Hippolyte Michaud, French
Audience Watching Controversial Neutering Scene in Original Broadway Production of “Cats,” Date Unknown
Oil on canvas
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Info, and perhaps links that point to more info, about this artist can be found in his French Wikipedia page (Google translated if necessary).
/// Theater Audience— Watch them engage
with the actors up there on the stage.
When they’d go to a show
they’d bring something to throw,
to express disappointment or rage.
/// Before curtain falls on the last act,
some performers may well be attacked.
Clothilde (at upper right)
tossed, with all of her might,
rotten fruit she had purposely packed.
/// The Stage Manager knew what to do.
He assembled the cast and his crew.
Boiled the food that was thrown
with a meager soup bone
and they all shared some Mulligan Stew.
/// In the cheap seats, they’re jammed in so close,
that they can’t avoid smells that are gross.
They gagged and recoiled
from the food that had spoiled.
It’s no wonder they all feel morose.
/// Such behavior was not then bizarre,
but at times even they went too far.
The weird man with a beard
with his lance almost speared
the lead actress. (It made her a star!)
/// Modern audience members today,
with such rudeness could not get away.
Just try using your phone
before Patti LuPone—
she will grab it while fans shout “Hooray!”
/// At the theatre, our willing suspension
of all disbelief ratchets up tension.
We must let ourselves feel
that what we see is real
to experience art’s true dimension.
/// Groundlings stand just as close as they can
to the stage where the actors they scan.
Juliet’s costuming goof
let them all see the proof
that this ingenue’s played by a man.
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/// With huge grins the first nude scene was greeted;
bigger still when the skin show repeated.
To this audience men
come again and again,
giving standing ovations (while seated).
> or <
/// That slim pole won’t obstruct any stuff;
it is not nearly massive enough.
Those who sit in this seat
get a visual treat:
A pole dancer’s above in the buff.