We were lucky enough to be invited to interview Gabrielle Cocca, who is currently performing as Tantomile in Cats the Musical. With limited time to chat to Gabrielle before she had to dash off to her dressing room to put on her make-up, we managed to find a quiet spot sitting on the back of one of the lorries in the Cliffs Pavilion's loading bay and asked Gabrielle about her journey from drama school to performing in one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's longest running shows in the West End. Watch our YouTube video below.
We were also lucky to be able to film Gabrielle putting on her face makeup for the part which we managed to whittle down to just over 3 minutes with our time lapse film.
Sharing the dressing room with Gabrielle were Danielle Cato and Pheobe Lewis who play Cassandra and Jemima respectively. All of the girls agree that this is one of the most physically demanding of shows to perform in which often leaves them feeling pretty tired but, they all admit that the power of the music gets them through and they love being part of the production.
They also tell me that they have a huge amount of respect for the shows original choreographer, Gillian Lynne, who even at the age of 90, will pop into rehearsals and join in with the warm ups. "She'll roll around on the floor and demonstrate," laughs Danielle, clearly impressed. "Sometimes, she'll decide to change some of the dance moves," Danielle tells me, "and she'll say, 'Oh darling I don't like that - what was I thinking!?'"
Steve also took some photos of other cast members as they were too'ing and fro'ing between dressing rooms
We'd like to say a big thank you to Mel, the Company Manager, all of the cast we spoke to and photographed and Southend Theatres for their fabulous hospitality. We had a lovely time.
They also tell me that they have a huge amount of respect for the shows original choreographer, Gillian Lynne, who even at the age of 90, will pop into rehearsals and join in with the warm ups. "She'll roll around on the floor and demonstrate," laughs Danielle, clearly impressed. "Sometimes, she'll decide to change some of the dance moves," Danielle tells me, "and she'll say, 'Oh darling I don't like that - what was I thinking!?'"
Steve also took some photos of other cast members as they were too'ing and fro'ing between dressing rooms
We'd like to say a big thank you to Mel, the Company Manager, all of the cast we spoke to and photographed and Southend Theatres for their fabulous hospitality. We had a lovely time.
For tickets to see Cats the Musical at the Cliffs Pavilion this week go to southendtheatres.org.uk or call the box office on 01702 351135