Wayward cats no more! Kitty Bungalow Charm School for Wayward Cats, a local Los Angeles non-profit organization specializing in street cat rescue, is producing A CATbaret! – A One-Night Celebrity Musical Celebration of the Alluring Feline; a cat-and-cabaret themed benefit concert, filled with exciting celebrity performances. The one-night-only event is happening Sunday, August 4 at 7:30pm at the historic Belasco Theater in Downtown Los Angeles. A VIP After-Party will follow the main event.
Following in the footsteps of 2011 and 2012’s smash CATS for Cats musical and benefit show, A CATbaret! has already signed on a number of returning and new stars* including Fred Willard (Modern Family); Chris Carmack (Nashville); Keith David (Cloud Atlas); Briana Evingan (Step Up); Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic Four); Melora Hardin (The Office); Bethany Joy Lenz; (One Tree Hill); Mindy Sterling (Austin Powers); Nicole Sullivan (Mad TV); and Owain Yeoman (the Mentalist).
Celebrity choreographers Tabitha and Napoleon will be remounting their memorable LOVE CATS number with So You Think You Can Dance dancers. A CATbaret! is a musical revue of popular and humorous cat-themed songs, and will showcase music from show tunes such as Be A Lion to Elton John’s classic rock Honky Cat; from the bluesy Black Cat Bone to the 60’s pop hit Walking My Cat Named Dog; plus everything in between.
Kitty Bungalow Charm School for Wayward Cats is a local 501 c3 nonprofit that began over four years ago when production executive Shawn Simons moved into her 100-year-old South LA craftsman home and discovered a colony of feral cats living in her backyard shed. After they began having babies, Simons began researching the problem and realized what rescues across the country agree on— we can’t just adopt our way out of the problem. She quickly learned that Trap Neuter Release (TNR) was the best way to control her growing feral cat population, as well as the population in the greater LA community. Her independent efforts grew into Kitty Bungalow Charm School for Wayward Cats, and when the kittens offered her the position of Headmistress, she took it.
Kitty Bungalow works in multiple areas of rescue, including the socialization of feral kittens who would otherwise be euthanized, and in TNR, the single most successful method to stabilize and maintain healthy feral cat colonies with the least possible cost to local governments and residents. Both these methods spare the City of Los Angeles the costly process of sheltering such a large and un-socialized group of felines. TNR is the active part of the rescue process. Small cat “Safari Teams” embark into the “wilderness” of Los Angeles, and capture the creatures in their own habitat. From there the cats are fixed; given vaccines; medical needs are attended to; they are eartipped for easy recognition; and then they are returned to their colony locations, while the “school-aged” hissy kittens are enrolled in the Bungalow. Kitty Bungalow has a specific “curriculum”—playing to the Charm School theme— and hissy street urchins are turned into “Ivy League lap cats” and ultimately given a life in a loving home. With the army of volunteer “teachers,” the Kitty Bungalow cats see over 40 volunteers a week and receive over 10 hours of socialization a day. Charm curriculum enables these street cats to prepare to “graduate” into loving homes.
Controlling exploding feral cat populations should be of great concern to both individuals and municipalities: feral cats (80 million) equal those with homes in the US; a pair of breeding cats can exponentially grow to 420,000 possible offspring over a seven-year period.
Kitty Bungalow is doing their part to manage the homeless pet population that that finds our city shelters killing 75% of the felines entering the system. On-the-ground rescues are key to lowering this sad statistic. A CATbaret! will help raise the funds to finance the medical services and supplies it takes to have these cats complete Charm School and find loving homes or ultimately re-integrate into their colonies. On July 14, Kitty Bungalow will complete a brand-new charm school facility with first-rate socialization and examination areas for its pupils.
A CATbaret! takes place in the heart of historic downtown Los Angeles at its newly restored Belasco Theater, the latest of LA’s rediscovered theaters to receive a lavish makeover. The Belasco participated in The Federal Theater Project, a New Deal project to fund theater and performing arts during the Great Depression. Today, the Belasco gives Angelenos a taste of its rich history simply by walking through its doors.
Kitty Bungalow would like to thank A CATbaret! sponsors and supporters for their help in putting on the show. They include: World’s Best Cat Litter, By Nature, Nature’s Variety, and foundation support from Found Animals and Best Friends Animal Society Initiative NKLA. Interested in sponsoring or donating? Please contact us.
A CATbaret! brings local stars together for a cabaret for a cause, an important and often overlooked cause in the area, and the Belasco Theater adds historical significance to an incredible evening.
WATCH OUR COVERAGE OF PAST KITTY BUNGALOW CELEBRITY EVENT
