MCCANDLESS TOWNSHIP, Pa.,None — No school in the area boasts a more complete theater experience than the dedicated and very well supported theater department at North Allegheny Senior High School. The directing team consists of Artistic Director Ernest Pontiere, Stage Director Sarah Krushinski, Choreographer Andrea Rong, two vocal directors in Penny Miller and Lisa Pontiere, Movement Coordinator Shaun Rolly, Stage and Lighting Designer David Patterson, Sound Engineer Steve Graham, Set Designer David Patterson, Collegiate Assistant Director Alexa Devlin and Student Directors Kaitlyn Jones, Larissa Steeb, and Kimberly Watson. That's more than many mid sized professional theaters.
If you are a parent with a child who loves the theater, you really should consider a move to North Allegheny. But you probably already knew that. According to Artistic Director Ernest Pontiere, "When people who are moving in from out of state or from other areas of Pittsburgh, they come to look at North Allegheny. They look at academics, they look at sports and they look at music and the arts. In my choir, I know (students') parents have moved here because of the music department. I know this for a fact."
The depth of the directing team allows the kind of personal, hands-on attention that other schools and directors, can only wish for. It's enough to make the agonizing drive down Perry highway worth every prolonged red light. In addition to the acting, singing and dance training, the actors are trained to apply their own extravagant cat make-up and hairstyles.
North Allegheny Senior High School's production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Cats" is a beautifully performed rendition of the long running Broadway (by way of London) musical. The first rate production values combined with the extraordinary physical skills of the ensemble and the talent in the orchestra made for four sell out performances. Not quite the 18 years the show ran on Broadway, but hey, there's college to attend.
While the music, for the most part, isn't particularly difficult to sing, "Cats" is, without question, the most physically taxing musical ever created. "It's all about the physicality," says Pontiere. "Once the downbeat starts the show never ever stops." The show opens with the entire cast crawling, jumping, prowling their way to the stage from all directions, and if you don't think crawling 100 feet on thinly carpeted concrete flooring takes effort, give it a try.
"Memory," the best known and most loved song, is very tricky because it lingers for long stretches in the low range before the dramatic final stanzas that require both a tremendous volume and emotional delivery. Without both, the song takes a very whiney tone. Sophomore Keaton Micucci handles the music very admirably, leaving the capacity crowd murmuring in well deserved appreciation.
Also deserving of individual praise are: Kimberly Corbett and Marielena Balouris as the comical Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, Alexandra Lenihan as the ubiquitous Bombalurina; Nick Sciarappa as Asparagus; Kimberly Watson as Jemima; Rita McCann as Jennyanydots; Carolyn Duffet in the very physically demanding role (even for "Cats") of Victoria; Apoorv Dhir as Rum Tum Tugger; and Jordan Wall as the sinister Macavity. But more than any other show, "Cats" is a cast performance. The actors have to be acting like cats every moment while on stage, especially when they aren't doing particularly anything at all.
"The hardest part was probably getting (the actors) out of their comfort zone," says choreographer Andrea Ronk. "They have to react to each other and they have to be over animated. Once we gave them about a dozen things, they got on Youtube and watched videos and really researched what cats do. Watch the background. You see cats playing with their paws and tails and ears."
This is very true. Watching the actors pretend to casually wash themselves while desperately trying to catch their breath after one of the many exhausting numbers would serve to inspire even the most grizzled of theater felines.
"Cats" can be extremely befuddling for those not familiar with T.S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats." Old Possum was a nickname given to Eliot by fellow poet and writer Ezra Pound. That's how "inside" these poems are. They were not meant to tell a connected story. The plot of the musical, such as it is, is purely an invention. It's really much more of a revue than anything else. In fact, the show's best known song "Memory", was added very late to the original production, and the stage rumors (which are always, always true!) are that it wasn't to be sung by Grizabella. Only injury to another actor shifted the song to the character.
Without a familiarity with the source material, the nonsense words that make up much of Eliot's lyrics can leave the audience as bewildered as those who wondered why Jimi Hendrix sang "'scuse me, while I kiss this guy." Printing the lyrics in the program would probably have been a good idea considering the audience of grandparents and children, copyright laws be damned.