Cats 40th anniversary Australian tour at Crown Theatre Perth with Des Flanagan as rock-star cat Rum Tum Tugger

While sporting skin-tight black lycra and a ginger mane with cowlick curl might not be most people’s idea of a liberating experience, musical theatre performer Des Flanagan has found just that in his role as Rum Tum Tugger in the 40th anniversary Australian tour of Cats.

Last seen on the Crown Theatre Perth stage as Christian in Moulin Rouge! The Musical, the 31-year-old is getting to live his best rock-star life.

“One of our producers asked me to come along to audition for that character, so he knew something I didn’t,” Flanagan laughs.

“It’s so different to any other character I’ve done before and when I do my Rum Tum Tugger stuff, I just get to live in my rock world. That’s the kind of music I grew up on, and so I have a field day.

“I was fortunate enough to just take the reins and do what I like with it. That’s very much the character Rum Tum Tugger is anyway. He is an independent guy and he does his own thing because he wants to . . . I certainly love that part of Rum Tum Tugger, it’s the independence to just rip the vocals apart and have a good time with it.”

That is not to say Flanagan went without some direction, and like all performers in the record-breaking Andrew Lloyd Webber show, he was individually given three words to describe his cat — independent, preening and perverse.

“They are three very fun words; I have a lot of fun with those each night,” he adds.

Being part of a profound 40-year musical legacy with audiences of all generations is not lost on Flanagan, despite only discovering his love of Cats more recently.

Growing up as one of four siblings in Beechworth, north-east Victoria, Flanagan started musical theatre by affiliation with his older sister, going on to study at Victorian College of the Arts, where he had his first experience watching Cats.

“I was pretty uneducated in terms of music theatre back then,” he admits.

“I didn’t have a breadth of experience or knowledge and so every Friday night I’d go home from the library with some DVDs of musicals and soundtracks to watch with my housemates. One was studying environment and one was doing law.

“One night I took Cats home, we sat down with our pizzas and beer and think we got through about 15 minutes of the show before we decided ‘It’s probably not for us tonight’.

Flanagan let the musical simmer for a while before delving back into the work based on T.S Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book Of Practical Cats, which opened at the New London Theatre (renamed the Gillian Lynne Theatre) in 1981 and played for 21 years.

The Olivier and Tony award-winning production has since been translated into 23 languages and presented in 50 countries, including Australia, premiering at Theatre Royal Sydney in July 1985.

This 40th anniversary Australian tour opened at the same Sydney venue in June with Flanagan performing alongside cast mates including Gabriyel Thomas, Todd McKenney, Mark Vincent, Lucy Maunder, Jarrod Draper and Leigh Archer.

The musical tells the story of the Jellicle cat tribe who meet one night of the year at the Jellicle Ball, waiting for beloved patriarch Old Deuteronomy to choose a cat to be reborn into a new Jellicle life.

“I can’t tell you how much I’ve subscribed to this show,” Flanagan says.

“Even if it might be your first time going to a musical, there is still a resonance with this show, because it’s been part of pop culture for 40 years.

“I love it, like, because it takes escapism to the next level, and that’s why we go to theatre, but Cats is in its own sphere. There is something for everyone as you watch the incredible performances on stage. There is a storyline, but it’s pretty loose, and if you want to go along to just forget everything, it’s perfect.”

Cats is at Crown Theatre Perth until December 6. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.au.