When Jonathan Burke slipped into the paws of Mungojerrie in CATS: The Jellicle Ball at the Broadhurst Theatre earlier this year, it wasn’t just an arrival, it was a homecoming. Years ago, Burke nabbed his first professional gig after graduating from college in a national tour of Cats as—you guessed it—Mungojerrie.

“It’s such a full circle moment for me,” Burke says with icy-white smile, reeling in gratitude. Not only was Jellicle Ball a return to Cats, it also provided some much needed closure from another chapter of the seasoned actor’s life. Ten years ago, he had been cast in the Broadway show Tuck Everlasting before an untimely injury sidelined him for its short run, also at the Broadhurst Theatre. Over a decade before that, he sat in that same venue to see Les Misérables on an eighth grade drama class trip. Now, he’s voguing and getting into mischief eight shows a week in that very same theater. He graciously credits that drama teacher, Kenyatta Hardison, for introducing him to musical theater. “She would show us videos of different musicals, one of which was Cats,” he says with a glint in his eye, one he gets every time the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical crops up in the tapestry of his life story. “It was one of the first musicals I was introduced to in middle school. I would watch that VHS over and over again.”

CATS: The Jellicle Ball, which closed August 8, was a special rendition of the acclaimed musical, one that Burke became acquainted with early in the process. He had previously worked with co-director Zhailon Levingston on a play called Patience, and recalls: “One day after the show, we were having drinks talking about what’s going on, and he’s like, ‘I’m working on potentially exploring a version of Cats that is set in ballroom,’ and I was like, ‘that sounds incredible […] I have to be in the room whenever you start working on this.’” About a year later, he auditioned for Rum Tum Tugger, only for Levingston to ask if he’d like to play Mungojerrie—unaware of his previous tenure in that same role.

Burke is a trained dancer, but was new to ballroom and voguing upon being cast. “I admired ballroom for so long,” he says. “I wanted to make sure that I was really doing them justice and representing their community in the most authentic way possible.” He credits the show’s Tony Award-winning choreographers Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons with helping him hone his voguing chops. “When I finally did my first dip, I was so excited. I wanted to do a dip for years, but always thought I would never be able to. Now I do it in the show, eight shows a week!” he giggles. “This combination of ballroom and musical theater is something that literally has not been done before,” he says. “We always said that we were creating something new for the theater, and I think both communities have really welcomed it, appreciated it, and learned from it.”

This story appears in the pages of VMAN 57: now available for purchase!

Photography Isaac Anthony

Fashion Arut Arustamyan

Grooming Ben Jones (The Only Agency) using Oribe & MERIT

Editor Kev Ponce

Fashion Market Editor Gabby Buchan

Executive Producer Kevin Warner (WAK Creative)

Production Manager Nick Lambrakis

Production Coordinator Drew Bosset

Lighting Technician Andrew Beadsworth

Digital Technician Katelyn Markham O’Halloran

Styling Assistant Galina Vyrva, Sienna Young, Copelyn Bengel

Grooming Assistant Marin Mullen

Production Assistant Juliet Lloyd

Director of Editorial Film Mynxii White

Location Minetta Lane Theatre