“The comedy Catladies (one word) was inspired by watching my girlfriend’s amazing ten-minute play in a showcase of plays by Offsides NJ Productions in late October,” said Sarah Dubinsky, the writer for Catladies: The Musical That Makes Lawyers Purr. “I thought that if she could do a ten-minute play, then I could do a ten-minute cat musical.
But then it turned into a 15-minute cat musical. And then it turned into a 20-minute cat musical. It finally settled at 80 cat-tastical minutes.”
Prior to seeing the showcase of plays, Sarah hadn’t had the desire to write in over a year as she was experiencing serious writer’s block. She started out using a few poems she had previously written as well as many new ones, which are now all songs.
When asked if she would like to discuss her musical experience and training, she responded, “Nonexistent. I was kicked out of third grade recorder class. I had to play Mary Had a Little Lamb constantly. Constantly. You can only butcher that lamb so many times.”
When it was time to submit, “I was googling and found an article about the Festival of the Offensive. The big decision was whether I wanted to pay the fee or spend $15 on diet soda and cat crackers. Since I already had a lot of soda that day, I sent in my application. But instead of getting a very nice form rejection, they took Catladies: The Musical That Makes Lawyers Purr.”
“So perplexed, I called the proprietor of Offsides NJ Productions, Jen DiOrio, and asked her what is involved in staging a musical.” Sarah continued, “She made it sound unbelievably rewarding and completely insurmountable. I was about to turn down my place in the festival and then Jen said she would be my producer. And magic happened. Little kittens sprayed through the sky on rainbows.”
Sarah workshopped her play at The Stage and Screenwriting Group of Women Who Write, facilitated by Jen DiOrio as well at the Writers Group at the Pride Center of New Jersey.
Sarah said, “I belong to a writers group where I’m the only one who actually writes. I had a full audience every Thursday.”
Sarah said, “I want to make this a cult classic and star in the Internet Cat Video Festival and Tour (www.walkerart.org/calendar/2013/internet-cat-video-festival-and-tour-2013-201). Everyone loves to watch cats online. Millions of people watch lawyer shows. This play combines the two elements with lawyers who are a little bit catty with appropriate ears and tails. There may even be whiskers. And I promise you, there will be tinsel.”
Sarah added, “Despite the flinging toy cats and the inappropriate language, we have a LGBT romance between the main characters that may or may not ignite.”
All of this appears to be going seamlessly, much to everyone’s delight. Catladies: The Musical That Makes Lawyers Purr will be at the NYC Festival of the Offensive on May 3rd and 4th at 4 p.m. at The Producer’s Club in Times Square at 358 W 44th Street, New York, NY 10036.
Full disclosure: I facilitate that writers group Sarah spoke of and I am dating the beautiful and wonderfully talented creator.
Sarah practices social security law during the day and practices being a cat mommy to her two adorable cats at night.
