Once again traveling to the Alamo City, The Amazing Acro-Cats set up shop at the Josephine Theatre — the first stop on their new tour.
The Acro-Cats show is operated by Rock Cats Rescue alongside owner and animal trainer Samantha Martin. The Acro-Cats were formed in 2005, with the original show star Tuna. All cats in the show are domesticated house cats, former orphans, rescues and strays that have been trained by Martin. She uses a clicker training method that uses clicks, treats and positive reinforcement to guide the felines.
While this stop at the Josephine Theatre may not be the first for the Acro-Cats and their band, the Rock Cats, it may be one of their most exciting with three back-to-back days of performance. Their performances ran from Friday through Sunday night at the Josephine Theatre located just off St. Mary’s St. at 339 W Josephine St.
Starting their performance, Martin and her human helpers gave some important info to the crowd, directing them to stay calm when cats run off-stage and making sure that only the crew wrangles the cats back to the stage. From there, the cats were introduced, along with a chicken named Cluck Norris who was later seen in the Rock Cats band.
With the show having commenced, Martin described the backstories of many of the cats, including the original star Tuna and the current stars, Tuna’s proteges, Ahi and Albacore. With cats being placed on stage, Martin and her human companions had the felines push carts around holding other cats, run through obstacles and make daring leaps across platforms.
Besides the stunts and amazing feline acrobatics, there were some small mishaps. Cats are not the easiest animals to train — Martin and her team made that clear to the audience at the start of the performance. There were many times when a cat would run off stage to return later or would ignore their cues to do their tricks. But the show must go on, so with a missed trick the audience would applaud and the cast of felines would continue to their next daring stunt.
Alongside the normal roster, the Acro-Cats are touring with a few kittens. While they are still learning their cues, they are also up for adoption from the Rock Cats Rescue. Anyone interested in adopting can contact Martin and her team through the Rock Cats Rescue website or email [email protected]. According to Martin, the kittens traveling are not ready for adoption just yet but will be around the time they are performing in Fort Worth, Texas, starting on May 9.
Following the performance from the Acro-Cats came the Rock Cats and the Jazz Cats bands — which shared most of the cast between the bands and the Acro-Cats performance. The Rock Cats band hosts an impressive lineup with St. Claude on guitar, Alley on drums, Newt on keys, Cluck Norris on cymbals, Ahi on cowbell, Albacore on xylophone, Annie on saxophone and Mickey on trumpet.
The cats hilariously played their instruments, making noise some of the time but capturing the audience’s hearts the entire time. The cats seemed the best behaved during the musical act of the show, staying in their respective seats as long as possible — mostly due to the amount of treats they would receive to keep them performing.
All in all the Acro-Cats, Rock Cats and Jazz Cats put on a fun, endearing and, most of all, entertaining show. The Acro-Cats is a unique experience that should not be missed if given the opportunity, and luckily, they are still touring Texas. They will be performing in Austin at The Rollins Theatre from April 24 through May 5 and in Fort Worth from May 9 through 12, before leaving the state for the rest of their tour.
