Kenneth Ard: “45 Years Later at The Jellicle Ball”

By Alix Cohen

Kenneth Ard was in bed when he received a text from a former mentee. Cats: The Jellicle Ball was coming to Broadway. Ard had originated the role of Macavity in the 1982 Winter Garden production when T.S. Eliot’s cats were felines. His mentee played Macavity Off Broadway in 2024’s Cats: The Jellicle Ball, by which time characters had morphed to “cool cats” i. e. competitive ballroom dancers.

“I’m not doing it,” the younger man said. “You should throw you hat in the ring.” It was a risk. At 65, Ard was still performing (and teaching), but it had been 25 years since the rigors of Broadway, 45 years since Cats. His eyes light up in the telling. “I immediately wrote Andrew (playwright Andrew Lloyd Webber), Bill Rauch (co-director with Zhailon Levingston), and Mike Bosner (producer.)

“I just said, ‘Tell me to fuck off if this is out of the question, but I saw the play Off Broadway and thought it was great. There’s nothing the guy who played my part did that I couldn’t do.” (Except, he later admits, the flips.) They asked him to send material and then to come to final callbacks. Ard purchased his own flight to New York City from San Francisco.

“I sang my heart out, danced with kids that were all 40 years younger than me- and kept up. (Ard is tall, limber, graceful, and chiseled. It’s not difficult to imagine.) I wasn’t trying to compete.” Everyone in the room respected his being there.

The artist grew up in Oakland, California. A restless boy and natural athlete, his mom and aunt enrolled him in an African dance class at 8. High school introduced him to jazz dance. Teacher Jean Washington used Broadway soundtracks. Ard excelled at the genre- specifically as underpinned with ballet technique. He still feels the two must exist in tandem.

Self-identified as a “young, queer boy”, he was protected by a beefy, older, football playing brother. “I wasn’t effeminate, but I also wasn’t straight.” Girls were for companionship. His mother told him to be gay was ok, that he didn’t have to hide. When his uncle commented Kenneth should be “butched up”, mom threatened to throw her brother out.

In his teens, Ard went to school part of the day, spending the rest in alternate dance classes with the Oakland and San Francisco Ballet Companies- both on scholarship. He graduated high school early and at 17, was cast in the musical Evolution of the Blues
by Jon Hendricks. Imagine working with The Nicholas Brothers at that age!

Personnel from The Royal Lahaina in Hawaii saw Ard dance. They invited him to assistant choreograph a succession of shows while acting as hotel social director. He was in Hawaii about three years when The Alvin Ailey Company came through. At an open class, he was invited to audition and then to join the company. It was a stopgap measure. “I wanted to be in musicals where I danced and sang.” New York tenure only lasted a few months .He was constantly out on auditions. He shrugs.

The young man had no manager, no agent. At cattle calls, he secured roles in the short-lived musicals Marlowe and The Little Prince and The Aviator. Then came Cats. Lithe and sinewy, the performer systematically built up his body. Five remaining aspirants were asked whether anyone did tricks. Ard executed a gymnastics run and was hired. He grins.

Choreographer Gillian Lynne loved Ard. She affectionately nicknamed him “The Chocolate Box.” What sounds like harassment today was, he says, flattering to the handsome 20 year old. When he improvised on her work, she inevitably told him to keep it in. Symbiosis made the early part of the job irresistible. “We were so close, people thought we were sleeping together.”

He played Macavity, The Rumpus Cat, and Plato- three costumes, a mask and two make-up changes. The roles were demanding and fun, but not what he wanted.

Parts in Starlight Express, Song and Dance, Jelly’s Last Jam, Smokey Joe’s Café, and Sophisticated Ladies followed. He was featured in Taylor Mac’s critically acclaimed limited run sold-out Off Broadway opera, The Hang and as Duke Ellington in SugarHill -The Ellington/Strayhorn Nut Cracker Suite at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago.

Looking back, the artist warmly cites two major influences: Geoffrey Holder for whom he served many years as muse and
Andre De Shields, with whom Ard has repeatedly performed. Holder worked professionally almost until his passing at 84.
De Shields won a Tony at 73. Now 80, he’s sustained a life onstage. Both examples of spirited longevity inspire.

This time around, Ard is cast as an entirely new character, DJ Griddlebone. He sings and dances in the ensemble and is on stage throughout, but there are no solos. Both experienced and a vibrant performer, he’s understudying Andre de Shields’ Old Deuteronomy and Junior LaBeija’s Gus the Theater Cat. Motivation is unabashed: “I’m ecstatic because I get to go back to Broadway.”

Cats: The Jellicle Ball is different from the 1982 version. Though the same lyrics and libretto are employed, its scenario takes place in a contemporary LGBTQ+, Harlem Ballroom whose tradition harks back to Harlem’s Hamilton Lodge Drag Ball in the late 1800s. Choreographers Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons both come from the contemporary Ballroom culture of razor-sharp moves, blending precision, athleticism, and fearless self-expression.

“We’re using the term “Jellicle” (coined by Eliot) to mean queer and trans- queens of the night. The entire cast is gay or trans,” Ard notes. “I know the arts are not supposed to be political, but I just want to mention that this would not have been happening now if it were not for our current administration.” (Andre De Shields from a New York Times interview with Elizabeth Vincentelli.)

Instead of standard (e.g., waltz, tango, foxtrot) or Latin (e.g., cha-cha, rumba, samba), participants now compete in such categories as voguing and virgin vogue (newcomer), runway, fashion, and best body (flaunting it.) The prize is a trophy, its winner achieving legendary status.

The show’s current cast went out to Brooklyn’s 3 Dollar Bill, a night club occupying a former industrial space where dance competitions are hosted on Mondays. They had a “ball.”

“It’s a much different feeling being in this iteration of the show. The cast is more supportive of each other. There’s more at stake. I had Ken Page as a mentor and Gillian Lynne as a supporter, but this cast is more warm and cuddly. There are also a large amount of debuts.”

Kenneth Ard dances ‘Journey to Broadway’ video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vtqrdsisHKKj6nGa63-tRFX_Vq8wVjsp/view

Kenneth Ard is having a wonderful time, looking forward with enthusiasm. He sees this part of his life as the next chapter. More musicals and a solo cabaret show wait just over the horizon.

All unidentified quotes by Kenneth Ard
All photos courtesy of the artist