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The Wrong Cat Died: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Broadway Podcast Network
Grizabella was the wrong cat to die. After seeing CATS the Musical for the first time in July of 2016, podcast host Mike Abrams was filled with a whirlwind of emotions. He was amused, confused, and a little angry. Almost exactly three years later when the 2019 CATS movie trailer came out, Mike had enough. It was time to speak his truth – Grizabella was the wrong Cat to Die at the Jellicle Ball. In this podcast, Mike interviews CATS cast members, CATS superfans, CATS haters, and explores the backstories of the Jellicle characters all to make a case for why they were more worthy to ascend to the Heaviside Layer than Grizabella.
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- 3 days ago56 min
Ep278 - Shelby Griswold, Understudy in CATS: The Jellicle Ball & Anne of Cleves in Six North America Tour
“I was just so along for the ride.” This episode features Shelby Griswold who was an understudy in Cats: The Jellicle Ball at the PAC and is heading on the US National Tour of Six as Anne of Cleves. Shelby describes learning ballroom fundamentals, navigating improv versus set staging for a commercial musical, and creating her own movement material when covering tracks like Victoria. She shares how performing in revealing costumes and receiving an audience email about representation shifted her confidence and approach to work. Plus, Shelby and Mike cast the Six queens as Cats. 09:01 Casting Chaos 12:22 Learning Ballroom 20:42 Walking the Categories 32:36 Joining Six Tour 48:11 Rapid Fire Check out Shelby on Social Media: @shelby__griswold Check out Shelby's website: www.shelbygriswold.com Check out Six on Social Media: @sixustour Check out Six's website: sixonbroadway.com/ustour Produced by: Alan Seales & Broadway Podcast Network Social Media: @TheWrongCatDied Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 1 weeks ago59 min
Ep277 - Anne Beck, Director & Choreographer at 2026 Beef & Boards Production
“ I have the characters who have a named song be their characters the entire show. And every time Munkustrap announces ‘the cat who will now be reborn and go back to a different Jellicle life’ I have those eight players stand up.” This episode features Anne Beck, director and choreographer of 2026 Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre’s CATS in Indianapolis and a former Bombalurina. Anne recounts first seeing CATS at the Winter Garden, joining a 2012 Gateway Playhouse production with Ken Page, and learning extensive character backstories from Jacob Brent through rehearsal “tea time.” She explains how she stages CATS by starting day one with feline movement and story, emphasizing clarity, forgiveness, chosen family, and Grizabella’s throughline. She contrasts directing in large venues like Ball State with the intimate Beef & Boards space, notes the show’s fast rehearsal demands, and shares favorite roles, songs, and performance details for first-time audience members. 01:15 First Encounter with CATS 03:15 Playing Bombalurina 16:25 Beef And Boards Immersion 21:05 Prepping First Timers 29:48 Relationships And Family Tree 35:45 Fast Rehearsal Process 37:01 Dinner Theater Audience 45:13 Rapid Fire Check out Beef & Boards on Instagram: @beefandboards Check out Beef & Boards' website: www.beefandboards.com Produced by: Alan Seales & Broadway Podcast Network Social Media: @TheWrongCatDied Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 2 weeks ago58 min
Ep276 - Brett Evans, Kermit MaFrog
“I felt like I owed it to the performers in The Jellicle Ball. Just because they changed the way I look at the world so I wanted people to have that experience.” This episode features Brett Evans, known online as Kermit MAFrog, to discuss becoming a CATS fan after initially viewing it as a “punishment,” discovering how different each production can be, and falling in love with the Jellicle Ball’s cast, intimacy, and audience interaction. Brett explains how he shifted from pursuing theatre to writing a poem a day for 10 years, then created his Jellicle Ball tribute videos to spotlight performers. He shares how his content began with viral Patrick Mahomes-as-Kermit sports videos before evolving into Muppets-meets-musical-theatre parodies. 05:33 Why The Jellicle Ball Hit Different 06:41 Poem a Day Origins 14:57 A Poem for The Wrong Cat Died 25:12 Kermit MaFrog Begins 28:12 Muppets Meet Musicals 36:51 Muppets Cats Dream Cast 43:51 Guilty Pleasure Showtunes 46:13 Rapid Fire Check out Brett & Kermit on Social Media: @brettevansmafrog Produced by: Alan Seales & Broadway Podcast Network Social Media: @TheWrongCatDied Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 3 weeks ago53 min
Ep275 - Dominik Hees, Rum Tum Tugger in German Tent Tour
“Chrissie Cartwright asked me to do a pirouette and I didn’t know what it was.” This episode features Dominik Hees who played the Rum Tum Tugger on the German Tent Tour and later in the Vienna revival of CATS. Dominik shares how he was cast despite no formal training and initially not knowing basic dance terms, receiving private dance lessons, and learning to sustain eight or nine shows a week in extreme tent temperatures. He shares how choreography and staging were adapted to his strengths, why the role evolved for him from a boy-band energy to a sexier, stiller, more mature performance, and how working with Chrissie Cartwright, Gillian Lynne, and Trevor Nunn shaped different interpretations. He describes changing onstage relationships with Mistoffelees, Grizabella, Munkustrap, and Bombalurina over time, shares favorite characters and songs, and weighs who should be the Jellicle choice. Be sure to see him in his upcoming Beauty and the Beast production. 04:28 From Rock to Musicals 07:07 Learning the Jellicle Ball 12:47 Finding Tugger’s Story 26:59 Parenthood Changes Tugger 28:08 Tugger Relationship Map 36:31 Rapid Fire Check out Dominik on Instagram: @dominik.hees Produced by: Alan Seales & Broadway Podcast Network Social Media: @TheWrongCatDied Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Oct 6, 20261h 10m
