The Cats five-truck caravan left Canada on Sunday, but terrible rain, snow and mudslides that covered the highways virtually halted the convoy. Two of the big trucks made it to town, a third rolled in very early Tuesday morning (Cats opened Tuesday night) and a fourth arrived Tuesday afternoon. The fifth truck was missing in action somewhere North of the California border.

To top off the trucking problems, the casts' original flight to Sacramento was cancelled and a later flight got them to town at 3 a.m. Tuesday morning - minus all their luggage which was lost someplace along the way.

But like true showmen (and women), Cats took to the stage just a few minutes past its scheduled 8 p.m. start. The cast rehearsed up until 7:15 to remap their steps due to the fact that the missing truck carried most of the "junkyard" props that are used in the background of the set. Fortunately all the important parts arrived, including the costumes and other props, and preventing an all-out disaster.

This was the fourth time Cats has played in Sacramento (and the third time I've seen it). All its previous appearances were near sellouts and this time was no different with only a few tickets remaining weeks before the show arrived.

Whether it was fatigue brought on by the production's struggle to get to town and on stage or a combination of other factors and individual performance styles, this year's Cats seemed almost lackluster compared to the other two times I've seen the production. The music seemed a little off, arrangements were a little different and the on-stage dancing and singing styles were different enough from the past performances to give you that uneasy feeling all through the show that something wasn't quite right.

The show was by no means bad, but the performers didn't seem to have the same style and intensity of Cats' past incarnations. Indeed, only a handful of performers who were with the troupe on its last swing through Sacramento are still with the company, including Alice C. DeChant as Jennyanydots, Gavan Pamer as Mungojerrie, Taylor Wicker as Plato/Macavity and Lyn MacDonald as part of the Cats chorus. Several understudies were substituted on opening night in key parts, as well, which also may have had something to do with everything being out of sync.

Despite the adversity the cast faced, however, the appreciative Sacramento crowd gave them a standing ovation after the performance. Deserved? Yes, I think so. Randy Andre Davis' hyperactive performance of the Mr. Mistoffelees character seemed to be the crowd favorite and the "Cats" came out in the crowd on several occasions to interact with the audience, something I only remember them doing at the start of the show in the past.

And of course, Andrew Lloyd Webber's music in Cats is some of the best you will ever hear in a musical, with T.S. Eliot's poems from his book, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, comprising the lyrics, virtually unchanged from the printed text.

I think besides the music, the most endearing part of Cats is the fact that anyone who owns a feline (or is it the other way around?) will see their cat up there on stage in one form or another. Whether it's the mischievous Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer; the fussy Jennyanydots; or the aging theatre cat Gus ("it's really Asparagus, but that's such a fuss to pronounce") - any cat you've ever known will be on stage sometime during the production.

Cats has been on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre since Oct. 7, 1982, making it the longest running show currently playing, and the third longest ever on Broadway. It originally opened in London on May 11, 1981 at the New London Theatre (where it still is playing) and the current U.S. tour celebrated its ninth year, March 31, 1996.

I personally hope Cats continues to meow awhile longer. It is one show I could watch over and over and I look forward to its next visit to Sacramento.