THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 25, 1994 TAG: 9407230019
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: ON STAGE
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 106 lines
RUM TUM TUGGER is a party animal, a cool cat.
To be more specific, he's an alley cat.
``You never know which way he'll go,'' dancer-actor-singer Ron DeVito said.
He ought to know - he's playing Rum Tum Tugger, the cat who routinely steals the show in ``Cats,'' the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical that returns to Chrysler Hall Tuesday for a six-day stay.
DeVito joined the touring cast only a month ago, but he's already finding that becoming a cat each night can be both a blessing and a curse.
``I'd been touring in `Crazy for You' for a while,'' he said in a telephone interview from a tour stop in St. Louis, ``and usually I arrive at the theater 30 minutes before curtain. With `Cats,' I get there an hour ahead. I have to warm up, get into the makeup and, generally, psyche my mind out to become a cat.''
But he likes the anonymity of all that fur and whiskers. ``I've been working, on Broadway and everywhere else, for a number of years now, but I still get stage fright,'' he said. ``With this role, more so than any I've ever done, that doesn't happen. I'm totally masked behind the character. I'm not nervous at all. If my mom came to the show, she wouldn't know it was me.''
The show's highlight is always the hit song ``Memories.'' It's sung by a faded cat named Grizabella, played by Mary Gutzi in this production.
The scene stealer, though, is Rum Tug Tugger. On Broadway, the part has been played with a pelvic thrust that would be the envy of Elvis in his prime.
``More a kind of Tom Jones singer,'' DeVito said. ``When I went into the company, the director told me to be sure that Tug was harmless - not vulgar in any sense or form. He's a clown. There's a bit of Jerry Lewis in him, too. I sometimes think of Curly of The Three Stooges.''
His is the only role in the show in which a little improvisation is allowed. ``I have to go out into the audience and pick some girl for a quick little dance. The other night, in St. Louis, it got scary. It must have scared the daylights out of this girl to have a cat coming at her. She was terrified. I tried again and the second girl was even more terrified. Finally, I improvised by spotting an empty seat, taking it, and putting my arm around this third girl. You never know what will happen out there. Usually, I find a real swinger who is willing to dance with me a little. That's all I ask. I'm not such a bad cat.''
Dancing has been his major gig since he graduated from the School of the Performing Arts in New York City (the high school that inspired the ``Fame'' movie and TV series). ``I was being groomed for a major ballet career,'' DeVito said, ``but I could also sing and act. I wanted Broadway instead. I auditioned for Jerome Robbins for the last revival of `West Side Story' but at 18, I was a little young. I didn't get it. I auditioned for Gower Champion for `42nd Street' and I got it. That job lasted for seven and a half years. It ended my ballet career, but I was where I wanted to be. It's very unusual for an 18-year-old to get a show business job that lasts seven years. I got a little spoiled.''
Since leaving ``42nd Street,'' he's been a bona fide gypsy - one of the nameless dancers who go from show to show, working behind the stars.
The jobs have been varied.
For two years, DeVito worked up routines for the Macy's Christmas Parade, first on the Madison Square Garden float and then on the ``Beauty and the Beast'' float. For the Indianapolis 500 Festival, he choreographed a number featuring 300 children.
DeVito and a friend from the ``42nd Street'' cast worked up a tap routine and went on ``Star Search,'' winning the preliminary rounds but getting knocked off in the finals. (``That job paid $1,000 for each week - one of the best gigs,'' he remembered).
On Broadway, DeVito took to roller skates for ``Starlight Express.'' ``It was a treacherous show,'' he said. ``Kids were falling everywhere - some really bad injuries.''
Between shows, he teaches dancing at leading schools around the country.
The life of a gypsy is an unpredictable one. ``Being an actor is not about being secure,'' he said. ``It's about taking chances - gambling. It's going from job to job.''
The ``Cats'' part does have its limitations.
``It's a no-no to go out of the theater with the makeup on,'' DeVito said. ``In New York, probably no one would notice a person dressed as a cat, but they might in Norfolk. For that reason, I usually stay in the theater and order carry-out food. It's easier than taking off all the makeup and then having to get into it again. If you stay in the theater between shows, there's usually time for a cat nap.''
He models Rum Tug Tugger on his mother's cat, Pookie. ``Pookie is one of those independent cats (aren't they all?) who takes over the couch. I studied his movements - particularly his paw movements when he walks. I could incorporate that into the show.''
For Ron DeVito, being a cat, even a wild cat like Rum Tug Tugger, is only a matter of psyching himself out - with a little help from the makeup guys.
It's the way of a gypsy. ILLUSTRATION: Dancer-actor-singer Ron DeVito stars as alley cat and
scene-stealer Rum Tum Tugger in the musical "Cats."
JUST THE FACTS
What: "Cats," a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Where: Chrysler Hall
When: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 and
7:30 p.m. Sunday
How much:$27.50 to $37.50. To order: 671-8100.
KEYWORDS: INTERVIEW THEATER by CNB