Ep274 - Mark van Beelen, Mungojerrie on 2006 Dutch Tour
“Gillian Lynne’’s version of CATS is very much a ballet. So if you really pay attention to her choreography, you see so many connections of why different cats respond differently to each other.” This episode features Mark van Beelen, who played Mungojerrie and covered Munkustrap in the 2006 Dutch tour of CATS. Mark recalls seeing CATS at age 10 at Amsterdam’s Royal Theatre Carré in an immersive, in-the-round setup that sparked his musical-theater passion, then traces his training at Fontys Dance Academy and learning Cats choreography from original Dutch cast creatives. He shares a standout audition story where he was nearly forgotten for final callbacks, then impressed the team by adapting to a revised Mungojerrie & Rumpleteazer song version. The conversation explores CATS’’ evolving choreography, music revisions, and modern licensing that encourages new concepts, including opinions on the 2016 Broadway revival and anticipation for a museum-themed Netherlands production. 00:49 Seeing CATS As A Kid 10:04 Audition Chaos and Callback 14:20 Song Variations 21:23 Why CATS Gets Reimagined 33:22 Building Characters in Rehearsal 39:36 Macavity Scare Story 41:00 Tradition vs New Versions 45:28 Rapid Fire Check out Mark on Instagram: @badass.vegan.unicorn Produced by: Alan Seales & Broadway Podcast Network Social Media: @TheWrongCatDied Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Sep 29, 202653 min
From The Vault: Emma Sofia, Skimbleshanks in Cats: The Jellicle Ball & Not Victoria in 2016 CATS
From The Vault: Originally released on February 10, 2021, this was episode 35 with Emma Sofia discussing her very fun audition story for the 2016 Broadway Revival of CATS which was long before her time as Skimbleshanks on Broadway in the Jellicle Ball. "My goal was not to be Victoria; it was just to be an a**hole and wear a white unitard." This episode dives into one of the grandest CATS audition you'll ever hear. Emma Sofia (Caymares), who starred on Broadway as Veruca Salt in the original cast of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and as Wendy in the original cast of Finding Neverland, discusses her infamous audition and how she always stays true to herself. Check Emma out on ABC's new sitcom Call Your Mother. Check out Emma on Social Media: @emmasofiaokay Check out CATS The Jellicle Ball: catsthejellicleball.com Produced by: Alan Seales & Broadway Podcast Network Social Media: @TheWrongCatDied Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Sep 22, 202650 min
Ep273 - John Anker Bow, Gus on US National Tour 6 & Mr. Van Daan in Slam Frank
“In a 4 show weekend, I did Peter, Bustopher, Deuteronomy, Gus, Deuteronomy.” This episode features John Anker Bow who played Gus on the US National Tour 6 of CATS and is returning in Slam Frank: The Musical, opening off-Broadway in October. John recounts first seeing CATS as a child on Broadway and later on VHS, his path from studying English and doing school musicals to working in theater education and auditioning professionally, and how CATS grew on him during a two-year tour shaped by original creative lineage. John then discusses Slam Frank’s satirical, edgy, timely humor, its sold-out downtown run, and its expanded Off-Broadway staging. 02:07 Choosing Theater Career Path 04:42 Auditioning CATS Tour 12:48 CATS Lore 16:08 Choreo Revival Athlete Talk 18:06 Wild Tour Stories 21:18 What To Expect at Slam Frank 40:39 Rapid Fire Check out John on Instagram: @johnankerbow Check out Flop of the Heap Podcast on Instagram: @flopoftheheap Check out Slam Frank The Musical on Social Media: @slamfrankmusical Check out Slam Frank The Musical's website: www.slamfrankmusical.com Produced by: Alan Seales & Broadway Podcast Network Social Media: @TheWrongCatDied Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Sep 15, 202646 min
Ep272 - Antoine L. Smith, Swing on US National Tour 5 & Berry Gordy in MJ The Musical
“CATS really showed me how important it was to be a team player and how to take care of each other on stage and off stage as much as you can.” This episode features Antoine L. Smith who was a swing on the US. National Tour 5 of CATS. Hear Antoine discuss his lifelong connection to the show after watching the VHS daily in college and becoming inspired by Ken Page’s Old Deuteronomy. Antoine describes auditioning via open call, joining a brand-new tour cast, and the intense self-driven work required of swings, including felinity coaching and learning multiple tracks like Old Deuteronomy, Bustopher Jones, and Gus. He shares his character backstory for Old Deuteronomy, his belief that Deuteronomy always knows the Jellicle choice, and a memorable mid-show emergency where he had minutes to get into intricate makeup and costume. 00:50 First CATS Obsession 08:29 Old Deuteronomy Backstory 09:48 Jellicle Choice Theory 12:39 Importance of Swings 16:52 Tour Chaos 24:49 Discovering The Jellicle Ball 36:27 Rapid Fire Check out Antoine on Instagram: @antoinelsmith32 Check out MJ The Musical on Social Media: @mjthemusical Check out MJ The Musical's website: newyork.mjthemusical.com Produced by: Alan Seales & Broadway Podcast Network Social Media: @TheWrongCatDied Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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About The Wrong Cat Died
Grizabella was the wrong cat to die. After seeing CATS the Musical for the first time in July of 2016, podcast host Mike Abrams was filled with a whirlwind of emotions. He was amused, confused, and a little angry. Almost exactly three years later when the 2019 CATS movie trailer came out, Mike had enough. It was time to speak his truth – Grizabella was the wrong Cat to Die at the Jellicle Ball. In this podcast, Mike interviews CATS cast members, CATS superfans, CATS haters, and explores the backstories of the Jellicle characters all to make a case for why they were more worthy to ascend to the Heaviside Layer than Grizabella.
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