From October 16 through 19, Grand Rapids Civic Theatre’s production of Pete The Cat graced the company’s stage. At 50 minutes, it’s a short musical, perfect for younger children who might never have attended a show before.
Civic worked to make it accessible: shows were early enough that they wouldn’t interfere with bedtimes, and tickets were Name Your Price—so they were precisely as cheap as you wanted them to be.
Pete (Mikki Robinson) isn’t like all the other cats. They’re aloof, distant, superior: the kind of creature you might nervously admire, but who’s definitely going to notice if you use the wrong fork at dinner. Pete doesn’t care about that sort of thing. Pete’s too busy rocking to even notice.
After a run-in with the local authorities, he finds himself living with the Biddles: Mom (Emily Bolek), Dad (Kaeleb Cogswell), Jimmy (Grace Winkle), and Olive (Evangeline Ouding). It’s an adjustment—Olive, who desperately loves Pete, is allergic to him—but Pete’s adaptable.
He accompanies Jimmy to class. Jimmy, a smart, nervous kid, is well-prepared for the math test he’s expecting, but not so much the art exam his teacher swaps it for. He ends up copying, which means he’s—oh, man—in trouble. Worse, he has to paint something original by the following morning. And he has no idea what his subject should be.
The musical does a great job of capturing the way low stakes can feel pretty big when you’re a kid. In a nice moment of set design, we’re transported underneath the couch, where Jimmy’s now hiding. He might have stayed there forever if it weren’t for Pete, who decides there’s only one solution: to show him the glories of the world.
They board a VW bus, which launches us into “It’s A VW Bus,” a song so absurdly catchy it’s still in this reviewer’s head four days after seeing the show. In search of beauty, they travel to the very depths of the ocean and into space itself. In that latter environment, Jimmy sees what might be described as the most awe-inspiring sight nature has produced: the Earth, his home, hanging in the distance. The perfect choice of a subject…except for the fact that it’s been done before.
Older viewers will know not to worry; surely, Jimmy will find something wonderful to paint. Younger viewers might not. Even The Cat In The Hat has its tension for those who haven’t yet realized that children stories tend to end well. On we go, following as the VW bus travels to Paris, the city of lights, and home again, to redemption.
It would be a mistake to think that, because children are the intended audience for a show, it can be tossed-off, rickety, poorly made. If anything, children are tougher audiences than adults. Fortunately, Pete The Cat is a modest but enjoyable show, fast-paced without being manic and entertaining without ever condescending.
Each of the five cast members does well in their role (or, often, roles). They play exaggerated versions of people without becoming caricatures (although Cogswell, as the dad, comes closest). Robinson, as Pete, has the meatiest part. She manages to convey unruffled happiness, confidence, and kindness so well that you have to suspect those are qualities of hers, too. Whether or not they were familiar with the character beforehand, children in the audience must have felt like they were spending time with a friend.
That might explain why they stayed so still and so quiet during the performance. For those fifty minutes, every eye was glued to the stage.
Pete the Cat
Grand Rapids Civic Theatre
Oct. 16-19
https://www.grct.org/
