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Hello, friends. Welcome to another episode of The Gay Podcast for Everyone. My name is Angela Briones, and I'm your host. And I wanted to do an episode today.

(00:30)
about something that is bringing me so much joy and I legit want to tell everyone about it. So why not? Right? Which is the Broadway show, Cats: The Jellicle Ball. And I know you're probably thinking, like, Angela, what are you talking about? I don't know anything about Broadway, or I don't like cats, the original cats, or all of the above. And honestly, I'm kind of right there with you. So I want to share a little bit about how I became a super fan of this show.

(01:00)
And why I think it's so important for our community right now. Now the weird thing is I have to tell you right off the bat, by the time I publish this, Cats: The Jellicle Ball will probably be on its last day of Broadway, which makes me so, so sad, y'all. And I did think about not recording this episode as much as I wanted to talk about this episode. I did think about, well, you know, by the time I do this, it's gonna be over. But then I thought, you know what?

(01:28)
I really want to share about this for two reasons. Number one, I really hope that there is some sort of miracle in the Broadway world that we get more of this show. there's talk about it doing a national tour and I hope that that happens. And I hope it finds its way back to Broadway or even off Broadway, because this show needs to be seen. Honestly, it deserves to have nine lives like a cat. You know what I'm saying? So that's

(01:53)
One of the first reasons. And the second reason is I really just want to share my experience of what it was like to be in New York and see this show during Pride. I mean, on October twenty-eighth, the day of pride in New York City, I got to see this show and there was nothing better. Even though the last day of this show on Broadway is August the eighth, I'm still gonna share this with you because I really hope that there's some way that maybe whenever it comes up you'll think, hey, I remember Angela talking about that.

(02:23)
And it sounded really freaking cool, so I'm gonna go check it out. I hope that happens. So I wanna give you a little backstory about like how I saw the show because honestly I didn't even know the show existed until June when we went. and then also a little backstory about the show itself. And I'm gonna kinda bounce back and forth just for the sake of the story. But basically when I went to New York, my sister like, Hey, we have to see this show, Cat's the Jellicle Ball and I was like, I don't-

(02:52)
I'm not a fan of the original Cats, so I don't want to see this. No, that sounds so horrible. But I just really wasn't. And she said, No, you gotta check it out. Go on Instagram, check out the reels, check out what this is about. You're gonna love it. Because the premise of the show is basically cats, the original, reimagined in a queer underground ballroom scene, basically. And it's the culture of queer underground ballroom. So

(03:20)
What's not to love, right? I mean, absolutely. And honestly, that was about as much as I knew about it going into the show. I was just like, this is cool. All the reels that I'd seen, I was like, this is awesome. Honestly, it felt like you were in the best gay club in the world. And, you know, you had the best drag queens around you or something. Like that was the vibe that the reels were giving off. So that was what I knew kind of going into the show. And honestly, y'all, I could dive into so many different

(03:49)
facets of this show from the history to the cast, the current cast, to the backstory of everybody who works on this stage. My goodness, I just I have been down a rabbit hole, you have no idea. And it's been wonderful. But I got to the point where I was like, I have to just speak about the high level things on this, because otherwise the episode will never get out there. So that's why this is all just like surface level stuff. But it is amazing.

(04:19)
You have to see it. So, like I said, this show is the original Cats but reimagined in this ballroom space, right? And if you dive into some of the backstory and some the history of this, is this is like early 1970s, going into the eighties, where many young, queer, and transgender individuals, you know, were often forced out of their homes because their families did not accept them. And so in order to see

(04:47)
safety and shelter and a sense of community. There were folks who created homes, you know, literally homes for each other. And each of these homes, these houses, if you will, that well, they are called houses, these houses are led by mothers or fathers who are like elder, trusted trans folks or drag queens who are seen as like mentors and guides and support systems. And this was really important especially for Latino and Black

(05:17)
queer youth who were facing that type of exclusion. So these houses were created and they created also this kind of competitive runway and voguing competition. And this is definitely what we recognize now as, you know, the modern queer ballroom scene. But during that time in the s early seventies and eighties, it was an underground scene because the police kept, you know, monitoring these spaces, et cetera. So this was forced underground.

(05:46)
I could honestly dive into so much of this and I I'm purposely not doing it because then I would never get this episode out. And I really wanted to get this episode out weeks ago, y'all. I'm not even joking. But I'm telling you, you could just for cats the jellicle ball, if you just like did this offshoot and started Googling things under, you know, the queer ballroom scene. my gosh, there's so many wonderful things that you're gonna learn. There's so many epic people. And I would be here all day. So

(06:15)
For the sake of that, I'm just gonna highlight certain things very purposely. So just know that, okay? So Cats the Jellicle Ball is this reimagined Cats, but of course they're not cats, they're people. And instead of a junkyard that the cats, you know, the original cats is set in, this is a ballroom scene. And this is a competition, this is a battle of the houses that I was telling you about. As I'm sitting there, I mean, my sister and I got amazing seats. I know I've mentioned this in very early episodes.

