Editor's Note: This column has been updated the reflect that Corey Axler taught Rachael Haber at Council Rock South, and the full name of her dance teacher is Debra Sparks Allison. Also, Haber played the role of Jennyanydots on March 19.
Playing a meow mix of parts in the theatrical feline phenomenon that is “Cats,” stopping off at Philadelphia’s Miller Theatre/Kimmel Center (215-893-1999) for a six-day run beginning March 14, Bucks County’s Rachael Haber may be feeling a bit frisky these days.
Nothing unusual there; she’s always loved the Andrew Lloyd Webber show, based on “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” T.S. Eliot’s ethereal homage to tabbys and aristocats and the streets where they live.
How long has Haber had feelings for the much-honored musical? “Cats” forever?
Seems so, says the Holland resident. “I was about 5 at the time and I would sit in front of my TV watching the 1998 video of the show over and over, every day. I don’t know how my family dealt with that!”
Very well, it would appear; it was all part of the deal in which Tracy and Scott Haber encouraged their child to pursue her personal path to Broadway. But then, who could stop her? “My room was decorated with Broadway posters; I even pinned a tail to my leotard after dance class and would eat a bowl of cereal and milk on the floor while watching the video!”
But now, 25 years later, it’s all creme de la creme for the 29-year-old actor/singer/dancer.
“Never did I think at that time that one day I would portray Grizabella,” grizzled and grim, whose rendition of the classic “Memory” makes for a memorable meme. “It’s crazy.”
Not so crazy is the memorable resume Haber’s been building over the years leading to her many swing/understudy/chorus characters in “Cats.” But Haber’s first professional production was at Princeton’s prestigious McCarter Theatre. Haber also did the dinner theater circuit; the Holland resident figuratively sang for her supper at the Dutch Apple Dinner Theater in Lancaster, among other sites.
But Haber’s ship-shape career choice became clear later on: From hitting the high C’s to hitting the high seas, the actress made her mark as a musical performer on a variety of cruise lines.
But she is not in cruise mode these days; full steam ahead on what appears to be a Broadway-bound future. In choreographing a career littered with all the right steps, Haber has special shout-outs for those who helped propel her on stage, such as choir teacher Corey Axler at Council Rock South, and Debra Sparks Allison, the eponymous head of a distinguished dance academy in Newtown who helped Haber tap into her talents.
Then there are all those friends/classmates from Council Rock South who supported Haber along the way, many of whom will show up at the Miller Theatre when she gets to go on as Jennyanydots on March 19.
And when this touring “Cats” cast calls it quits after the June 18 tour finale? Haber and her longtime partner, Manny Rodriguez, whom she met when both performed in musicals on a Viking Cruise, will “move to Orlando; that’s our plan for now.”
And though Haber concedes she grew up more of a dog person, no question she’s become a “Cats” cohort since. Indeed, this graduate of the Shenandoah Conservatory, who owns a BFA in musical theater, pounced with pride in announcing to her mom her tour debut: “Look, Ma, I’m a Cat!”
Michael Elkin is a playwright, theater critic and novelist from Abington. He writes occasional theater-related columns.
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