Based on the Pete the Cat children’s book series by Kimberly and James Dean with script and lyrics by Sarah Hammond and music by Will Aronson, Pete the Cat: A Live Rock Musical has delighted young audiences nationwide since its Off-Broadway debut in 2017 — largely owing to the popularity of its central character.
Grooving his way through countless adventures with a skateboard, guitar, and cool shoes and singing catchy, upbeat songs through over 100 picture books to date, plus an Amazon Prime series, Pete the Cat is a character that seemed destined to star in a stage musical. In Imagination Stage’s production of the Pete musical, directed by Kathryn Chase Bryer, Michael Perrie Jr. embodies the feline rock star with endless energy, swagger, and chill vibes, dressed in a fringed blue jacket worn open over a blue and purple tie-dyed shirt, peace sign necklace, and bell bottoms (Paris Francesca, costume designer), with red Gibson Epiphone guitar to match his red Converse sneakers.
When Pete gets scooped up by the Cat Catcher (Kylee Márquez-Downie) for rocking out late at night in a neighbor’s yard, he is adopted by the Biddle family, whose daughter Olive (also played by Márquez-Downie) desperately wants a pet cat. When Olive turns out to be allergic to cats, Pete moves into her older brother Jimmy’s room. Quadry Brown plays Jimmy as the perfect contrast to Perrie’s easygoing Pete. Appearing with a large stack of books in hand and a long list of handwritten rules on his bedroom wall, Brown’s Jimmy, a highly anxious second grader, wants nothing more than a perfect report card and an immaculately clean room, resulting in an Odd Couple-like clash with Pete in their duet “Happy Roommates.”
The unlikely friendship that develops between Perrie’s Pete and Brown’s Jimmy is at the heart of the musical, as Pete’s freewheeling approach to life shakes up Jimmy’s rigid routines and expectations at home and school.
Pete is not the only foil to Jimmy’s uptight personality. Olive, Jimmy’s high-spirited younger sister, eagerly welcomes the blue cat to the Biddle home, even though she sneezes every time she’s in his presence. Márquez-Downie as Olive plays up this running gag to great comedic effect. However, her big number “The Sneezing Song” finds her mopping the floor while dressed in a 1950s-inspired bubblegum-pink ensemble and throwing herself at Pete, claiming she wants to marry him. While Márquez-Downie belts out the song with the exuberance of Olive’s supposedly five-year-old character, the result felt like something out of a mid-2010s Meghan Trainor music video and baffled the children and adults in the audience.
Brigid Wallace Harper and Jay Frisby are amusingly neurotic as Jimmy and Olive’s parents — Harper reminding Frisby that he’s already stockpiled 200 cans of cat food in preparation for Pete’s arrival suggests that Jimmy’s tightly wound personality is inherited from his father. Yet the script doesn’t give their adult characters — including Jimmy’s teacher Mrs. Creech (Harper) — much to work with. I found it easier to buy into a guitar-playing blue cat as the star of a musical than to believe in Mrs. Creech being so star-struck by Pete’s appearance in her classroom that she changes her entire lesson plan, or the elder Biddles taking parenting advice from a cat.
However, the adults are minor characters in this musical, with Jimmy and Pete’s madcap musical adventure (in a groovy, rainbow-colored VW bus) taking center stage. With spot-on sound effects (Justin Schmitz, sound designer) and its own incredibly catchy theme song (“It’s a VW Bus”) that my kids sang for days afterward, the bus played a starring role. Sets (Tomya Pryor), props (Andrea “Dre” Moore), and lighting (Dean Leong) all evoked the whimsical, colorful world of the Deans’ illustrations from the Pete the Cat books and illuminated Pete and Jimmy’s journey under the sea, through outer space, and to Paris as Jimmy learns to let go of his perfectionism and “color outside the lines” once in a while. Luis Garcia’s projections of googly-eyed dust bunnies, old Cheetos, and a lost penny under the Biddles’ couch (where Jimmy hides in embarrassment at the thought of failing second grade art class) also deserve a shout-out.
With 14 musical numbers sung by the cast and an additional eight instrumental tracks in a 55-minute play, Deborah Jacobson’s music direction and Jennifer J. Hopkins’ choreography keep the production moving quickly, and the cast’s energy, vocals and dancing talents are equal to the task. While the music and the vibes often far exceed the plot in Pete the Cat: A Live Rock Musical, it fits perfectly into the “Pete the Cat-verse” and provided an enjoyable entertainment for the families and summer camp groups that filled the house on a rainy morning at Imagination Stage.
Running Time: Approximately 55 minutes, no intermission.
Pete the Cat: A Live Rock Musical plays through August 2, 2026, at Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Avenue, Bethesda, MD. Tickets start at $15 and can be purchased online or by calling the box office at 301-280-1660.
Best for Ages 4 to 10.
Pete the Cat: A Live Rock Musical
Script and Lyrics by Sarah Hammond
Music by Will Aronson
Based on the Pete the Cat series of books by Kimberly and James Dean
CAST
Michael Perrie Jr.*: Pete/Dance Captain
Quadry Brown*: Jimmy
Kylee Márquez-Downie*: Olive/Cat Catcher/Eloise/Astronaut
Brigid Wallace Harper*: Mom/Grumpy Toad/Mrs. Creech/Mona Lisa
Jay Frisby*: Dad/Gus the Platypus/Barnaby/Shark/Actor ASM
Dylan Toms: Understudy Pete
Kate Lurie: Understudy Olive/Mom
James B. Mernin: Understudy Jimmy/Dad
CREATIVE TEAM
Kathryn Chase Bryer: Director
Deborah Jacobson: Music Director
Jennifer J. Hopkins: Choreographer
Tomya Pryor: Scenic Designer
Paris Francesca: Costume Designer
Dean Leong: Lighting Designer
Justin Schmitz**: Sound Designer
Luis Garcia: Projections Designer
Andrea “Dre” Moore: Resident Props Designer & Puppet Designer
Ben Harvey: Assistant Lighting Designer
Samantha (Sam) Leahan*: Resident Stage Manager
*Member, Actor’s Equity Association
**Member, United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829 of the IATSE
IMPORTANT DATES
- Meet the Actors: Saturday, July 11 at 4:00 PM, Sunday, July 12 at 10:00 AM, Saturday, July 18 at 4:00 PM, Saturday, July 25 at 4:00 PM
- Scouts Day: Saturday, July 11 at 4:00 PM
- ASL-Interpreted Performance: Saturday, July 25 at 1:00 PM
- Sensory-Friendly Performance: Sunday, July 12 at 10:00 AM
