Todd McKenney: I Play A Geriatric Broken Down Cat.

To celebrate the 40th Australian anniversary of Cats the guys chatted to Todd McKenney ahead of the musical’s touchdown in Perth later in the year and despite playing two roles you won’t be seeing him in Lycra anytime soon. Todd shares his favourite Cats songs and gives the guys the low down on his epic three week 60th birthday celebrations.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Cats is coming back. It's coming to the Crown Theater
from November eight. Tickets are on sale now through Katsthemusical
dot com dot au. And he's in it, Todd McKenny,
good money, meow wow. It is the fortieth anniversary of
this absolute classic from Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Weren't you in the very first Australian run?

Speaker 3 (00:25):
I was in the first Melbourne one, So I did
it thirty seven years ago. It played, so it played
two years in Sydney. It was a big, huge smash
hit and then we're going to move to Melbourne. Yes,
I got a gersey. I was going to like a guernsey. Nice. Yeah,
And so it's great to come back after so many
years to revisit.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
It full sir.

Speaker 4 (00:45):
You're just a kitten, Yeah, I was.

Speaker 3 (00:48):
The acrobatic I was the acrobatic kitten in the first season.
I can assure you I'm not now. I played the geriatric,
broken down cat in this one.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
You actually played two ros, don't you?

Speaker 3 (01:01):
I do? I play. I play the aristocratic fat cat
buster for Jones in the first act and the second act.
I played the old Gus. They call him Asparagus. His
name is and I played here's the old Sea, the
cat who used to sit at stage door and regale
his stories of him in the show.

Speaker 4 (01:18):
Talk about there's no need for liker this time title.
Will there be something?

Speaker 3 (01:21):
No, there's too much. Don't even drive. We call it
the I call it the l words. That's what it is.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
Keep you honest in the lead up to it. That's
for sure.

Speaker 3 (01:31):
It will get me hungry because I haven't even him
in four week, do you. It's my own fault though,
because I'm one of those one of those drivers who
goes ah, those cyclists, those men of a certain age,
get him off the ron on that guy, and now
it's bitten me. It's bitten me on them, like.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Those padded bum ones.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
I reckon I reckon Cats because we I mean, we
do love musical theater in this country. But I reckon
Cats was what set us on the path, wouldn't you say?

Speaker 3 (02:04):
Yeah, Cats was like the first blockbuster mega musical that
ran for years and yeah you know, and in London
a ran for twenty two years, so yeah, it was
the first. It was the first one of those mega musicals.
And then after that we had Leamirs and Phantom of
the opera and all those ones, but Cats really sort
of changed the landscape of musical theater in the world.

Speaker 4 (02:25):
Yeah, in your incredible career, have you ever met Andrew
Lloyd Webber?

Speaker 3 (02:28):
No, I haven't. Oh wow, maybe he'll come out to
see my sella performances. Expect he could be could be Gus,
Maybe it could be my understudy of course.

Speaker 4 (02:42):
Yeah, just have to throw a sicky just to get
the star in there. I love it, love it.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
I have to ask, what is your favorite song in
the show? Do you have a favorite song.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
In the show?

Speaker 3 (02:52):
Well, my two songs, of course.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
I mean, that's the obvious episode.

Speaker 3 (03:01):
Well apart from that, well, I mean I get to
sit on stage in front of Gabrielle, the lady who's
singing that iconic song Memory that everybody knows, and I
get to literally sit at her feet while she sings that.
And that's a bit of a thrill because she's got
one of the biggest voices I've ever heard. And so, yeah,
so that's probably my favorite, and it's the crowd favorite too,

(03:23):
And it's heartbreaking when you see it in the story
of the show. It's not just a standalone piece. It's
a heartbreaking part of the storytelling, and it's yeah, it'll
bring the.

Speaker 5 (03:33):
House down, Yeah, Gabrielle Thomas on Rotten Lisa's Bullpark because
she's done the sound of music, amongst the other things
at her career. To you, we often say, one of
our favorite Perth people from throughout the years. But you
and I almost were almost twins because you were born
in a month before me and sixty five. So therefore
this a certain birthday happened for you recently and one
coming for me soon. Did you celebrate big time or

(03:55):
did you home?

Speaker 3 (03:56):
Went my went for three weeks.

Speaker 2 (03:58):
That's the way to do happy, That's the way to
do it.

Speaker 3 (04:01):
Yeah. Well it was great, yeah, because I had some
people wanted to throw your party and I said yes,
and then I decided to split that into two and
then I ended up having a dinner and then I
had another one. Like just last Sunday I had the
third one. So it was the wrong time having endless
three course dinners. Though, when I'm about to get into that, well,
I didn't think this through.

Speaker 4 (04:21):
The festival, the festal of the Turd I like that.

Speaker 3 (04:24):
But do you know what, let it drag out as
long as possible is my just don't ever say no gifts.

Speaker 2 (04:32):
A gift, no gifts? What was I thinking?

Speaker 4 (04:38):
Gift?

Speaker 1 (04:41):
We are actually a couple of mad cat people in
the studio.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
Do you have any cats yourself?

Speaker 3 (04:46):
No? I don't actually trust cats really well. I had, Yeah,
I grew up. You know, I've had two cats throughout
my life, and I just I just didn't trust them.
I could be, you know, minding my own business, w
down the hallway and then it comes flying out from
behind something and all of a sudden, I'm bleeding. Yeah,

(05:07):
what happens?

Speaker 2 (05:08):
Yeah, it's me.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
Every second day you have the slightest distrust of cats,
they will they will zone in on you, and you
will be the one that they will.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
Yeah, you wake up in the morning, I wearing you
wake up in the morning and you're wearing one of
the hat on your bed and you're like.

Speaker 5 (05:25):
No, a, yeah, my wife made the mistake of calling
your cat angel and she used the demon for about
fifteen minutes a day, So I know exactly what you're
talking about.

Speaker 1 (05:36):
Well, I can't believe it's the fortieth anniversary tour and
I'm thrilled to bits that you're coming to town for it.
Cats is on at the Crown Theater from November eight.
Tickets are on sale now through cats to musical dot
com dott Are you thanks for joining us, Tom to
catch up.

Speaker 3 (05:50):
Man, thanks for inviting me. I'll see you there.

Speaker 4 (05:52):
Yeah, well do