(06:43)
My sister knows so much about like music and music goals and I usually know a lot about television and film. So it really is wonderful to have somebody in your life who is not in the LGBTQ community, but really knows so many of the things happening in pop culture and musical culture, et cetera. So as I'm sitting in the audience, like the the biggest things, like I'm going into this, just kind of again, knowing the high level things, but you guys, right away you are immersed in the only thing I can

(07:12)
say it's queer joy, period. Like hands down, queer joy. And I use the word queer very specifically. And I know that I have spoken in the past and I still feel this way, that I don't typically use the word queer to identify for myself. I know that. And I actually am lining up some episodes that is focusing on the word queer and how we use it as people who are in different age groups, people who are in different parts of the country, etc. I wanted to explore that 'cause I think it's a very interesting thing.

(07:42)
But even though I don't typically use the word to identify, I'm also learning to really embrace it for something that is meaningful to me. And I do want to dive into that more, but for now, I just want to share this as it relates to Cats Jellicle Ball, which is there is no other word to describe this musical. It is something that welcomes every single person into that space. And as I'm sitting there, like I felt like it just enveloped everyone into this like hug, if you will. Like

(08:10)
However, you walk into this room, however, you walk into this space, we are all so different, yet we are all so the same. And it celebrates everyone's differences in the most beautiful way. And I mean, there's so much representation on this stage, y'all. So much trans representation on this stage, so much non binary representation on this stage. And then in the audience, like the people sitting next to me was an older couple. I think they were maybe in their 80s.

(08:38)
The lady had seen the original cats eleven times. She was very excited about seeing this reimagined Cats. And, you know, I was really interested to see how they were gonna embrace this, you know? Everyone in the audience, like from the moment this show started, you guys, there was so much energy. Everybody felt it. It was like you were invited to this party that was pure joy. And there's even this scene with one of the cast who's called Skimbleshanks.

(09:06)
Who is basically the MTA, the Manhattan Transit Authority, railway cat. Like at the end of their scene on stage, you hear the voice of the person who is on the actual New York City subway, That is a person named Bernie Wagenblast. I think that's how you pronounce them that last name. I'm not really sure. But she is the trans woman behind the New York City subway announcements. So it's just a really cool little, you know, chef's kiss to hear that.

(09:32)
End of the performance. And then there's also actually a commercial that the cast of Cats Jellicle Ball did for the MTA for the Manhattan Transit Authority, where Bernie is actually in the commercial as well. You should find that on YouTube. It's so fun. But every cast member is so epic, so iconic. I mean, even you know, when I spoke earlier about the houses, the person who is like credited as starting the ballroom culture, her name is Crystal LaBeijia.

(10:01)
And the House of LaBeijia still exists to this day. And Junior LaBeijia, who is a elder of the ballroom scene and the ballroom culture, is in Katz Jellico Ball. It's absolutely amazing. Also the person who plays Mr. Mistopheles, whose name is Robert Mason, they they're known as Silk, and they've created a modern day house called the House of Silk.

(10:23)
And just to watch them on stage is absolutely breathtaking. I cannot describe the artistry that is on that stage with everyone. What I loved more than anything besides the obvious of the show was when the show was over. We're walking out of the theater, right? And I see a whole family with these t-shirts and everybody's wearing a different t-shirt. One says mom of Rumpelteaser, which is one of the one of the cats. And then the other one said dad of Rumpelteaser, Aunt of Rumpelteaser.

(10:53)
it would just everybody was wearing these shirts that were celebrating their family member who was on the stage, you know? And the thing is, I can tell you, you know, it's one thing when we're young and we're in high school and, you know, for me, I was in the drill team, the dance team, and you know, my mom would come see me perform, etcetera. And those are I don't want to say normal things, but like those are everyday things that we do in high school, right? But as someone who is LGBTQ, when you have your family come and celebrate you.

(11:22)
in something that is expressive of your community and of your identity and they celebrate you the same way my sister celebrates me, you know? I wouldn't have even known about this show if it wasn't for her. So that was something that just struck me as so absolutely wonderful was this entire family celebrating their person on stage. You know, it was great. And then this is just has to do with New York in general, I think, because the whole city was blanketed in pride. Like, you know, it didn't matter

(11:51)
what neighborhood you were in, whether you were on Upper East Side, Greenwich Village, of course, Midtown, what have you, everywhere you looked there was a rainbow. There were literally buildings that every floor was a different color of the rainbow. I have some pictures of it. I'll need to put it on Instagram. But it was so beautiful to like walk by and see this building that just like looked like a rainbow. And there were many of them, y'all. Many. And if I had a dollar for every time somebody walked by me and just randomly said happy pride, I mean, yes, that happened outside of the show.

