By Dana Klosner-Wehner
The show opens on Saturday, and runs every Saturday through Feb. 7, with a special performance on Tuesday, Feb. 17.
The show, based on the 1962 Disney movie, chronicles a family of cats in Paris, owned by a rich woman who leaves her whole estate to Duchess — the mother cat — and her three kittens. The woman’s fortune is set to go to the wicked Edgar the butler after the cats pass away, but Edgar isn’t that patient. He drugs the cats, drives them out to the country and dumps them.
When the family of cats wakes up, they are lost in the country. They meet Thomas O’Malley, an alley cat who helps them find their way back to Paris. Along the way they meet up with a pair of geese who are also on their way to the city and tag along with them.
When the cats find their way back home, Edgar is none too pleased to see them. He hides them in the wash, and then he locks them in a crate to send them to Timbuktu. Roquefort, the house mouse, goes into the alley to find Thomas O’Malley’s friends to help free the cats. The alley cats, geese and some dogs all come to help the cat family. They free them from the box, put Edgar in it and ship him to Timbuktu.
The show has 19 cast members, 17 of whom are children. They have been rehearsing three times a week for the past month — two and a half hours on school days and up to five hours on weekends. The kids also had to do research for the play. But they love every minute of it.
“[Roquefort] saves the day!” said 7-year-old Nicolette Pace of Howard Beach, Queens, who plays the part. “He gets the alley cats to the house and saves Duchess and the kittens! Acting is really fun.”
“Acting really brings out her personality,” said Nicolette’s mother, Denise Gallo. “She’s very bubbly. Wherever she goes, she’s the center of attention.”
Nicolette also loves to sing, Gallo said. “She does her homework singing,” she said. “Everything she does, she does through singing. Her nickname is Ethel Merman.”
Christina Woodhouse, 13, a seventh-grader at H. Frank Carey High School in Franklin Square, has learned from Duchess, the character she plays. “She remains calm even when her children misbehave,” said Christina, who has also appeared in “Annie,” “The Velveteen Rabbit,” “Madeline’s Christmas” and “Evita,” all at the BroadHollow, as well as in an original play called “Socks” in Manhattan. “I have pets that are like my children,” she said. “I learned from doing this character to be more patient and have more grace.”
To prepare for her role, Christina looked at pictures and watched videos of duchesses and the way they walked, she said. She also watched Disney’s “Aristocats” and studied the characters’ movements. “Acting is an opportunity to escape from the real world and not be yourself,” she said.
Laura Wallace-Rhodes, the show’s artistic director, required the kids to learn about the historical period and the parts they are playing. “All the cats are named after things embedded in French culture,” Wallace-Rhodes said. “[The children] had to study where Paris is, what it’s famous for, what was going on in 1962 — who was the president here, and who was the premier there. They had to look up French references and French phrases.”
The young actors also studied French painter Toulouse-Lautrec, French Queen Marie Antoinette and French composer Hector Berlioz because cats were named for them. The show takes place during the Beatnik movement that started in coffeehouses in Paris.
“Toulouse was a very smart painter,” said 8-year-old Julie Compton, from New Hyde Park, who plays Toulouse the kitten. “[In the play] he is the smartest kitty.”
Julie said she practiced cat moves, like cupping her hands like paws, to prepare for her role.
Twelve-year-old William Rosenblum of Merrick plays the lead alley cat, Thomas O’Malley. He says he sees similarities between his character and himself. “He’s a leader, I’m a leader,” said William, who has also appeared in “Lost in Yonkers” at the BroadHollow and in school productions of “Guys & Dolls” and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” “He likes jazz and I like jazz.”
William said he studied the movements of his own cat to prepare for the role.
“My character is really girly,” said Madison Mullahey, 8, of Garden City, who plays the kitten Marie. “She’s very ladylike and looks just like her mom. I’m more of a tomboy.”
But that’s all part of acting. “Acting is something she’s really good at and she enjoys,” said Tracy Mullahey, Madison’s mom. “It gives her something to be confident and proud about.”
Following in her sister’s footsteps, Mackenzie Mullahey, 5, will play the kitten Berlioz for one performance. “She sees her sister do it and she loves to do it,” Tracy said. “At all the rehearsals, Mackenzie was always in the background, singing and dancing along. Laura [Wallace-Rhodes] thought it would be a good opportunity for her to fill in for one show.”
Mackenzie will substitute for Leo Gupta, 7, of Rockville Center, one of five brothers performing in the play. Leo’s brothers — triplets Carmine, Marco and Franco, all 10, and Gaetano, 12 — have sung at the U.S. Open, and on Channel 11 in a tribute to Sept. 11. They all play alley cats in the show. Gaetano explained that their mother started singing with them when they were very young, and taught them how to harmonize.
“I like being able to connect with a character,” Gaetano said.
Adults enjoy being in the show as well. “It’s a pleasure to work for Laura and being part of the BroadHollow family,” said Michael Gerbasi, 47, of Elmont, who plays Edgar. “She gives me the opportunity to put my own character into any character she gives me. I get to put a comical spin on the mean Edgar.”
By day, Gerbasi works as a captain in the Nassau County Court system. Acting has been a hobby for him since high school. “I enjoy the feedback I get from people,” he said. “The most pleasing thing is hearing laughter from the audience. It makes you act harder on stage. The audience feeds the show. It is the highest thank-you you can get.”
“The Aristocats” is playing at the BroadHollow Theater, in the Elmont Library, at 700 Hempstead Turnpike, on Saturdays at 2 p.m. from Jan. 10 through Feb. 7, with an additional performance on Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 1 p.m. Tickets are $10. For tickets and information, call (516) 775-4420 or (631) 581-2700, or go to www.broadhollow.org.
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