The Courtyard Theatre in Newtownabbey will be playing host to the Northern Ireland premiere of CAT.

Dave (Gerard McCarthy – Hollyoaks, The Fall) is sacked from the original cast of CATS on opening night. Plagued by dreams of what ‘could have been’, CAT is a hilariously dark backstage comedy described as:

A funny, bittersweet tale (or should that be tail?) of obsession, broken dreams and unfulfilled talent….another deluded wannabe star whose quest for fame and stardom ends up in tatters.

The show comes to Ballyearl following sell-out shows at the Etcetera Theatre in Camden and also at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe. Written by Richard Hardwick and Jamie Beamish, the show is full of original songs, supposedly ‘cut’ from Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals and sees various characters ranging from Lloyd Webber himself to Dave’s favourite leading lady, Elaine Paige.

The one-man production runs from 23 – 28 February and features choreography from multiple award winning choreographer and TV judge Arlene Phillips who commented:

This week I helped out the truly enigmatic Gerard McCarthy with his new one man show, ‘CAT’, starring Dave “a cast member of the original production ofCats, who was sacked on opening night… and needless to say, was not a happy pussy”. The show is brilliant, hilarious, and very, very naughty! Playing in Belfast at the end of February, I will keep you posted on its hopeful West End transfer…”

Gerard with Arlene Phillips and Richard Hardwick
Gerard with Arlene Phillips and Richard Hardwick

We last saw McCarthy perform at the Theatre At The Mill (also in Newtownabbey) during his one-man show Jonathan Harker and Dracula last year. In the past few years he has come on leaps and bounds (and something tells us he will be showing us those leaps and bounds throughout CAT), so we can’t wait to see what CAT brings.

Tickets are £10 and £12 and can be booked here.

Laura Caldwell

Author: Laura Caldwell

Hi, I'm Laura. I'm 30 years old and have a degree in Journalism with Photo-Imaging at the University of Ulster. I have an undying love for Belfast and all that it has to offer, an undying love for sleeping, Tegan and Sara, trashy tv shows, foreign snack-foods and being irresponsible with money. I also quite like origami, reading, jazz, hip-hop, dubstep, anything acoustic and Food Network TV. I've written for The Big List, Culture NI, Chatterbox and The Echo, as well as writing for BBC Across the Line.

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