Cats is one of the most infamous Broadway musicals ever made. It had one of the longest runs that Broadway has ever seen, so it clearly is an incredibly popular show. At the same time, it stars people dressed up in cat costumes singing lyrics that come from the poetry of T.S. Elliott, so the musical is a bit..odd.
James Corden, who will play the role of Bustopher Jones in the film adaptation, because names are one of the many crazy things in the musical, recently admitted that he found the production to be quite surreal, to the point of wondering if he was literally high on the set. However, this questioning of reality had less to do with the strangeness of the scenario, and more to do with the insane level of talent that he was sharing his scenes with during said bizarre scenario. According to Corden...
We had two days where it was myself, Rebel Wilson, Idris Elba, Taylor Swift, Dame Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen filming in the same scene and we’re all pretending to be cats. There is a very definite moment where you don’t know if you’re high or not. I’m like, ‘I ate some gummies at lunch. Were they actual gummies or is that just marijuana? Because this is right up there with the strangest experiences you could ever have.
A movie that includes Judi Dench, Idris Elba, Taylor Swift, and Ian McKellen all at once would be the sort of movie that anybody would make anybody stand up and take notice. Just seeing them on the screen together is almost certainly going to be amazing. One can only imagine what it's like for James Corden to be one of the people on the screen along side them.
But when you add to that the fact that all of the above mentioned stars are pretending to be cats in their scenes, you go from a moment that sounds remarkable to one that sounds insane. No wonder James Corden told Variety he wondered if he was actually on drugs while watching this all happen around him.
That's the thing about Cats as a show. While it's incredibly popular, there's no denying that, you also can't deny that the show is just weird as hell. It barely even has a plot to speak of. It's just people running around dressed as cats and singing. There's no way that can't be crazy. It only becomes more nuts when Judi Dench is one of the people dressed as a singing cat.
We have yet to see much of anything from the upcoming film, but as it's set to open at the end of the year, odds are it won't be too long before we're graced with the fist trailer and we can revel in insanity. With the popularity of the stage show I can guess the film won't have too much trouble finding an audience. The only question is how many people will pack the theater just to have the once in a life time experience of a singing feline Ian McKellan.
