Ep250 - Gabrielle Parker, Jemima on the International Tour

“In my head I think Jemima is the daughter of Bombalurina and Macavity.” This episode features Gabrielle Parker who played Jemima on the 2025 International Tour of CATS. Hear Gabrielle share how a ballet background and seeing Cats around age 10 sparked her obsession with the show and her early goal to play Victoria. She recounts auditioning soon after graduating, initially being seen for Rumpleteazer before landing Victoria, and explains how character work begins with the “three words,” including Victoria’s surprising trait of being “unselfconscious.” Gabrielle discusses later playing Jemima on tours through Korea, Taiwan, China, and Europe, including the challenge and audience reaction of singing the opening of “Moonlight” in Korean and Mandarin. She offers personal Jemima backstory theories, reflects on touring culture differences, shares memorable mishaps and emergency cover moments, and reveals she met her husband on CATS, joking about a “white cat curse.”

00:50 First Time Seeing CATS

07:18 Building Victoria and Jemima

12:08 Jemima Backstory 

20:20 Singing Moonlight in New Languages

24:33 White Cat Curse Love Story

26:48 CATS Wedding Performance

31:53 Rapid Fire

Check out Gabrielle on Instagram: @gabbyparker_

Produced by:

⁠⁠⁠⁠Alan Seales⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠Broadway Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠⁠

Social Media: @⁠⁠⁠⁠TheWrongCatDied⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices