franklin: Oh, we can do spoilers, can't we? No, what we have planned is there's a derelict boat on stage, as in just like an eight-foot sort of dinghy type thing. And that will become the basis. It's going to be flipped over and it's on a truck and the kids can move it around. And we're building the boat from wrecked aspects of maritime. So we've got boat tools, we've got life buoys, we've got massive oil tankers that are cut down and made for the wheels. So yeah, it's going to be quite fun and quite interesting to see how the cats are going to cope with this in the next couple of weeks. We're rehearsing.

[41:46] Matty Franklin: Yeah. OK. I always ask one fun one. And since I know you have to add some character names when you have more characters than there are in there. So if you were adding your own cat character name, who would you name your cat or how would you name your cat?

[42:01] Kirsten Edwards: I think I'd give my cat like some kind of maybe floral name. I can't think of something like on the spot, but something kind of floral. Not that I'd like name myself like Daisy, because that's boring. But like, you know, something a bit like mystically floral, if you know what I mean.

[42:18] Matty Franklin: OK. I don't even know. I think I'd just name myself like Nerdy. Like, I think I'd do a pun. I don't, I can't think of a pun though. I don't know. You can have something with a meow. You can put something into the meow.

[42:30] Kirsten Edwards: Yeah. Something really dumb. Like you laugh every time you hear it. You're like, who's named their cat that? That's bad.

[42:35] Matty Franklin: OK. OK. I'd probably go for something like Morvana or Sonara. One of these kind of mermaid-y type Cornish kind of names and be kind of a mermaid-y cat or a sea princess-y cat. Something like that.

[42:55] Kirsten Edwards: I see. I love the naming your pets as human name thing. So it'd be something like Bob or just a random Dave.

[43:08] Matty Franklin: My cat called Dave or something. Something random. Yeah. It would be something like that for me. Or something ginger-based, kind of outwardly, with the beard and my colouring, definitely ginger-based.

[43:22] Kirsten Edwards: Ginger Bob. Let's go Ginger Bob.

[43:24] Matty Franklin: Ginger Bob.

[43:25] Kirsten Edwards: Ginger Ross. I think there was a bestseller about someone called a ginger cat called Bob.

[43:29] Matty Franklin: There was a cat called Bob. The only ginger cat. I always think of Oliver because I did an Oliver growing up that was a red-haired cat and everything too, named after the musical too, which is what's kind of funny for it.

[43:43] Kirsten Edwards: OK. Most important question. I have argued in this podcast at length that I don't think Grizabella is the right Jellicle choice. I want to hear who is your Jellicle choice and why. And then I'm going to spend at least a minute or two trying to convince you to take one of your nights and not send Grizabella up to the Heaviside Lair in your production. But first, tell me who your Jellicle choice is and why.

[44:03] Faith Stansfield: I've been thinking about this for so long. I think they should have sent Macavity to the Heaviside Lair. And I think that because Macavity is like the most evil person in the world. He disguises himself as Old Deuteronomy, I think, so that he can almost grant himself the ascension, because he knows that he's just going to get worse and worse and worse until he ends the world. And so I just think, yeah, I think in the Heaviside Lair, all goodness is injected into him so that he comes back as a good cat.

[44:37] Matty Franklin: I'm going to say a hot take. I think it should have been Demita. Demita's got some issues. She's got some PTSD going on. I think she needs another shot, like, ASAP.

[44:50] Kirsten Edwards: I think that's a really good point, actually, because it's the transition, well, on your take of whatever the Heaviside Lair is, it's the transition, it's that development into new life. And yeah, I think Demita's a good shout, but for me, for me, it's Gus. I've got to give Gus the heads up, to be fair, he's experienced in seeing the world.

[45:07] Matty Franklin: I didn't expect this. I'm Team Gus. What is stopping you, besides maybe never being allowed to do an Andrew Lloyd Webber show in the future at your theatre, from just sending Gus one night?

[45:28] Kirsten Edwards: Could we send him as well?

[45:29] Matty Franklin: Yeah, together. Get two for one, two for one offer. So here's my actual, like, an actual question about it, because to me, and maybe this is an interpretation and maybe there's some character aspects to this that you have to adjust, but a big part of why I made the joke originally was because the Grizabellas I saw were not old. Like, they weren't that old of performers. And so, like, they're brilliant performers I saw at Broadway first, and like, these people are like putting the true emotion into it. But I'm looking and I'm going, like, all right, like, they got some life left. Like, they can spend a year with their family being re-accepted, and so, whereas Gus looks like they're about to die, you know, like, Gus doesn't look like they're going to make it a year.

So that's always been my argument, is send Gus in that moment. When you're doing a young adult version, you have a teenager playing Grizabella. So is there any, like, part of how you have to, like, almost coach to or, like, direct to that this doesn't look like that this, you know, this kid is not going to be at the end of their life, but needs to showcase that they're ready for this, like, transitional period because of the hardships in their life. So how do you, how are you approaching that?

