<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Courtesy of the New York Post at:</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="http://nypost.com/2014/08/19/rescued-cats-co-star-with-rose-byrne-on-broadway/">http://nypost.com/2014/08/19/rescued-cats-co-star-with-rose-byrne-on-broadway/</a></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">------------------------------------</div><div><h1 style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 0px; border: 0px; font-family: founders-grotesk-x-cn-nypost, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 50px; font-size: 60px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word; clear: both; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); background-color: rgb(251, 251, 251);"><a href="http://nypost.com/2014/08/19/rescued-cats-co-star-with-rose-byrne-on-broadway/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">Stray kitten lands role on Broadway</a></h1><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A stray kitten named Alfonso won a cat casting call on Monday, pouncing on a role in the upcoming Broadway revival of “You Can’t Take It With You.”</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Director Scott Ellis picked Alfonso out of 14 auditioning kittens, all rescues provided by the Humane Society.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Alfonso’s role calls for him to sit on a desk and eat as actress Kristine Nielsen pounds away on a typewriter.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">During the auditions at the New 42nd Street Studios — which were also attended by co-star Rose Byrne — the kitties were placed, one by one, on top of the stage desk.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Each got one minute to show they could concentrate on eating or sitting still.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Most got distracted by Nielsen’s typing or peered curiously around the stage, but Alfonso was clearly the top cat, glancing just once at the typewriter before zeroing in on the food.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">His brother Louis won a smaller role, sitting in a box on stage during the same scene. The box will be opened, and Louis will, hopefully, step out.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I like the look. I like the color. I like he didn’t do anything but eat,” Ellis said of Alfonso. “He takes direction. He just stands there if I tell him to stand still. That’s what he does.”</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The 1936 play’s script has always called for a cat, but the producers of this Longacre Theatre production don’t know if recent runs included live cats.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Alfonso will take the stage next Tuesday for previews.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But fame will be fleeting for Alfonso, who will be replaced in a month. When cats reach 12 weeks, they typically become more unruly.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">New kittens will be auditioned then.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Alfonso, who’ll live at the theater, isn’t the only critter star. James Earl Jones will handle a live corn snake.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">--------------------</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Alfonso the kitten won a bit part during auditions for "You Can't Take It With You."</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img src="cid:208256B3-D499-47D5-84F4-A26643469C4A" alt="081814cat2jm.jpg" id="208256B3-D499-47D5-84F4-A26643469C4A" width="640" height="426"></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">--------------------</p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Rose Byrne with her new furry co-star for “You Can’t Take It With You”</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img src="cid:1516292D-32F4-4663-9183-9B0C0C057EC8" alt="hjkghjkghjk.jpg" id="1516292D-32F4-4663-9183-9B0C0C057EC8" width="640" height="426"></p></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">------------------------------------<br><br><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>