As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago a crew of very special felines who are skilled in performing a lot of very cool things, was coming to Houston:
The Amazing Acro-Cats not only perform, but also educate the public. Samantha Martin teaches the importance of, "Clicker Training" and how it can improve your cat's life, and also be useful in the event of an emergency situation.
They have been playing last weekend and this one, at the Frenetic Theatre...and Daddy Kiril helped out on their first day and night and will be there this evening and Saturday.
This post is our effort to share the experience Daddy Kiril (The Mad Macedonian/Houstonian!) had, last Thursday, and give you a taste of the show through photos that he took.
Elvira Mistress of Felinity, here, and let's get started!
Daddy took the bus, but got off and on to the wrong one and found himself on Navigation, far west of the theatre! A call to Polly, his Acro-Cat contact, led to him being picked up.
Outwardly the theatre was not what he expected....
Quite, um, colorful, hee, hee!
Upon arrival daddy met various human cast members and, eventually, Samantha Martin herself, as well as fellow volunteers.
The first order of business was bringing boxes of things inside from the bus.
As the afternoon progressed volunteers assisted in various tasks including...
setting up a sales table and preparing merchandise for sale.
Daddy Kiril had several important tasks specific to the well-being of the feline performers!
He filled litter boxes and set down water in several pens backstage....
and followed that up by going inside the famous bus with another volunteer!
This was his first opportunity to see the stars themselves!
The other volunteer set about filling and cleaning litter pans, and setting out food and water...
Daddy set about putting together all the carriers so the cats could be taken inside.
When the other volunteer was ready to leave they found themselves unable to open the door and had to get help from outside!
After she left a cast member came inside to do something and the door was stuck again!
The lady, being thin, climbed out through a very small window!
Anyway, other than to remark on how crowded a space the inside of this old bus was, especially for the humans, daddy said the cats had their own cages and even a small common area and were mostly sleeping as he worked.
Aside from the mechanical and structural issues of this aged bus, he said he could well understand why a new one was desperately needed.
When you spend 10 months of the year on the road both the humans and felines would prefer to do it in as comfortable a fashion as possible.
After Daddy ate his lunch he had a chance to watch the cast do rehearsal...
and watch as Samantha Martin was interviewed by Sylvia Patricia Oben Morales, a reporter for Semana News, a Spanish language media outlet in Houston.
The interview and some performance footage, featuring show star Tuna and a few others, ended up in a 1 min. 18 second video posted on their website 4 days later.
I had to go looking for the thing as the reporter, despite daddy giving her our card and asking her to alert us, forgot to follow up!
Zoomin TV just released their own, minute plus, Houston video and interview. It's in English and is quite entertaining and informative!
Now...ON WITH THE SHOW!
The audience soon began to arrive and daddy was posted to the left of the stage and seating area, to block wandering felines from going where they shouldn't during the purrformance.
Daddy, wearing our old badge that asked people to ask him about our blog and us cats, took it upon himself to greet all the guests and encourage them to enjoy the show.
Several people asked him about our blog and he had a chance to chat us up and hand out a few of our cards.
The audience was made up of young and old humans and families with their kids and got into the spirit of the show as it proceeded.
Some people wore cat themed shirts and many bought merchandise as well.
As the show proceeded daddy took many photos and some actually came out very well.
Those I share below....
Yes, chickens can be trained! Oh, and so can a rat & a groundhog! All 3 have roles to play in the show.
These cats idea of playing with balls is...
a bit different than yours and mine, hee, hee!
The main show featured the cats climbing up and down and across various props, and manipulating others, prompted by voice and clicker commands and treat rewards...and sometimes they got distracted and wandered off, soon to return and be encouraged to finish their task or return to their cage.
Samantha introduced each performer and humorously dealt with the occasional snag and other humans had their own, funny parts to play.
Tuna, being the star of the show, did what Tuna does, to frequent applause, but lost to the chicken in a brief bowling competition.
The finale was a performance by the Rock Cats, on various musical instruments, from drums and guitar, to chimes and Cowbells....and on that note I want to share how daddy found himself on the stage!
Daddy was asked to come on stage and help Sookie play the chimes!
After brief instruction daddy spent an fun 20 minutes getting Sookie to play the chimes with commands and chicken bite rewards.
Daddy Kiril: Circus Performer! How cool is that? Hee, hee!
On a final note there is great news regarding the Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a new bus...
It was successful!
Daddy had a wonderful time and looks forward to his next visit with the cast and crew!
UPDATE - 2/2/16:
How much fun was that?! That was so cool that your human got to help the Acro-Cats, and my human is envious he got to spend so much time with Sookie, as she is one her favorite Acro-Cats.
Posted by: Summer | January 29, 2016 at 12:55 AM
hay ewe gals.....how total lee kewl that enuff monee was raized ta get de new bus AND how total lee kewl yur dad getted ta due all theze fun thingz !! we iz happee for him !! thanx for sharin bout de show, we apurreciates it....
heerz two a bicolor goat fish kinda week oh end ♥♥♥
Posted by: da tabbies o trout towne | January 29, 2016 at 01:01 PM
I have been eagerly awaiting your Dad's post about this. I am so happy they are getting a new bus. It sounds like your Dad was very helpful and got to have some fun too.
Posted by: Ellen Pilch | January 29, 2016 at 11:08 PM