The Moscow Cat Theater

One of my art Directors is going Saturday night and sent me this article :-) :



The manager of the coffee shop in Midtown was sorry, but he could not let Yuri Kuklachev and his entourage come in; the New York City Department of Health does not allow animals in restaurants. In Mr. Kuklachev's hand was a cat carrier containing Marusa, his favorite cat. He had brought her to New York, along with 25 other cats, on the nine-hour trip from Russia to perform in the Moscow Cats Theater here, and he was not about to be deterred by details. After repeated promises to keep the carrier under the table and well out of sight, everyone was allowed to sit down.


Then, through a translator, Mr. Kuklachev started to describe one of the cat's most famous tricks, when he suddenly leaped up. He slid out the carrier, and in a moment Marusa was standing on her two front paws in the palm of his hand, her tail waving in the air.

Customers stood up, craned their necks and pointed, as the manager hurried over to Mr. Kuklachev - and laughed. Mr. Kuklachev, a small, muscular man with white hair and wide cheeks, smiled and put Marusa away.

(Photos):http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2005/09/16/arts/20050917_CAT_SLIDESHOW_2.html


More: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/17/theater/newsandfeatures/17cats.html

One day, Mr. Kuklachev said, he would like to found what he calls a "cat temple," where 1,000 cats would live and tourists could visit the "living museum."

The younger Mr. Kuklachev said his father trains the cats not by rewarding them with treats, as one might train a dog, but "by long, good words, touching them."

:bounce:

He must really have a way with animals.

I'd love to see his show.