Troubled pianist and Billie Holiday the cat
She is a young jazz pianist and singer who adores Billie Holiday, hears voices inside her head and engages in endless conversations with imaginary cohorts. Working as a waitress to get by, this aspiring musician, plagued by depression, relies on her imaginary chats with Holiday for solace. This is the profile of the main character in «A Cat Called Holiday,» a musical currently being staged twice a week at the capital’s Poreia Theater. The plot spins off into unusual territory when a black cat, fluent in English, convinces the protagonist that it is the reincarnation of Holiday. Eventually, the black cat leads the young singer on an imaginary and comical journey through the legendary late singer’s past, where life and death are intertwined. Even so, this strange and confusing situation somehow manages to give the young musician extraordinary strength. The protagonist is played by Photini Papadodima, who also wrote the production’s script. She is joined by American expatriate jazz musician David Lynch, who accompanies the performance on his saxophone. Commenting on the performing pair, the production’s director, Thodoris Abazis, described Papadodima and Lynch as two artists who share a passion for music and theater. «We’ve joined forces to share our thoughts and apply our ideas to a production that examines the theatrical aspect in music and the musical aspect in theater,» noted Abazis. «Photini’s script unlocks the hidden rooms of musical thought in a simple, personal and extremely emotional manner. In an effortless yet unexpected fashion, theater and music flirt, dance and combine to shed different types of light on the story.» The production’s costumes were designed by Penelope Triantafyllou. «A Cat Called Holiday,» Poreia Theater, 69 Tritis Septemvriou, on Wednesdays and Sundays, 10 p.m. Duration is 90 minutes.
