No cats like show cats

Entertainment Editor Bob Eveleigh profiles young theatrical personality, Gareth Williams, currently a member of the cast of the South African-generated company of the musical, Cats.

Taryn Sudding and Gareth Williams on stage as Bombalurina and Mugojerrie

“IT was the biggest show business break I could ever have had and I’m just so lucky”.

That’s Port Elizabeth’s Gareth Williams talking and succinctly describing his reaction to his casting in the Lloyd Webber mega-musical, Cats.

The production, having finished its two sold-out South African seasons in Cape Town and Pretoria, has now become something of an international theatrical touring entity.

Since Gareth, along with fellow Port Elizabeth exports Angela Kilian, Chireen Ferreira and Taryn Sudding, found himself in the line-up of the Pieter Toerien production, he has matured as a performer even from the extremely high, award-winning heights he previously attained in PE amateur senior and junior theatre.

But he must surely have been born with make-up complementing the blood in his veins when it is considered that he is the son of ace showbiz couple Alan and Robin Williams.

In fact, he has been on-stage since the age of only two in his mother’s productions. To this day he is jokingly referred to as “Gareth Goose’’ by his talented Cape Town aunt, Julie Dickson – a reference to his mini-role in the 1984 Pemads pantomime, Mother Goose!

“And, amazingly enough, Angela, Chireen and I were in The King and I together twice – once for Westering High School in the late 1980s and again for G&S three years ago!’’ said Gareth.

“And the three of us, plus Taryn, were all together in the cast of Peter Pan in 1989 – talk about sticking together!’’.

Such reunions are not altogether unusual when it is remembered that they all studied under Robin at her drama studio, but to find all of them cast in Cats – Gareth and Chireen for the first time in pro theatre – was really something.

Long before Gareth was noticed by PE audiences as a youthful performer, he used to get his dad to bring him to rehearsals of Showtime revues in the Little Theatre.

He was the show’s youngest camp follower for years, in fact, becoming the only person allowed to wear the annual official Showtime T-shirt outside of the company.

He couldn’t wait to be old enough to audition to be in the show (you have to be 15 at the time it runs ) but what happened when he reached that age?)

His voice had broken and he couldn’t be on-stage.

No matter, he handled the complicated lighting plot, designed by David Whitehouse, with aplomb, and duly made his awards revue debut the following year (1999), going on to be its male star in 2000 and the male guest star in 2001.

But Showtime has been only one of many opportunities he had to shine before making his mark in the tough pro world.

As mentioned, he was the Crown Prince Chulalongkorn in the 1999 G&S KIng and I, did various small roles in the record-breaking Evita and, switching to classical drama with ease, even played Romeo to Leanne Kolnick’s Juliet in his mother’s Herzl production of the Shakespearean tragedy.

Having already also proved himself more than proficient in the various technical areas of theatre, he proceeded to move into the world of dance staging, creating numbers for various junior musicals (like Snow White and Wizard of Oz) and even debuting in this sphere with his last Showtime.

So, when the time came late last year to travel to Cape Town to try to get into the Cats company, he was more than ready to meet the challenge.

“And the auditions were tough’’ recalled Gareth “so that Chireen and I were really chuffed when we were given the paired roles of Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer.”

The two characters have one of the most energetic, acrobatic, high-impact routines in the show, but Gareth’s performance has led to him being nominated for regional FNB Vita awards for “best new actor’’ in both the Western Cape and Gauteng awards programmes.

Named with him after the Cape Town season was Jo Galloway, daughter of choreographers and dancers Keith Galloway and Delia Sainsbury, familiar to many people for their variety shows in the early days of TV in this country.

Nowadays they run the highly successful Waterfront Theatre School..

In a chance encounter with the couple at the famous Cape shopping centre in April, Keith, echoing Gareth’s words, told me: “These kids don’t know how lucky they are to have been cast in this show. When I think how long it took Delia and I to break through in showbiz, well. . .

Lucky, perhaps, but you don’t shape with a top London West End-bred director and choreographer like Jo-Anne Robinson, who re-staged Cats for South Africa, unless you have what it takes .

Judging by reports that filtered through from Cape Town during the rehearsal period, Gareth, as one of the youngest members of the ensemble, quickly became a kind of director’s pet (although he will probably vehemently deny this!)

I have personally seen Gareth grow up as both a young man and theatre star.

Even if he did rather mangle my first name as “Bog” when still a tiny, on one memorable occasion greeting me as such at the top of his voice across the Opera House foyer before a show!

And, with all the hard work he put in to every show he was in in PE, his seemingly overnight success is well deserved.

For now, being a Cat has transformed him from a local into an international performer.

My most recent chance to chat to him came last week, when he was in town having just returned from a short one-week season at the International Beiteddine Arts Festival in Beirut, , which Cats opened from July 3 to 8.

With other acts like Youssou N’Dour, José Carreras and the Budapest Concert Orchestra conducted by David Gimenez, to name but three, on the bill as well, and Elton John having headlined the event last year, Gareth, Taryn, Chireen, Angela and Co were in top company.

And, having returned home from this Mediterranean run-cum-holiday (“We had a great deal of fun,” laughs Gareth, a fact borne out by the countless photographs in his album), he had a week at home before leaving for Cape Town for the Vita awards ceremony and then on to Johannesburg for a corporate gig allied to the World Summit.

What’s next?

“Well, in Sepetmeber we all head for a four-week Cats season in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, followed by two weeks at a huge stadium in Dubai.

“Then it’s Seoul in South Korea and there has been talk of approaches from Taiwan, China (both Beijing and Shanghai) and even some Eastern European countries.

All this activity will probably mean that the SA group will come under the control of the Really Useful Australian management.

Already, one role, Electra the White Cat, relinquised by the South African originator, has been filled by cute Australian Emma Delmenico, who has played the part, since the tender age of 17, for the past 18 months in the Aussie touring company.

And so the SA Cats may well become known as the official international touring Cats company.

So that’s Gareth Williams today: global traveller – thanks to the wonderful world of Cats!

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