October 21, 2025 • 9 mins
Maria chats with host and producer Gemma Smith about Catbaret Presents: Meowloween, a one-night-only cat-themed variety show on Halloween (Friday 10/31) at Caveat (21A Clinton St in NYC)!
It's a variety show with comedy, music and burlesque! Wear a costume, there are prizes!
(Weruva is sponsoring the show and donating to RESCUE NYC.
For tickets: catbaretshow.com.
It's a variety show with comedy, music and burlesque! Wear a costume, there are prizes!
(Weruva is sponsoring the show and donating to RESCUE NYC.
For tickets: catbaretshow.com.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's Maria's MutS and Stuff.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
What a great idea on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome to Maria's Mutts and Stuff. And with me is
producer and host Jemma Smith of Cat Beret. I love that.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
By the way, Cat Bearet is very clever.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Thank you so much, thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Sure, so let's talk about cat Beret. And you've been
doing this? Is this correct since twenty eighteen?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
That's correct? Yes, The cat Beret is New York City's
cat themed variety show featuring comedy, music, and burlusque, or
as we like to call it, pur lust. And I've
been curating for over and hosting it for over seven years.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Wow. Okay, so how did this all begin?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Like?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
What? What was like the first one? Likely? What gave
you because obviously it's your idea? Correct? This is your baby?
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Absolutely? Yeah. So I still live in Astoria, Queen, and
there's a great comedy venue called QWED Astoria and I
would go see shows there and full disclosure, I was
going through a divorce. I had just gone through a
divorce and I had two cats, my own, and I'm
moved to New York City to pursue performing and acting.
(01:18):
And I thought I want a creative project that's just mine.
So I decided to start producing. I pitched it to
QD a monthly show at a variety show because I
love variety, and I thought, what do I love to
talk about? Well, I love my two cats and I
have so many cat loving friends, and so it started
as a monthly show and it's grown exponentially. Reduce. Our
(01:41):
show now quarterly at Caveat on the Lower East Side
and can fit up to one hundred cat lovers in
the audience.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
That's wonderful and you do it. It benefits cat rescue
right like Rescue NYC.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
So they're really lucky to partner with Rescue and rat
We put the spotlight on their optible cats and our slides,
our intermission slides, and shout them out at the show.
And this year we're presented by Waruva Pet Food and
they've made a generous donation of five hundred dollars worth
of cat food to Rescue NYC. So the show itself
(02:16):
is into charity show, but we do put the spotlight
on adoptable cats, and really it's all about creating. My
way of getting back to the cat community is creating
a space for cat lovers and those who work in
animal rescue to come together and take a night just
to have fun and connect with fellow cat lovers. And
I always offer promo codes for our friends who work
(02:38):
in animal welfare so they can just enjoy a night out.
And you know, all the hard work they do to
help cats, they deserve to celebrate and have fun too.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Sure, No, I think it's so it's like win win.
It's such a great idea. It's exciting. It's also very clever.
You know, cabaret cat bearet Mealaween for Halloween, right, because
that's what it is this year.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Yeah, yeah, oh, thank you so much. Yes, we love
cat puns and we love to mix it up. So,
I mean, we love cats, and we can do just
cat theme shows all the time, but it's so fun
to celebrate seasonally. So Melloween is our next show on Halloween.
It's Friday, October thirties. First Door is at nine show
at nine thirty, and I have three cat ears for everyone.
(03:22):
But we also have an audience costume contest too, ah
is it?
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
So we've also got spooky and cat themed a variety
of performances too.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Okay, So I was going to ask about the costumes.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Do most people come with costumes when you do it
on Halloween?
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Or half of them?
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Like?
Speaker 3 (03:41):
How does that? How do people?
