When Arizona Broadway Theatre cast actor‑dancer Chris Arellano was offered the role of Alonzo in “Cats,” he realized he needed a map to the Jellicle world — and fast.
“I didn’t really know ‘Cats,’” he said with a laugh. “I told them, ‘Whoever he is, I’ll learn about him.’ It’s such an iconic show, but I, honestly, didn’t know much about it.”
The dinner theater stages “Cats” until July 25.
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“Cats,” the fifth-longest-running Broadway show, is centered around the Jellicle Ball, where the cats decide who will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and be reborn. Alonzo is the youngest son of Old Deuteronomy.
The intricacies of “Cats” pleasantly surprised him — the makeup, the unitards and the Jellicle Ball.
“I didn’t know the lyrics were all T.S. Eliot’s words. Andrew Lloyd Webber didn’t write them. That blew my mind,” Arellano said.
Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” is within reach, a reminder of the work behind the whiskers.
“There’s not one big theme you’re supposed to take from ‘Cats,’” he said. “It’s what you make of it. Everyone connects to something different — the dancing, the effects, a song, a character. There’s something for everyone.”
Arellano grew up in Tucumcari, New Mexico, and graduated with a degree in graphic design and exercise science, which supports his career.
“Exercise science helps so much with teaching and with my own body in shows,” he said.
He balanced studying with his first musical, “Mamma Mia,” at age 19, with the Albuquerque Little Theatre.
“I caught the bug,” he said. “That show hooked me.”
Arellano moved to Phoenix in 2023, where he unexpectedly found a community that felt like home. He has appeared in ABT productions of “Cinderella,” “The Cher Show” and “Newsies.”
“The whole company is like a family,” he said. “Everyone puts their whole heart into every show. You feel that.”
He also was part of the ensemble, and the understudy for Jerry, in the 2024 production of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” his first ABT show. Immediately, he fell in love.
“We strapped these bodies around our necks,” he said. “We were on our knees, and we controlled the arms and hands. They were used for the Oompa Loompas.
“We had our heads on little bodies. Every night was really fun. We were wearing all black and the puppets were all white. They looked like lab coats. When they turned on black lights, the bright white costume created the illusion.”
Audiences laughed, gasped, clapped or cheered when they witnessed the “big reveal.”
When he’s not onstage, Arellano teaches young performers at the Phoenix Youth Theatre. He shared his philosophy: Students first.
“Regardless of whether they do theater forever, they have a place where they’re welcomed — where they can be silly, authentic and confident,” said Arellano, who will choreograph and assistant direct PYT’s “The Addams Family Jr.” and “Frozen Jr.”
Arellano’s resume is rich. He appeared as Dancer No. 1 in Nickelodeon’s “The Really Loud House,” which was filmed in Albuquerque.
“I had never danced for film, prior to that,” he said. “We did three days of filming. Instead of learning the choreography as a whole, we learned the choreography in pieces — like puzzle pieces. In postproduction, they put it all together. [The process] was interesting.”
Also, in “The Duke City,” Arellano parlayed his experiences into Orbit, the mascot for the Triple-A Minor League Albuquerque Isotopes, a Colorado Rockies farm team.
“That was one of the best jobs I’ve ever had,” he said. “I was Orbit, the little alien mascot. He is so cute and fun.”
Each home game was a challenge and a joy.
“Getting to do that every night, being out on summer nights, dancing on the field, smelling the hot dogs, is fantastic,” he said. “There were good vibes every day. People have birthday parties there. We would sign baseballs for kids. It was a party every night, but I was sweaty bullets inside.”
And for him, stepping into Alonzo allows him to honor the show’s legacy and find his place inside it.
“I’m so thankful this is my job,” he says. “Sometimes I can’t believe it. It feels like a divine calling.”
