FAQs about Simon Teakettle's MEWSical Society

A. All the creative ideas at Simon Teakettle Ink come from Terzo. The fact that Bobbi teaches an online course called Tapping Your Innate Creativity is just a coincidence.

A. The cats were PURRsonally chosen by Terzo from among his vast array of feline friends. Careful attention was paid to geographical distribution and origins, with a careful formula that ensured there were a sufficient number from Ottawa (in honor of the Ottawa Humane Society, where Bobbi found Terzo), that most were adopted from humane societies, there were a few ferals (in honor of Tiki), and some came from breeders or loving homes.

A. Twelve are from the Ottawa area, three (including Terzo) from Quebec, two from Thunder Bay, Ontario, one from Pickering, Ontario, one from Edmonton, and one from the NorthWestTerritories. There's a cat from Massachusetts, one from New York City, two from Georgia, two from Pennsylvania and two from California. Two come from Greece, one from Cairo, Egypt, one from London, England, one from Israel, and one from Aukland, New Zealand.

A. The first Simon Teakettle was completely black, with not even a tiny patch of white. So the logo for the company became a solid black cat (like the cover of MEWSings/Musings. The second Simon (Tiki) had just a tiny white locket, so it seemed fitting that we admit more black cats than any other color.

Q. How about the other colors. Why are there more brown tabbies, for example, and only one white cat?

A. All cats are actually tabbies, with brown more common than grey. A lot of this is explained on the Cat Facts page. We tried to obtain a distribution of colors that reflects the general population, along with a few "exotics" like the lilac and white tortie LaPerm.

A. No. One lives with a retired military man and his wife, a teacher. Another lives with a multi-talented TV producer, broadcaster, actress, teacher and artist, all rolled into one person. Another lives with a psychologist who is also a writer, one with a travel writer who has a criminology degree, and one with a writer who is also a certified reflexologist.

A. The youngest is a fourth-grader who just turned ten; the oldest are grandparents.

A. Because cats remain playful, alert and lively for many years. We don't think age should matter, except, of course for the Kitten Chorus, all of whom are Very Young.

A. Mrs. Doyle is a very special parrot. She was born the same week as Terzo, and they've had a very close relationship ever since. We invited her initially into our small combo (just Terzo on percussion and Jazz on piano) because we thought she could be the Girl Singer. When we discovered she couldn't sing, but was a talented drummer, the idea of the MEWSical Society was born.

A. No, she has beautiful red tail feathers, whose pigments are unique to parrots and are called psittacofulvins. She's an African grey parrot, a breed that comes from the Congo.

A. Of course she talks! She gets very excited when she sees squirrels, and announces "Squirrels!" to the household. Also, when the family returns after leaving her alone, she sometimes says, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm just a parrot."

A. They live with Tango Katz in the NorthWest Territories, and lobbied to form a camellid chorus. We finally agreed to audition them, and agreed their humming created a wonderful background to the cats. There are photos of Brinks (one of five alpacas), and the llama who guards them (Pumpkin) on the Society FAN page.

A. It was decided, early on, that uniforms would not be required. Terzo, of course, has been wearing his band uniform since he was a kitten and first discovered the array of percussion instruments beside the piano. Big Bertha, who heads the Kitten Chorus, suggested that we allow the kittens to dress up to keep them out of trouble. That didn't work, because Bailey and Cuddles immediately donned doll dresses and tried to sneak into the Kitten Chorus, although they're both far too old.

A. There are 20 males: Terzo, Jazz, Tyler, Cuddles, Rufus, Sammy, Charlie, Stanley, Max, Darwin, Joey, Tuffous, Pookie, Jorgito, Yoda, Bigfoot, Pigeon, Tippy, Tigger and Nibs.

And there are 13 females: Shooter, Bertha, Tango, Aimee, Bailey, Tulip, Natasha, Miss Noha, Willow, Geneva, Omaste, Matisse, and Lily.

A. The Chartreux comes from France, where it was called "the smiling blue cat." They have copper eyes and a dense woolly coat that's very soft. Read about this breed, the Maine Coon, the Abyssinian and the Burmese on the Cat Fanciers Association website: http://www.cfa.org/

A. The La Perm has long hair with a curly plumed tail and often a full curly ruff.

A. TICA is The International Cat Association, the World's Largest Genetic Registry of Pedigreed Cats. Omaste, whose registered name is Uluru BC Omaste Po of Quincunx, is a TICA Champion.

A. Jazz, of course, the better to Play the Piano. He's a Maine Coon, and they have the largest paws of any domestic cats. Because Bigfoot is part Maine Coon, he comes second, and Terzo, a polydactyl, is third. Lily, a feral with Maine Coon characteristics, will also have Very Big Paws when she's fully grown.

A. Because Simon Teakettle Ink has been a patron of GCTC for 33 years, and has many fans among the theatre folk (both onstage and backstage) who have been part of GCTC for decades. GCTC even mounted a display and sale of our books in the lobby of the theatre when they first began raising money for the new building.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SIMON TEAKETTLE INK ON OUR FACT SHEET

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