When I was a sophomore in high school, I went on a school trip to New York City. While there, we saw the musical, Cats. This was a pretty neat experience, after all, how often do you watch people dance and sing in colorful costumes, etc? Not being a very discerning theatre-goer at the time (what with being 15 years old), I liked it pretty well, and had fun seeing a Broadway show.
From what I can remember, the plot of Cats revolves around a junkyard full of felines and their stories, and is based on the poetry of T.S. Eliot. They sing the lines he wrote and the goal is to make you feel all emotional for them as they do it. Simple enough.
My home in Cambodia is not in a junkyard (though there’s a lot of trash on my street). Yet, we seem to have a number of stray cats running around at night. Unlike the characters in Cats, I don’t think these animals have glitter on their fur, and certainly no spandex. At least, not that I’ve noticed. The most distinct difference, however, is that the screeching and hissing of these cats is not even a little bit musical. Also, they don’t appear to have any kind of emotional story to tell.
Adding to the cacophony of animal noises are the neighborhood dogs. While American guard dogs are taught to lie quietly or growl menacingly before attacking a stranger, Cambodian dogs take a different tactic. These dogs are trained to bark. Constantly, and for both friends and foes (and especially stray felines), which means barking all night long. I don’t recall any dogs in the story of Cats on Broadway, but I’m thinking this is a pretty serious plotline in the drama taking place outside my door each night. Cats show up, dogs bark. Cats retreat, dogs bark. Cats come back, dogs bark louder. I’m sure there’s a story here.
I guess the main point of this little digression is to point out that, 10 years after watching Cats on Broadway, I seem to be living it out, but without the spandex and song, of course. The whole experience is making me reevaluate my initial impressions of the musical, and my feelings on animal choirs in general. Not in a positive way, I assure you. Just another thing that's changed as a result of life in Cambodia.
From what I can remember, the plot of Cats revolves around a junkyard full of felines and their stories, and is based on the poetry of T.S. Eliot. They sing the lines he wrote and the goal is to make you feel all emotional for them as they do it. Simple enough.
My home in Cambodia is not in a junkyard (though there’s a lot of trash on my street). Yet, we seem to have a number of stray cats running around at night. Unlike the characters in Cats, I don’t think these animals have glitter on their fur, and certainly no spandex. At least, not that I’ve noticed. The most distinct difference, however, is that the screeching and hissing of these cats is not even a little bit musical. Also, they don’t appear to have any kind of emotional story to tell.
Adding to the cacophony of animal noises are the neighborhood dogs. While American guard dogs are taught to lie quietly or growl menacingly before attacking a stranger, Cambodian dogs take a different tactic. These dogs are trained to bark. Constantly, and for both friends and foes (and especially stray felines), which means barking all night long. I don’t recall any dogs in the story of Cats on Broadway, but I’m thinking this is a pretty serious plotline in the drama taking place outside my door each night. Cats show up, dogs bark. Cats retreat, dogs bark. Cats come back, dogs bark louder. I’m sure there’s a story here.
I guess the main point of this little digression is to point out that, 10 years after watching Cats on Broadway, I seem to be living it out, but without the spandex and song, of course. The whole experience is making me reevaluate my initial impressions of the musical, and my feelings on animal choirs in general. Not in a positive way, I assure you. Just another thing that's changed as a result of life in Cambodia.
2 comments:
How loud are these dogs I wonder? I hear dogs in the distance as I'm typing this, right before I go to bed. Maybe these Cambodian dogs are so loud that I can hear them in LA? Maybe these are Cambodian dogs living a few houses down? We may just never know...
umm, but i am pretty sure that dad taught us to "love live theatre", just thought i would remind you of that!
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