SOME of the multitudes who saw an early touring production of “Cats” in the mid-1980s might remember an exuberant orange tabby called Skimbleshanks. The character was played by a 20-something dancer named Jonathan Cerullo, swathed from ears to tail in yak hair.

In 1985, the year before stepping into Skimbleshanks’s ratty-looking fur, Mr. Cerullo had moved into a 348-square-foot apartment in a century-old tenement on West 47th Street in Hell’s Kitchen. The initial rent was $309 a month.

“Cats” has long since become a punch line, and Mr. Cerullo has accrued an 11-page résumé of credits as a choreographer and director. But he has resolutely stayed put in this pocket-sized rent-stabilized space, for which he now pays just over $900.

Even for a struggling young performer, the space was minuscule; some New Yorkers have closets that are roomier. It can also be hot, dark and confining.