Giant Vaping Animatronic Rat Joins Katy Perry’s Las Vegas ‘PLAY’ Residency
Katy Perry has added yet another weird and wonderful creature to the manic menagerie of oddballs in her Katy Perry: PLAY Las Vegas residency. On Thursday (June 2), Perry posted a 40-second video preview of an oversized animatronic rat named Ratso who will join the dancing toothbrushes, anthropomorphic toilets and enormous rocking horses that populate her ongoing show at The Theatre at Resorts World resort and casino.
“Introducing…. RATSO the newest cast member of #PLAY a huge thank u to the iconic, best selling @HarveyFierstein for lending his voice to the character,” Perry wrote alongside a video of her raunchy on-stage repartee with the punny rodent. “We wouldn’t have done it without you everyone go read his fab memoir!”
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In the clip, the hoarse-voiced scavenger and “newest, cheesiest” member of the high-camp PLAY cast is introduced by Perry as Fierstein croaks, “let me tell you a little squeak-ret.” The clip includes a behind-the-scenes look at the disembodied rat head blinking its eyes as the show’s directors/choreographers, Squared Division’s Ashley Evans and Antony Ginandjar describe the star’s obsession with puppetry.
“The three of us have tried to find the right moment to put puppetry into a show,” says Ginandjar. “And finally the Vegas opportunity came about.” Perry clearly loves horsing around with the puppet, playfully tweaking his foot in the video as the voice of Broadway vet Fierstein rasps, “There’s only one way you can leave Vegas with a small fortune…Arrive with a big one!”
In a tweet thanking Perry for t(r)apping him for the role, Fierstein wrote, “Look at dat – I’m a rat! I’m appearing with Katy Perry in Las Vegas!!! I think they really captured me, don’t you?”
Perry’s upcoming PLAY dates include a Friday night (June 3) show and gigs on Saturday (June 4), June 8, 10 and 11 before picking up again July and August.
Check out Ratso’s highlight reel below.