(12:21)
But it happened all around the city as we're walking around that night because yes, it was pride that day. But to have people just randomly say happy pride to each other, that is a joyful thing. Again, if I had a dollar for every time this was said to me that night alone, I'd probably have at least $35, which let me tell you, in Texas, in my entire life, I do not even come close to $35, you know, unless I'm at a specific

(12:49)
Pride event, maybe somebody would say it, but you know, usually you're just kind of in the moment. But this was just like the entire city was enveloped in this state of being, you know, just joy, pride, etc. Even when we rolled into the city, like literally, when we come out of Lincoln Tunnel, and the first thing we see is this huge progress pride flag. And I think it said like,

(13:18)
We all belong, something like that. I can't really remember right now as I'm s as I'm speaking about it. But I just remember seeing it and thinking, like these are the things you as an LGBTQ person and I'm sure the parents and family members of LGBTQ plus folks, you know, you want to hear that too. If you get a chance to see Cat's Telicobal. If by chance you're in the city or very close to the city, you need to go and see this if you can grab a ticket. I know it's ending and I'm so sad that it's ending, but

(13:46)
I really hope that there's some sort of hail mary at the last minute or something. I know that the cast is gonna get an album for this particular show, which is amazing because of course the original Cats album exists, but y'all, this is so different. This is like it's the same music, but it's a remix to like this like dance be type thing. It's awesome, it's amazing, it's wonderful. I cannot wait for the album.

(14:11)
And if you get to see the show, I mean you'll get to see what I'm talking about and you'll get to feel what I'm talking about, where you walk away from this show knowing that whoever you are, at that moment in life in general, you are enough and you are perfect. And there's just nothing better than that. And right now, especially, you know, I know we started last year kind of having this conversation of how do we tap into optimism when we were, you know, facing this looming administration change again.

(14:40)
You know, how do we tap into that when everything is stripped away? Not to get too off to off topic on this, but I constantly reference the Glenn and Doyle book, Untamed. And if you've ever read it, there is a chapter called Islands. And that chapter is so important to me. She talks about the fact that when she came out to her mom, you know, she's already an adult and she was married and had kids, and she meets Abby Wombach and they're, you know, totally in love, et cetera. And she tries to

(15:09)
kind of mitigate her mom's fears and her mom's concerns. A lot of it is that her mom's fears are projected onto her and she's trying not to hold on to those things for herself because she's like, those are your things, they're not mine, but I don't know what to do with it. And then Abby tells her we have to look at our home as an island. And we decide whether we lower the drawbridge and invite somebody onto our island or whether we keep the drawbridge up and we protect our space. And that is really how I've been seeing things lately.

(15:38)
And I think of that with everything. And it's not even my home that's my island anymore. It's myself. I am the island. And I ask myself of anything, you know, is this event something I want to open myself up to? Is this person someone I want to share my time with? You know, I needed to be very protective of myself and of my time and of my mindset and my spirit. You know what mean? And this show, Cats Jellicle Ball, like

(16:04)
It's kinda dropped into my lap, if you will. You know, my sister just really wanted to s see this show. She knew I would love it. And it was such a great gift. And you know, as I've been like looking through different things for Cats Jellicle Ball, like looking online, etc. And again, I can't, cannot dive into everything under the umbrella of this show because it would be a limited series. I mean, I'm serious. And a wonderful one. I mean, honestly, if I could, I would do it. I'm not even gonna lie to y'all. But as I've been exploring and researching this show

(16:34)
I came across this quote that somebody had put on their blog, and it's a quote by a journalist named David Surot. I hope I'm saying that name correctly. But I think it's a really beautiful quote to end this episode with. Because he says, as we continue to fight for our existence, we must remember that the most precious queer space exists within us. If you've seen Cats Jellicle Ball, I would love to hear about it. Send me a message on Instagram. I would love to share stories with you. And if you haven't seen it,

(17:04)
I hope you get to. It is the most wonderful, wonderful gift. Until next time, friends, take care, y'all.

(17:14)
Hey everyone, thank you so much for joining me on today's podcast. If you like today's episode, please share it with someone who will get value from it as well. And please head to Apple Podcasts to rate and review this podcast so that our LGBTQ community and friends can find it. Thanks again, everyone. Until next time.