Audience members paid $20 for a front-row seat to this weekend’s opera, but some stray cats saw it for free.
Two stray cats were in Kirkpatrick Auditorium in Kirkpatrick Fine Arts Center during a Saturday night performance of the Wanda L. Bass School of Music’s production of Cendrillon.
One cat ran across the stage before the curtain opened, said Simón Gómez, music theater and composition sophomore. Members of the ensemble were in place on stage behind the curtain when they saw it run onstage and into the house.
Gómez said he thinks the cat has been in the theater since the tech rehearsal the previous Saturday.
“It distracted a few audience members, but it wasn’t particularly disruptive,” he said. “The house manager tried to get it out of the pit during intermission but couldn’t.”
OCU police department had to handle the situation before the Sunday performance, Gómez said.
Kevin Howery, music theater freshman, said he heard about another cat who frequents the orchestra pit and seemed to be present during the evening’s performance.
“It was a different cat than people had already seen,” Howery said. “There are at least two cats, or one cat that likes to wear different shirts.”
The stage-sprinting cat is described by students as gray and white, and the pit-dwelling cat is small and ginger.
The cats could have entered the theater through the basement, Howery said.
“The fine arts building is older than the school of music, so maybe in the foundation somewhere there’s a hole that they’re getting in through,” he said.
Howery said he didn’t think the cats distracted the audience too much.
“As far as I know, nobody actually saw the cat when it ran out at the beginning of the show because it was dark, and they were watching the curtain close. They didn’t hear about it until the ushers said something. The audience could forget about it very quickly,” he said.
Kennen Wedge, an audience member, said he saw people staring over the pit during intermission looking for the cats.
“There were about 12 people peering over. There was a cop. The cats were running around the pit. It was wild,” he said.
Evan Couch, music theater/vocal performance sophomore, said he tried to catch the cat, but it got spooked and ran away.
“I’ll never forget the look on everyone’s faces immediately after. We were all still laughing well into the performance of the overture. I think it increased our energy output throughout the performance,” he said.
Saturdays are usually the most difficult performances because the cast is tired and worn out, Couch said.
“It was a nice spark to start the show, and Saturday night ended up being one of our best runs,” he said.
Christopher Richie, music theater freshman, said the cast named one of the cats “Chuck Herald” after his character in the show and an inside joke with Dr. David Herendeen, professor of music and director of opera and music theater.
“You know if the cat came onstage while I was on there, I would have called it ‘Fat Louie’ from The Princess Diaries,” he said.
The cats are making more appearances because of the warmer weather, Howery said.
“I’m sure our issue of leaving trash out on campus doesn’t help,” he said.
Police Chief Jennifer Rodgers said campus police received a 911 call about the cat and responded to the situation.
“Nobody was hurt, of course, but everyone was quite excited,” she said.
The best way to catch the cats is in cages or traps, Rodgers said.
“I know there are some cat-lovers on campus. My very last resort is to put out cages because that could upset some people,” she said.
The cats return to campus because some students are probably encouraging them, Rodgers said.
“People need to stop feeding these cats and attracting them to campus,” she said.
Campus police think the cats have left the theater, Rodgers said.
“I would suspect by now that surely they are out of the theater,” she said. “We’ve received no additional phone calls.”
People need to realize that the cats are not vaccinated and could carry diseases, Rodgers said. She advised students not to approach the cats.
“I am definitely concerned about the diseases that could be passed along. They could have rabies,” she said.
Howery said he wants to start a Twitter account for the cats.
“The cat, I personally believe, would have tweeted one of two things,” he said. “First, it certainly would have been grateful to the cast of Cendrillon for giving it the opportunity to share the stage with us. Second, and most importantly, it would be like, ‘haha, suck it losers, you can’t catch me now, and you still haven’t caught me.’”
Editor’s note: Photo Editor Elina Moon and Web Editor Jessica Vanek were cast members in Cendrillon. They did not participate in writing or editing the story.
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