#andre spathelf sanders

[miasiegert]

CATS Tied Tail Tutorial

Hi Folks, I know many of you already make these and have tutorials and already make these, but my friend Andre (Mungojerrie/Macavity at Suncoast) asked me how to make a Mungojerrie tail so I thought I'd post my tied-tail tutorial (as opposed to a wrapped tail tutorial) here for convenience. Everyone has their own variations. We also do wrapped tails (for sleeker cats) but mostly tied because we like the way it swishes and cats are all about coming for that booty. NOTE: I'm copying/pasting so this is customized for Mungo and specifically our mohawk Mungo costume shown below. Bonus shoe painting.

For the shoes I painted, his are in the center, bottom, between Cass and Gus--his Macavity are next to his.

TUTORIAL TIME.

What You Need: Different Types/Colors of Yarn including one Acrylic Yarn that’s strong to braid base/core.

Mungo Color Palette: Black, Different Oranges, little Yellow, little Red, OPTIONAL: little bit of White or Gray, can be added later.

WAIST BELT (Option: Get thick cord for around the waist, if nylon burn the end with a lighter so it doesn’t fray). 

Directions: Take Black yarn and wrap it around your waist about three times. You probably will shorten it but can always shorten, not lengthen. Cut 6 strands of yarn, 3 Black, 2 Oranges, 1 either red or yellow), and tie at one end. Separate into three pieces of two strands each and braid normally. You might need to tie the end onto a chair or use your toes to hold it taut. As you braid, periodically check it around your waist to see if you can tie a comfortable knot with extra hanging down. At the bottom, tie another knot. You can let the ends be loose and frayed for aesthetic. You can do this with 9 strands as well.

TIED TAIL DIRECTIONS: 
Step 1: Take a strand of yarn between your toes and stretch your leg out. Use the distance of leg to hip joint as a guide. You can always shorten a tail but can’t make it longer. Stand up and see where it falls from waist down. *Remember braided it will be a little shorter but yarn will add ~3” length. 
Step 2: Take 3 strands of yarn (Black/Orange) and braid normally, checking periodically about length (remember it adds 3”). Tie a thick double knot at the bottom.

Step 3: At the top, fold the tip of the yarn over so it forms a small tail loop. Tie a knot.

Step 4: Wrap yarn around the width of your hand many times then carefully cut one side of it. You should get ~5-6” pieces. Do this for all colors. You will need more than you think, a lot of black and a lot of oranges especially.

Step 5: Take 2-3 strands of yarn, go to the bottom, and just above the knot, tie the yarn in half so both ends dangle down. Single knot should be fine. Continue to do this but change where you tie the knot so there aren’t weird gaps. For stripes, have Big sections of just one color before changing. Mungo is mottled so mostly oranges for the stripes with black, then some reds/yellow mixed in in a few spots for variation. You can optionally have a TINY bit of gray and/or white if you’d like but not necessary.

Step 6: Tie all the way to just above the top knot, then slide the tail loop through. CONGRATS, YOU HAVE A TIED-TAIL and should have extra yarn if you want to make warmers.

[miasiegert]

When you can’t tell if Mungo is doing a yowling mating call at Electra or getting in a fight with her, but you do know that @mungoscairy27 is on Tumblr!!!

Wouldn’t it be a shame if like all the CATS fans followed Andre? Like it’d be absolutely tragic. I mean, look at that face:

You totally should not be smashing the follow button.

And you should definitely not ask him about all the COOL shows he’s got lined up.

And you should definitely not be checking out his butt.

Or like make use of the really nifty question button if you ever wanted to ask an actor about performing in CATS and doing a really tough split track for Mungo/Macavity. I mean how many people can flip Pouncival over around on one arm? JUST SAYING…

Oh look, photos from rehearsals. It’s almost like people love BTS stuff. Where did this come from??? It’s a mystery!

For real though, I love Andre so freaking much. He’s the Kyle to my Hal. And if I’m gonna cheat on David with anyone during cast photos (“but… we’re not cast???”) it’s definitely gonna be with Andre. 🤣🤣🤣😂😂 JK!

And somewhere there’s a pic where my face doesn’t look like a muppet. HOW???

[miasiegert]

BTS CATS Rehearsal On Set

Hi folks,

I've received a lot of requests to share BTS footage of any means (if possible) with explanations for educational purposes and generational interest.

These are our costumes, video from my cellphone, all that jazz.