Speaker 1 (03:42):
I'm sure people would be into it, I would think
because Halloween's a fun time to just for those even
for people who are shy about that on Halloween they
could be somebody else.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah, so this is his second cat beret that we've
mea Halloween show. We've gotten to do actually on Halloween,
and I say maybe a quarter of the oddio, maybe
a little more come in costume, Uh huh. And it
could be cat themed. We love a cat themed cat
adjacent costume. But I welcome everyone, whatever costume you want
to come in for Halloween, please come, I mean, and
(04:14):
we had a lot of fun. Last year's winner was
a cat burglar and she threw out hrew the cat
treat out into the audience from her like burglar bag
and the audience applause. Yeah, the audience loves it.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
That's great.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
And how do you determine the winner? Do you go
buy audience applause, you said? Or do you go by
do you have judges? How does that work? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
So I have two stage kittens. They are assisting me
throughout the show, and I'm going to be a witch
and they're my little black cats, and they helped me
determine their audience applause the winner. We have a couple
of rounds. The first round, everyone kind of dances at
their table, like standing at the seat, at their seats,
and then we choose the top ten audience members to
(04:57):
take a cat walk across the stage, and audience applause
helps us determine the winners.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
I love it. I love it.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
It's so clever and it's so fun, and it's very
very reasonable because I see you have early bird tickets
for only twenty dollars. At the door, it's thirty dollars.
Right advance is twenty five. I mean that's all very
very affordable in this time, you know, this time of year,
this twenty twenty five, you know, spending thirty bucks to
(05:24):
be entertained, and you're doing it for a good cause.
I mean, that's like I said earlier, it's win win.
Can't go wrong with that.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Oh thank you, Yeah, And I love to I forget
to share this, but Caveat is such an amazing venue.
It's down on Clinton Street. They don't have a drink
minimum either. I mean a lot of places in your
pe you're going to go out, and then there's a minimum.
And I also have a promo code Maria, I wanted
to share with you for your listeners. It's just per
(05:51):
in all capital letters. P. You are our five for
five dollars off no nice for me Alloween show.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Okay, well, I think that's very nice. It is very
generous of you, very sweet. I love this, Gemma. It
sounds like such a great show. So let's see what
without giving anything away, because I see what you're your
lineup is you want to tell a little bit about
what's what people can expect to see, just to like
what they're happytite a little bit.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Yes, absolutely. We love a good old variety show. So
I curate the show so each act is a little
bit different. We always start and end the show with
per lust. So the first act is a cheshire Cat
inspired burlast act by Joy Vicious, and we've got a
little tarot reading performance, the Pat Tarot card. Okay, We've
(06:39):
got the Randy Andy's. They're fantastic. They're New York City's
premiere Harmony Vocal trio, and they put a little it's
a Halloween spin on thriller, but I know they're going
to put a cat spin on it. Nice and some comedy.
James Corona Coroni, he plays Cappy the Cat. He's gone
(07:00):
viral and he's performed at comedy venues in the cities.
I'm really excited to see him and body that it's
based on his own cat. Some sketch comedy, and more
burlesque and a little drag lesque, which is a mix
of drag and burlesque together to a cat's musical mash up.
As folks love Broadway Cat, we got some of that
(07:20):
for them.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Yeah, I feel like you have something for everyone. It's
true variety, you know.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Yeah. Then I love to involve the audience. I like
to ask them questions and I tell them to yell
out a big meal, you know, if they've been to
the show before, if they have cats at home. We
just like try to make this. I call it a comuity,
another little cat fun.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
It's great. I love it.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Okay, So for those who are listening, who because you know,
it's really funny. Many times when you know, what, if
I'm doing a chat on Maria's MutS and stuff, and
I've been accused of not being cat friendly enough, meaning
I do love cats, but I do, and it's not
by choice. It just so happens when people reach out
to me. It's more of a dog oriented episode. But
(08:08):
this I'm helping, and you are definitely helping me with
my cred in the cat community. So I do appreciate that, Gemma,
and I think for those who are listening, I'm sure
the ones who are cat people will come.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
But I also think it should be good for dog
people as well, just animal people.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Absolutely, I love dogs too. I like you except the
opposite having on your podcast because I also love dogs. Yes,
I think it'd be great for anyone who loves animals
and that's a good time where it's a warm environment
and just a really like celebratory vibe.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Absolutely well, I think it's it's a great It sounds
like a great show. I definitely will try to come
see you because I want to see it. I'm so
intrigued by it. I'm glad that you had time to
talk about it. So it is Meal Loween with Cat Beret,
and it's happening on Halloween. It doesn't get more fun
than going out on Halloween itself. Doors are at nine pm.
(09:05):
The show is at nine point thirty at Cafat which
is twenty one A. Clinton Street here in New York City.
Can people go to Catberetshow dot com and get their
tickets that way?