[46:41] Kirsten Edwards: I think that you've kind of hit the nail on the head a little bit, for want of a better expression. I think from a direct, from my perspective, from directing, it's that journey that Grizabella has taken to have that fall from grace, which is what I talked about a little bit earlier, that actually she has gone through that hardship and she had then been accepted back into the tribe for that choice to be made. I'm not saying I agree with Grizabella being the choice, but actually for what we've tried to create is Grizabella has had that difficult journey that she's then risen from, effectively. And to go to the Heaviside Lair, for a cat to have another life, it's about taking things forward and making that next step a positive change, and that's tried to be what I've walked through the storyline of Grizabella tracking this, is actually she is at that transitional stage. But again, I'm not saying I agree or disagree, it's how it's been written. But yeah, we might be able to...

[47:54] Matty Franklin: Wow. The best part about being a director is you have the ability to change this.

[47:59] Kirsten Edwards: I'm not sure the licensing would agree.

[48:01] Matty Franklin: So just throwing that out there. I'm just throwing that out there. There is an opportunity ahead of you right now to make this a reality and you can film it and you'll have the biggest supporter. If it's your theatre, I think a non-profit, you'll have a donation coming your way from the podcast. Let's say from our KEC and our draft, because we're going into our sort of final phase of intensive rehearsal into show week. So let's say we can probably film one of those with a feckled draft and send Gus into bed.

[48:35] Kirsten Edwards: OK, OK. You know what? At this point, I'll take it. It's the closest I've gotten anybody to doing it. I did have a director that has taken some liberties in the past with some changes and got a hand slap. So they definitely don't do that anymore. But I was close to getting them to do that before, which was like, again, the furthest I've been down that path of getting somebody to do it. I think the only way it's going to happen is if I can fund and like somehow get the Andrew Lloyd Webber group to let me do a reimagined.

[49:08] Matty Franklin: Yeah, because I want to I want an audience vote, honestly, is my dream is I want the audience to vote on it at the end, which is so fun in, you know, like in all these different tours and productions where you're in different cities and different people in the cast. I think that you could you could literally have those sort of devices and a tally of the groups through the show who could be what I mean, when we're talking mega sort of tech spend now. But actually what we're doing is voting.

[49:39] Kirsten Edwards: Oh, no, no, not at all.

[49:41] Matty Franklin: Not at all. I have this all thought out. You can you can you can QR code it at the beginning and you can have it up through. You can have it as a live app. That is that would take you, especially in the world, it would take you 20 minutes to code that whole thing. And you could have a running tally there in the back and you don't need anything but a person to have their phone, which they all have with them anyway. So this is very doable. I've thought a lot about this.

[50:02] Kirsten Edwards: We could definitely this is. And and I also know as a director, here's how you here's how you finish it, because unless Old Deuteronomy gets picked, then anybody else, whoever you send up, Grizabella just goes into their spot and then you sing the "Addressing of Cats." So like even from that standpoint, it's not that hard unless Old Deuteronomy wins. If that happens, then you have to figure out how the "Addressing of Cats" is sung, at least partially from Old Deuteronomy, maybe in the sky. But it could be like a voice of God type of song if that is the winner. So this is all very doable, all very, very doable.

[50:40] Matty Franklin: I actually do think that Grizabella, I think Grizabella should have had a chance in the tribe, though, like she instantly died. Like one year, literally. She should go next year.

[50:51] Kirsten Edwards: Exactly. I feel like she should have a chance to be accepted. They didn't even accept her. They just sent her away. That's my that's truly my biggest piece of it is like it's not. And, you know, we were posting there's like a lot of Grizabella's will sometimes argue against it. And I'm like, my argument's not against your redemption story at all. It's the opposite. I think you deserve more. And that you should be re-accepted and have your time with your family. So I'm glad that you all agree. I like that. I've got some different answers. And if I'll take a tech or dress version of this, send me again, send me some footage. I will blast it out to the world.

[51:33] Kirsten Edwards: Happy to. Speaking of social, how can people stay in touch with you all the theater, all the different things? I know you'll do more than just Cats, too.

[51:42] Matty Franklin: Yeah, so we we're quite active on Instagram and Facebook, Boom Theatre. And basically we've got a website as well. BoomTheatre.uk. No co in there. And yeah, we've got Wonderland coming up in October, which is an amazing Frank Wildhorn epic musical. So we've got that running a little bit concurrently at the moment. But we're kind of full on Cats now for the until the 16th of August. But yeah, that's how to keep it. And do follow us. Do follow us on social media, because we've got this little competition now between now and the performances where all the kids have to do loads of social media. So I'm really hoping they're going to deliver on that.

[52:30] Kirsten Edwards: Matty, Faith.

[52:32] Matty Franklin: Oh, hold on, Faith got us on this podcast.

[52:36] Kirsten Edwards: That's it. Faith's pulled through this month. Thank you all for joining and coming on the podcast. I really appreciate it. This has been so fun. And this will be after. So I don't know if you're archival footaging it, if there's any ways people can see. If not, go back because I've already seen on that. They've done a bunch of really cool even rehearsal stuff on your social media. So there's a lot of content for if you see this and hear this later and you want to learn about the Cornish twist version of your show, you'll have a lot of that out there. So keep posting that stuff and we'll thank you for coming on.

[53:07] Matty Franklin: Thank you. And thanks, everyone, for listening to this episode of The Wrong Cat Died, the podcast breakdown, the cast, to follow along, subscribe and Apple podcast, Spotify, podcast, also social media, The Wrong Cat Died, check out the WrongCatDied.com.