Thursday, 27 April 2006 : Commie Cat Theatre Hits Broadway

For those of you lucky (or unlucky) enough to live in the Big Apple, a great show has opened on Broadway called "Moscow Cats Theatre." It's produced and performed by Yuri Kuklachev (koo-kla-CHOV), who created the show almost 30 years ago. The production became a staple in Moscow, earning the troupe their own permanent theater in the affluent Kutuzovski neighborhood.

Last year Kuklachev and his feline performers were invited to do a stint in a small New York City theater, for which they were quickly snapped up by the Broadway mafia, and "invited to stay a while," namely at Lambs Theatre (between 6th Avenue and Broadway).

Here's an excerpt from Eric Beckinson's review on CurtainUp.com:

"If you'd like to see a cat doing a handstand on the palm of a man's hand or a cat that jumps twenty feet and lands squarely on a platform the size of a tea tray, there's a show in town for you. It comes all the way from Russia..."

I highly recommend shelling out for the tickets if you live in the area, or if you're just visiting NYC. The show is planned to run until the end of 2006, but Kuklachev, in an interview, stated that he's perfectly ready to stick around for a couple more years. (For those of us left in Moscow, don't sweat -- the Cat Theater on Kutuzovski is still operating full-time, thanks to Yuri's son and theatrical heir, Dmitriy, and the larger part of their rotating troupe of cat performers.)

In some of the reviews of Moscow Cats Theatre I've read, the reviewers were a little put off by some stunts they considered "dangerous." Jesus. This is EXACTLY one of the reasons I'm recommending you see this cat show above all others -- simply because it wasn't created in Amerika's cotton-wool-wrapped, PC swamp of a "culture." What you'll see is creative and fresh, aimed to amuse and amaze the whole family. Also, I've read enough candid interviews with Kuklachev, and I'm personally convinced that he adores his cats, and all-in-all is a loving, gentle, and funny person. So to all you PC cocksuckers out there who piss your panties when you see a cat climb a 20 foot pole, I say "thanks -- because of people like you, there's less freedom in Amerika now than in Russia, you assholes."

Rant's over... here's a continued excerpt from Beckinson's review, particularly for you, the MCHY mob:

"It's amusing to see the cats harassing Kuklachev by jumping on him, refusing to stay in a box or in a pot or at the top of a pole, routinely swatting at him and generally disrespecting him ... In a running gag, one particularly independent cat swats at him whenever he approaches."

Hateful cats and humor? That's what it's all ABOUT, baby!

-Alex

That is all. - Jim