Budding Whangarei actor Luke Bird thought for a whole five minutes, before taking a principal role in the Auckland production of musical smash hit Cats. "I must have been crazy, I don't know why I didn't say 'yes' straight away!" Mr Bird is the only cast member from Northland in AndrewLloyd Webber's Cats, which will be at the Civic Theatre in Auckland in June. He has a principal role in the production which boasts a talented cast including well-known performer Tina Cross and Outrageous Fortune's Shane Cortese. Mr Bird said he was initially disappointed when he found he hadn't got a lead role, but when he discovered his role was Bustopher Jones he was thrilled. "That's the best! I said, 'That's a fabulous role'!" he recalls. Mr Bird plays Bustopher Jones, a larger-than-life character which he describes as a true "cat about town". He also played the role in the Whangarei production of Cats last year. "He's huge! He's really well fed because he eats all over town ... he is really posh and into himself, but he always comes back to see his friends." Bustopher is only on stage for approximately seven minutes, but he says he uses the time well. "I just make the most of it. Everything has to be big. I mean, why wouldn't you?" The role was not something to come by easily, with more than 150 people auditioning. Mr Bird has to travel to Auckland and back, to rehearse, three times a week and he is always accompanied by his mother or grandmother who share the driving. Mr Bird, who was born and raised in Whangarei, began performing in musicals in his last year of high school and it was then he got theatre bug and began auditioning for more musicals. He joined Whangarei Theatre Company and Opera North, he now takes professional singing lessons and has performed in many Whangarei shows including Beauty and the Beast and The Buddy Holly Show, for which he was nominated for a Northern Area Performance Theatre Award. He says he would one day like make it big internationally - however he is content with New Zealand for the time being. "I'd just like to get well-known and be successful here first. Out there, it's a bigger game, a bigger die to roll."
