Francesca Hayward and Robbie Fairchild in CATS

I am so grateful that my first experience of the CATS movie was with someone who went in with an open and generous heart. And that we lucked out with an audience of people who were there to actually see it. I was, at first, resistant to the aesthetic and alienated by some cinematic choices, but as I adjusted to its sensibility, as the movie and I, mutually, found our footing, I was willing to let it take me to a magical, whimsical, joyous place.

My second viewing was both dismal and infuriating. Again, I was there with someone who was open to the experience, but the audience was one of the most disheartening I have ever encountered in my life. The laughs and heckling started immediately and never let up, even when there wasn’t anything particularly odd or funny happening on screen. Continue Reading