As a young actor, my first big break was being cast as the 'Magical Mr. Mistoffelees' in a brand new national touring company of the blockbuster Broadway musical CATS.
While I was 'living the dream' during those years in the 1980s, a nightmare called HIV/AIDS was taking thousands of lives from us. As a company, we wanted to do 'something,' so in 1987, we organized one of the first large-scale benefits performances by a touring company to help those affected by HIV. Amazingly, we raised over $36K in one night.
Fast forward to today, and another viral pandemic is here. A few months ago, one of my former CATS castmates reached out to say, "Anyone want to do it again?" And so, we did.
"With Love, Now and Forever! Cats4CovidRelief" premiered on October 23 and has so far raised over $21,000 to help those in the theater community affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The video event is currently available on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/TKmFNBpsj2o
Today, I'm talking to two of my closest CATS castmates, Grammy Award-winner Leslie Ellis and two-time OutMusic Award-winner Matt Zarley, about this recent company reunion, collaborating on this special, uplifting video event, and reminiscing about the experience that was CATS.
You can see Matt's moving video tribute featuring Leslie's gorgeous new take on "Memory" here: https://vimeo.com/463622446/aa0b820ad5