NOTES:

*This was the FIRST time the actors were on set. *It was the first time they were in costume. *No make up: usually we don't do make up for early rehearsals since they're getting used to wigs, full costumes, quick changes, etc. *THE VICTORIA WIG SITUATION: We have an honest company and unlike others, we didn't say "deal with it" when it came to a mistake. We are meticulous with inventory but things happened, and we forgot a wig. We took the financial hit as it was our error to overnight materials and made a new wig in a day, and put her in the red Electra/Etcetera/Ensemble/Etc wig for that rehearsal. She was very kind/gracious/understanding as mistakes happen and we ALWAYS are transparent and honest. This has never happened before, we don't intend a repeat. *Actors are NOT mic'd up, clapper is LOUD *General note: If you see any BTS from any show and there's stumbling/falls/trips, there's a good chance it's because the set is sticky. *Yes, I was the WOO. Also, if I find the show footage--since some actors MAY or MAY NOT be lurking here--NO, I TOLD YOU, I WAS NOT WARSAW CLAP PERSON WEEKEND ONE!

Feel free to do whatever you want with this video, idc. Enjoy. Just again, PLEASE make note that this is first rehearsal on set, wrong wig due to OUR error, all of the above, etc etc etc.

[miasiegert]

CATS Suncoast Broadway Dinner Theatre - Hudson, FL (with Pics)

Thanks to Suncoast Broadway Dinner Theatre for renting our set and having us for the past two weeks in the Junkyard. It's always a delight working with Chaz, and we got to know an incredible cast and crew. I'm not sure how many hashtags I can use so I am going to include the cast list here for pics that arrive since all of you are so talented at Tumblr (the cast is so intrigued by Superfans, btw!)

We had many challenges with a dinner theatre because the stage is very small in order to accommodate tables. As well, actors serve patrons so I needed to design an outfit to protect the costumes and suspend disbelief. And from patron reactions, we've been told this is one of the best openings, if not the best opening, and the best show/costume the theatre has had to date and hoped we'd be back, which was very, very kind of them.

Pouncival, played by Isaiah Mayhew

Electra (u/s Bombalurina) played by Rachel Knowles (so sorry for the bad photo quality--she's stunning!)

Misto played by Kory Randles

Pounce, and these two randos, what losers. :P

Mungojerrie/Macavity split track, played by Andre Spathelf-Sanders and yeah, this jerk who keeps showing up. I adore the whole cast to bits truly but we're planning on cosplaying Green Lantern together and he was the first to get my "Archer" references in the make up classes. If it's ever of interest, I'm happy to sometime talk about my make up classes and what to do when there are "mistakes" with what I call the Bob Ross Method.

Demeter by Iraya Catalina is making an argument that maybe all Demeters need to be Filipino because she slays!

Jennyanydots and her incredibly supportive husband. She was one of the most delightful people to work with, hilarious, fun, loving, amazing hugs, and just a joy. I've never had a Jenny almost refuse to take the Gumbie suit off (which is a huge compliment). What a joy.

David was the make up designer for all of the designs except Bombalurina's, and I taught about 5-hours of make up classes.

The magic of an incredible LED screen came into play as there were cool effects, such as a first person POV of a cat going to the junkyard (bringing YOU into the show) and the sky changing with the hours of the day, the moon, everything. The lighting designer Dalton Hamilton was wonderful and provided the following photographs. All costumes designed/created by David and myself (The Costume Asylum/Siegert Creative):

I am going to try to get some rehearsal pics and one of the funniest bloopers ever but I hope this is a nice start. Happy Sunday, I'm happy to be home, but I miss these kitties so much already!

Apologies if I missed tagging anyone, y'all know I'm really trying with Tumblr very hard. Oh! Rhagan Carter (Rumpleteazer) is the Dance Captain! Knew I forgot something.

Also... is there a way I can add text when I add a bunch of pics at once to name the actors? I cannot for the life of me figure out how. I keep clicking in between photos and hit return and nothing!

Each passing day, I become more and more of that "how do you do fellow young people" meme, I swear.

If there's anything specific you'd like to know, feel free to ask or comments in general. Not sure how long it'll take to get back because I got 2 hours of sleep last night, flew in, and today is a "fuck it, let's order dominos" day. ... but... ordering dominos... is hard. moving is hard. falling down the stairs... easier than anticipated. 0/10 do not recommend.