Acro-Cats hope to climb, jump and swat their way into New Orleanians hearts
March 02, 2011, By Brendan Twist, The Times-Picayune
While Carnival rages across the city, the Shadowbox Theatre will play host this weekend to Samantha Martin and the Acro-Cats, a circus cabaret starring domestic house cats and featuring perhaps the world's only feline-fronted band, the Rock Cats.
"It's unlike anything you've ever seen before in your life, " Martin said.
For most of us, that's not hyperbole.
An Indiana native, Martin earned an associate degree in animal husbandry and moved to Chicago in the late 1980s to train animals for use in movies and advertisements. She also assembled a trained rat show that gained a cult following.
"There's no future in rats, I discovered, " Martin said. "Nobody wants a rat as a spokesperson."
Martin began collecting more exotic animal breeds, training them for TV and film, and exhibiting them at schools and birthday parties. In the early 2000s, she shifted her focus toward domestic cats, seeing greater earning potential and a chance to explore her gifts as an entertainer. Martin devised the Acro-Cats, and, after performing in Chicago for several years, she took the act on the road.
read more at: http://www.nola.com/arts/index.ssf/2011/03/acro-cats_hope_to_climb_jump_a.html
While Carnival rages across the city, the Shadowbox Theatre will play host this weekend to Samantha Martin and the Acro-Cats, a circus cabaret starring domestic house cats and featuring perhaps the world's only feline-fronted band, the Rock Cats.
"It's unlike anything you've ever seen before in your life, " Martin said.
For most of us, that's not hyperbole.
An Indiana native, Martin earned an associate degree in animal husbandry and moved to Chicago in the late 1980s to train animals for use in movies and advertisements. She also assembled a trained rat show that gained a cult following.
"There's no future in rats, I discovered, " Martin said. "Nobody wants a rat as a spokesperson."
Martin began collecting more exotic animal breeds, training them for TV and film, and exhibiting them at schools and birthday parties. In the early 2000s, she shifted her focus toward domestic cats, seeing greater earning potential and a chance to explore her gifts as an entertainer. Martin devised the Acro-Cats, and, after performing in Chicago for several years, she took the act on the road.
read more at: http://www.nola.com/arts/index.ssf/2011/03/acro-cats_hope_to_climb_jump_a.html