The “J2” in the name J2 Spotlight Theater Company of Manhattan doesn’t refer to descriptions that start with the letter “J,” like “joyful” and “joke-filled,” but it might as well, because their current offering is all that and more. The double dose of J is actually a nod to its co-founder/executive producer, Jim Jimirro, partnered with Robert W. Schneider, Artistic Director, who so expertly helmed all three of this season’s varied mainstage delights, the first two being Smile and Zorba! With Drat! The Cat!, they’ve got an especially happy hit of hilarity and high energy on their hands to end their fifth anniversary season.

They say a cat has nine lives. The musical Drat! The Cat! – not about an actual meowing-type feline, but rather a cat burglar who dresses up like the animal – has notably had nine lives. You might not expect such a reincarnation situation full of charm, cheer, and chuckles from a show that, after its out-of-town tryout, came to Broadway sixty years ago for its 11 previews and even fewer post-opening performances, closing in a week. It keeps coming back.

In its first form, titled Cat and Mouse, with book, lyrics, and music by Ira Levin (Deathtrap, Rosemary’s Baby) never saw the light of day. He then revamped it, with Milton Schafer enlisted to compose all-new melodies, and it got its new title. This month, the J2 folks are presenting both the world premiere of the aborted Cat and Mouse on Tuesday, May 13 at 7:30, and the Schafer/Levin eventuality, which has performances through Sunday, May 18. These events, both at the company’s home base at the AMT Theater on West 45th Street, are done with the help and cooperation of another talented songwriter: Nicholas Levin, son of the man who began it all.

Other evidence of Drat!’s nine lives include three productions in New York City, nine years after the 1965 Broadway bow and a couple earlier this century by now-gone companies that were dedicated to championing underappreciated/short-lived Broadway shows — once by a company called Opening Doors, using the cabaret room at The Duplex in Greenwich Village, and the other by Musicals Tonight! which had used the building (then known as The 45th Street Theatre), where the show is currently alive and well and well-performed. And just a couple of weeks ago, the company called Group Rep in Southern California put on Drat! The Cat!, directed by Bruce Kimmel. Back in 1997, he produced a terrific studio cast CD of the score. (That counts as one of its nine lives, as does the bootlegged live recording that was released on vinyl before that.)         

The plot throws caution and logic to the wind, as it’s wacky and wild, with “Wild and Reckless” actually one of its song titles. Subtle it ain’t. And that’s fine. Director Schneider and choreographer Avital Asuleen cannily concoct very stylized humor in movements and tone, with freewheeling fun that has the best of cartoon and winking vaudeville exaggeration and shtick elements without being too much of a feverish, farcical, frenetic pace. Silliness is elevated to an art form. And the madness is complemented and given respite by the score’s lovelier, romantic pieces. Other numbers are extensions of the nuttier sensibilities in that joyful, joke-filled atmosphere. Songs are well served by the capable cast and the four-piece band led by Griffin Strout.

The story is set in the late 1800s in Manhattan. Residents are being robbed of their jewelry by a repeat offender and New York City citizens are apprehensive, hoping the crook will be apprehended, but the criminal costumed as a cat has eluded investigators and police. If this company had a cast closer to the size of the Broadway original — 34! — there’d be more of a feel of the Keystone Cops clustered clumsiness, but the splendid cast here has a grand total of only six, count ‘em, six actors who play all the roles!

And now back to our story: When the experienced first choice to head up the hunt inconveniently drops dead, his policeman son, Bob –  whose beat is way out in Far Rockaway, Queens – is recruited to fill dear old dead dad’s shoes, and gets promoted to “Acting Detective.” Soon he’s at the home of wealthy Mr. and Mrs. Van Guilder, arranging to be among a security team at their party where they and other rich guests could be likely victims if the stealthy stealer sneaks in. The game-but-goofy Bob meets and is smitten by the couple’s daughter, Alice, who offers to be his “personal assistant,” suggesting they could be like the famed Sherlock Holmes and his partner, leading to the perky duet “Holmes and Watson.” At the party – a masquerade – the lights go out and, before anyone can strike a match, the jewelry-snatcher strikes again. The skill-challenged people trying to catch a thief are clueless in more ways than one. The criminal is right under their nose, and the identity is verified for the audience when they’re directly addressed, one of several instances of “breaking the fourth wall” in this off-the-wall play. And the plot thickens, the incorrect individual is named as the suspect known as “The Cat,” and various characters end up in chains or in jeopardy or in a panic or in court or in the crosshair of a pointed gun or a cabin to hide from the authorities — or in love.

Kudos to the chameleon-like cast for filling so many roles with frequent quick-quick, slick switching of characterizations and costume pieces. Especially impressive is Richard Rowan whose facial reactions are major attractions, whether he’s the amusingly long-suffering, eye-rolling butler or the chagrined, cheerless chief of detectives. He can raise a laugh with the raising of an eyebrow. He also has good chemistry with Robert Hooghkirk, who is super as Superintendent of the Police and is an audience-pleaser when doing the dancing drag role as a dowager with a disappearing diamond. The comedy gets its broadest dimensions with some of the appearances of Adolpho Blair and Lauren Gobes, playing (among other folks) the haughty parents of Alice. Her portrayal of Alice’s flibbertigibbet-y, frequently fainting mother could be dialed back, as a little bit of fuss and fluster goes a long way. On opening night, Chelsea Wheatley as Alice had her best moments in the second act when her character is under pressure; certain behaviors and choices made by the character seem to demand more hints of being odd and short-sighted to peek through the “normal” persona she outwardly presents. The actress amuses with some playful bits, such as the situation of Alice being pursued by the puppy dog-like Bob, but she’s not even attentive enough to remember his correct name.

And then there’s the guy acting the part of Acting Detective Bob, inexperienced in sleuthing and romance; in this story of stolen valuables, you can’t quite say that the invaluable Alexander Rios steals the show, only due to the fact that he’s the leading man, with many scenes and songs. But he might just steal your heart. He aces the physical comedy (klutziness and hopping around with his ankles and wrists locked in chains for a while). He inhabits the habitually dim fellow, with mega-bright eyes and a bright grin as his very open face faces the audience and he faces the facts and feelings of falling in love. He’s immensely endearing singing the list of metaphors to describe the object of his affection in “She’s Roses” and in thinking his infatuation is requited in “She Touched Me,” which was introduced on recording as “He Touched Me” by Barbra Streisand, then married to the original Bob, Elliott Gould. (The flip side of the single was her rendition of another number from this score, “I Like Him,” nicely done here by Miss Wheatley.)

For giggles and a good time, set to attractive melodies and deft lyrics, Drat! The Cat! is divertingly daffy with more than a dash of sweetness. Those who’ve tasted it in its various “nine lives” already know that. Others are in for a belated discovery, which is the situation for just about everyone at Tuesday’s cabaret for the ultra-rare unveiling of the alternate coulda-been score, Cat and Mouse. But when it sinks in that this is the season finale for the entertaining J2 Spotlight productions, and its followers will have to wait months for the next series, an expletive stronger than “Drat!” will be appropriate.

photos by Russ Rowland

Drat! The Cat!
J2 Spotlight Musical Theater Company
AMT Theater, 354 W. 45th St
ends on May 4, 2025
for tickets, visit J2 Spotlight