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Absolutely, that's a great way to get their tickets. And
if you want to join our community on Instagram, it's
at cat Beret Show and you can see picks and
clips from previous shows.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Perfect well, Jemma Smith, have a wonderful time on Halloween.
Thanks for taking the time out. Good luck with it
and it's going to be great, So thanks for your time.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Thank you so much. See you
It's Maria's MutS and Stuff.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
What a great idea on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome to Maria's Mutts and Stuff. And with me is
producer and host Jemma Smith of Cat Beret. I love that.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
By the way, Cat Bearet is very clever.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Thank you so much, thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Sure, so let's talk about cat Beret. And you've been
doing this? Is this correct since twenty eighteen?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
That's correct? Yes, The cat Beret is New York City's
cat themed variety show featuring comedy, music, and burlusque, or
as we like to call it, pur lust. And I've
been curating for over and hosting it for over seven years.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Wow. Okay, so how did this all begin?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Like?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
What? What was like the first one? Likely? What gave
you because obviously it's your idea? Correct? This is your baby?
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Absolutely? Yeah. So I still live in Astoria, Queen, and
there's a great comedy venue called QWED Astoria and I
would go see shows there and full disclosure, I was
going through a divorce. I had just gone through a
divorce and I had two cats, my own, and I'm
moved to New York City to pursue performing and acting.
(01:18):
And I thought I want a creative project that's just mine.
So I decided to start producing. I pitched it to
QD a monthly show at a variety show because I
love variety, and I thought, what do I love to
talk about? Well, I love my two cats and I
have so many cat loving friends, and so it started
as a monthly show and it's grown exponentially. Reduce. Our
(01:41):
show now quarterly at Caveat on the Lower East Side
and can fit up to one hundred cat lovers in
the audience.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
That's wonderful and you do it. It benefits cat rescue
right like Rescue NYC.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
So they're really lucky to partner with Rescue and rat
We put the spotlight on their optible cats and our slides,
our intermission slides, and shout them out at the show.
And this year we're presented by Waruva Pet Food and
they've made a generous donation of five hundred dollars worth
of cat food to Rescue NYC. So the show itself
(02:16):
is into charity show, but we do put the spotlight
on adoptable cats, and really it's all about creating. My
way of getting back to the cat community is creating
a space for cat lovers and those who work in
animal rescue to come together and take a night just
to have fun and connect with fellow cat lovers. And
I always offer promo codes for our friends who work
(02:38):
in animal welfare so they can just enjoy a night out.
And you know, all the hard work they do to
help cats, they deserve to celebrate and have fun too.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Sure, No, I think it's so it's like win win.
It's such a great idea. It's exciting. It's also very clever.
You know, cabaret cat bearet Mealaween for Halloween, right, because
that's what it is this year.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Yeah, yeah, oh, thank you so much. Yes, we love
cat puns and we love to mix it up. So,
I mean, we love cats, and we can do just
cat theme shows all the time, but it's so fun
to celebrate seasonally. So Melloween is our next show on Halloween.
It's Friday, October thirties. First Door is at nine show
at nine thirty, and I have three cat ears for everyone.
(03:22):
But we also have an audience costume contest too, ah
is it?
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
So we've also got spooky and cat themed a variety
of performances too.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Okay, So I was going to ask about the costumes.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Do most people come with costumes when you do it
on Halloween?
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Or half of them?
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Like?
Speaker 3 (03:41):
How does that? How do people?
Speaker 1 (03:42):
I'm sure people would be into it, I would think
because Halloween's a fun time to just for those even
for people who are shy about that on Halloween they
could be somebody else.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah, so this is his second cat beret that we've
mea Halloween show. We've gotten to do actually on Halloween,
and I say maybe a quarter of the oddio, maybe
a little more come in costume, Uh huh. And it
could be cat themed. We love a cat themed cat
adjacent costume. But I welcome everyone, whatever costume you want
to come in for Halloween, please come, I mean, and
(04:14):
we had a lot of fun. Last year's winner was
a cat burglar and she threw out hrew the cat
treat out into the audience from her like burglar bag
and the audience applause. Yeah, the audience loves it.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
That's great.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
And how do you determine the winner? Do you go
buy audience applause, you said? Or do you go by
do you have judges? How does that work? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
So I have two stage kittens. They are assisting me
throughout the show, and I'm going to be a witch
and they're my little black cats, and they helped me
determine their audience applause the winner. We have a couple
of rounds. The first round, everyone kind of dances at
their table, like standing at the seat, at their seats,
and then we choose the top ten audience members to
(04:57):
take a cat walk across the stage, and audience applause
helps us determine the winners.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
I love it. I love it.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
It's so clever and it's so fun, and it's very
very reasonable because I see you have early bird tickets
for only twenty dollars. At the door, it's thirty dollars.
