When you play a cat in one of the longest-running musicals in Broadway history, your inner feline sometimes comes out when you least expect it.
Sarah Bumgarner, who will play solid-white Victoria in Cats on Monday at Bell Auditorium, said she has found herself pawing a dropped item before she picks it up.
Sometimes, she paws her younger brother's head like a kitten when they're horsing around. The cast members are as likely to muzzle one another as hug.
Learning to think like a cat, however, is "so fun," she said.
"People, when you hear a sound, the first thing you will do is turn your head," she said. "Cats don't have to turn their heads. They can turn their ears."
Studying the animal has become her hobby. Hours are spent watching YouTube videos of cats, and rehearsals include studying cat anatomy.
Her introduction to the cast, she said, came with a tail, knee pads and instructions for the group to crawl around on the floor and sniff at one another.
"When I'm at a friend's house and they have a cat, I can't take my eyes off the cat," she said.
It might be fun, but it's also challenging. Human bodies weren't meant to move like cats. Cats are more limber than humans, so Bumgarner does a lot of yoga and Pilates to keep her muscles pliable.
The production employs a trainer and a massage therapist, whom Bumgarner said is kept busy.
"It's quite hard on your body," she said.
Bumgarner fell in love with the production, the character she portrays and the theater at age 4, when her family took her to see the popular musical for the first time.
Spellbound, she stood and declared that she wanted to "do that," and soon after she began taking ballet lessons. She was particularly drawn to the character of Victoria, who stands out because she is the only all-white cat on the stage.
"I always wanted to be the white cat," she said. "She is the symbol of innocence in the show."
Victoria is young, described by Bumgarner as on the cusp of adulthood. She is a sweet cat and a peacemaker, much like Bumgarner herself.
The cat grows into adulthood through the course of the show.
Bumgarner has played Victoria for two years but plans to hang up her whiskers for a while when her contract is up at the end of August.
She hopes not forever, but the role is so demanding (Victoria has a lot of dance solos and is the only cast member onstage for the duration of the show) that she wants to take a break and pursue other interests, including trapeze artistry.
The play, a musical adaptation of T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats , is about a group of feral cats on the night of the annual Jellicle Ball, when they celebrate who they are. One cat will be chosen by their aging leader to be reborn.
WHAT: Cats
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Monday
WHERE: Bell Auditorium, 712 Telfair St.
COST: $42.50-$55; $2 of every ticket purchased at www.georgialinatix.com using promotion code SPCA will go to the Aiken SPCA. Purchasers will receive a $5 discount on ticket prices.
more information: augustaentertainmentcomplex.com
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