From Somerset West to the Jellicle Ball, Dylan Janse van Rensburg took his recent role of Rum Tum Tugger in the musical CATS by the fur and made it his own. The rockstar fursona spoke to SMF News’ Hae-Won Boesack about his career as a performer, and his dreams for the future.
Dylan Janse van Rensburg is a very tall man. He is built like a rugby player, and has been accused of being one before. In reality, he is a musical theatre actor, who recently played Rum Tum Tugger in the South African rendition of CATS the musical, currently on hiatus. He had first performed at the Artscape, in Cape Town in January 2026, and just recently “escaped” from Montecasino in Johannesburg, when the musical came to an end on 22 February.
Dylan Janse van Rensburg as Rum Tum Tugger during the rehearsals for the musical production CATS. PHOTO: Hae-Won Boesack
‘…Damn it! This is actually what I want!’
In 2024, Dylan graduated from the Luitingh Alexander Musical Theatre Academy (LAMTA), a performing arts academy based in Camps Bay. Thereafter, he performed in My Fair Lady at the Artscape as part of the ensemble. A week after completing that job, he migrated to the Theatre on the Bay as he played the lead, Joseph, in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
His first exposure to proper vocal training was at the Tygerberg Children’s Choir (TCC), located in the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town. The TCC, at the time, was led by the internationally acclaimed conductor, Hendrik D Loock.
“I mean, they took kids from like 9 to 12, and they made us sound like grownups,” he says. Though he was in a world-renowned choir and loved singing, he saw it more as an extracurricular activity and not a future career path.
Initially, his dream was to be a marine biologist. His high school subjects included mathematics, geography and biology, which were chosen in an attempt to help pave that path. He did not consider drama as a subject choice at all.
But then he starred in his first official play in Parel Vallei High School when he was 16. That exposure made him realise that he liked being on stage.
“I was like, damn it! This is actually what I want!”
Dylan Janse van Rensburg, the actor behind the sassy cat Rum Tum Tugger, from the musical production CATS. PHOTO: Hae-Won Boesack
Tugger and CATS
Becoming Tugger in CATS was not easy for Dylan.
“You’re a human trying to be a cat. And like, how am I supposed to find the truth of being a cat,” says Dylan.
The associate director on CATS, Matt Krzan, reminded Dylan to be himself and to see himself in Tugger, pointing out that Dylan and the character are similar in age. This allowed his portrayal of Tugger to transform from attempting to play Tugger into completely embodying the “rockstar diva cat” that Tugger is.
The conversation turns to the 2019 film adaptation of CATS. Dylan was quick to roll his eyes and let out a groan when asked if Jason Derulo’s version of Tugger served as an inspiration.
“Jason Derulo neglected the character entirely,” he states.
Dylan considers John Partridge’s rendition of Tugger as the blueprint, though he could not recall when and where he had watched the 1998 direct-to-video film adaptation of CATS. Nevertheless, that interpretation wowed him as a young boy.
“Like that much confidence… I was like: ‘That’s insane.’ Like, he’s owning the stage,” says Dylan. He knew that he had to incorporate the same poise into his own iteration.
Dylan Janse van Rensburg on the harbour at the V&A Waterfront demonstrating his signature Rum Tum Tugger pose, though in his ordinary “Dylan” clothes. PHOTO and GRAPHIC: Hae-Won Boesack
“Tugger needs to be something that someone looks at, […] I call him the c*ntiest diva on the whole entire planet,” he says.
The Cape Town and the Johannesburg shows differed in audience. Dylan says that both crowds were equally enthusiastic, but the Cape Town crowd had an older audience and Johannesburg had many younger children with their moms taking up the seats.
An audience member, Amani Ahmed from Cape Town, described the viewing experience as “otherworldly”.
“Rum Tum Tugger was wickedly hilarious, charismatic, energetic and enthusiastic,” said Ahmed. “The show in general was so applaudable, the whole auditorium became a part of the show. Cats would come down and interact with the guests. It was so entertaining.”
Being an official cat in CATS also opens the gates to an extended international CATS family, filled with current and former CATS thespians. Putting the verified CATS Instagram handle in your bio brings in a barrage of performers in this musical from across the world that root for their new Jellicle family member.
When the cat rests
Since returning to his apartment in Sea Point following his stint at Montecasino, self-proclaimed workaholic Dylan has kept himself busy. When he is not auditioning for commercials and TV shows, Dylan is studying to become a massage therapist at Healing Hands Massage Academy.
To obtain that qualification, Dylan must finish a five-week holistic massage course which he is currently pursuing during his hiatus.
He was inspired to pursue this additional path by one of his LAMTA headmasters, Duane Alexander. Dylan observed Duane massaging dancers if they sustained a minor physical strain during rehearsals. Having observed Duane, as well as other physiotherapists, he would try to mimic their actions.
Recently, cast members have started to come to him for informal massages. He realised that he needs to be serious about massaging. Not only because he enjoys it, but also because he wants to be confident in his skills and not worry that he is inadvertently hurting them. Dylan also sees it as a way to still be involved in theatre if ever his theatrical career would stop.
“If I ever have to take a break [from the stage] or can’t work for some reason, I could help dancers’ bodies,” says Dylan.
Dylan Janse van Rensburg as Rum Tum Tugger taking centre stage during a CATS rehearsal, performing his solo number, “The Rum Tum Tugger”, with his fellow cats: PHOTO: Hae-Won Boesack
What’s to come
Dylan jokes that his screen father is Tony Award winning performer, Jonathan Groff.
“[He] literally looks like me,” he says.
A dream role of his would be to follow in Groff’s footsteps and play Christoff from Frozen. In a gender-bent musical, another dream role would be to play Karen from Mean Girls. He says that often for men in the musical theatre industry, roles are quite static; either you are the clumsy guy, the prince, the heart throb or the henchman.
Meanwhile, he is still a part of the CATS production. It will only come to an end in 2027 in South Korea, where they will spend six months stopping at all major theatres across the country.
In the theatre industry, performers are not allowed to audition for new productions while contracted to a show.
Therefore, once he hangs up his tail, Dylan plans to start afresh by moving to the UK and attempting to break into the West End. Broadway is not on his itinerary. Ever confident as an actor should be, though he knows that the West End is notoriously difficult to get into. His second option is to go to Australia, a country with an even more competitive musical theatre scene.
But for now, Dylan is the sassy diva cat Rum Tum Tugger, taking cat naps on stage.
Reuniting as cats
Since the musical theatre community in South Africa is very small, it is common to constantly see the same people at auditions and new productions, says musical actor Dylan Janse van Rensburg. Dylan and Ché-jean Jupp, also a musical actor, both currently perform in the South African production of CATS, and are familiar with this phenomenon.
However, they share a deeper history than just seeing each other at the same auditions and sharing the stage.
Despite Dylan having lived in Somerset West his whole life, and Ché-jean in the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town, they also performed in the world-renowned Tygerberg Children’s Choir together. However, being a year apart in age, not much friendship was had besides performing in a choral arrangement together for 4 years.
The year after Ché-jean graduated from the Luitingh Alexander Musical Theatre Academy (LAMTA), Dylan joined the prestigious institute as well. They were like passing ships in the night, but were eventually reunited as adults at the first rehearsal of CATS.
Now, Ché-jean and Dylan play brothers, Munkostrap and Rum Tum Tugger, on stage. Munkostrap is the stern but caring older brother and Tugger is the sassy and boisterous younger brother. Together they have created a dynamic that, even when in the background, their characters still shine through organically without any planning.
“It’s beautiful background noise,” says Ché-jean.