Right advance is twenty five. I mean that's all very
very affordable in this time, you know, this time of year,
this twenty twenty five, you know, spending thirty bucks to
(05:24):
be entertained, and you're doing it for a good cause.
I mean, that's like I said earlier, it's win win.
Can't go wrong with that.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Oh thank you, Yeah, And I love to I forget
to share this, but Caveat is such an amazing venue.
It's down on Clinton Street. They don't have a drink
minimum either. I mean a lot of places in your
pe you're going to go out, and then there's a minimum.
And I also have a promo code Maria, I wanted
to share with you for your listeners. It's just per
(05:51):
in all capital letters. P. You are our five for
five dollars off no nice for me Alloween show.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Okay, well, I think that's very nice. It is very
generous of you, very sweet. I love this, Gemma. It
sounds like such a great show. So let's see what
without giving anything away, because I see what you're your
lineup is you want to tell a little bit about
what's what people can expect to see, just to like
what they're happytite a little bit.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Yes, absolutely. We love a good old variety show. So
I curate the show so each act is a little
bit different. We always start and end the show with
per lust. So the first act is a cheshire Cat
inspired burlast act by Joy Vicious, and we've got a
little tarot reading performance, the Pat Tarot card. Okay, We've
(06:39):
got the Randy Andy's. They're fantastic. They're New York City's
premiere Harmony Vocal trio, and they put a little it's
a Halloween spin on thriller, but I know they're going
to put a cat spin on it. Nice and some comedy.
James Corona Coroni, he plays Cappy the Cat. He's gone
(07:00):
viral and he's performed at comedy venues in the cities.
I'm really excited to see him and body that it's
based on his own cat. Some sketch comedy, and more
burlesque and a little drag lesque, which is a mix
of drag and burlesque together to a cat's musical mash up.
As folks love Broadway Cat, we got some of that
(07:20):
for them.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Yeah, I feel like you have something for everyone. It's
true variety, you know.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Yeah. Then I love to involve the audience. I like
to ask them questions and I tell them to yell
out a big meal, you know, if they've been to
the show before, if they have cats at home. We
just like try to make this. I call it a comuity,
another little cat fun.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
It's great. I love it.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Okay, So for those who are listening, who because you know,
it's really funny. Many times when you know, what, if
I'm doing a chat on Maria's MutS and stuff, and
I've been accused of not being cat friendly enough, meaning
I do love cats, but I do, and it's not
by choice. It just so happens when people reach out
to me. It's more of a dog oriented episode. But
(08:08):
this I'm helping, and you are definitely helping me with
my cred in the cat community. So I do appreciate that, Gemma,
and I think for those who are listening, I'm sure
the ones who are cat people will come.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
But I also think it should be good for dog
people as well, just animal people.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Absolutely, I love dogs too. I like you except the
opposite having on your podcast because I also love dogs. Yes,
I think it'd be great for anyone who loves animals
and that's a good time where it's a warm environment
and just a really like celebratory vibe.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Absolutely well, I think it's it's a great It sounds
like a great show. I definitely will try to come
see you because I want to see it. I'm so
intrigued by it. I'm glad that you had time to
talk about it. So it is Meal Loween with Cat Beret,
and it's happening on Halloween. It doesn't get more fun
than going out on Halloween itself. Doors are at nine pm.
(09:05):
The show is at nine point thirty at Cafat which
is twenty one A. Clinton Street here in New York City.
Can people go to Catberetshow dot com and get their
tickets that way?
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Absolutely, that's a great way to get their tickets. And
if you want to join our community on Instagram, it's
at cat Beret Show and you can see picks and
clips from previous shows.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Perfect well, Jemma Smith, have a wonderful time on Halloween.
Thanks for taking the time out. Good luck with it
and it's going to be great, So thanks for your time.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Thank you so much. See you
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