Mittens, a Wellington celebrity, has turned up two days early for Cats at the Michael Fowler Centre.

Photo: Oliver Labone

The eight-year-old ginger and white Turkish Angora has more than 14,000 fans on his Facebook page The Wondrous Adventures of Mittens and is known for frequenting various central city tattoo parlours, retailers, bars... and now the Michael Fowler Centre.

The concert hall, which opened in 1983, is one of the major Wellington venues for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and other performances, graduations and community events.

Photo: Michal Klajban, CC by S-A 4.0

Yesterday the friendly feline found the purrfect spot on an office chair at the Michael Fowler Centre, spending the day cat-napping after a night out on Courtenay Place.

He spent the entire day keeping the staff company until he was encouraged to head on another adventure when it was time to lock up for the night.

But it wasn’t that simple… in fact it was literally like herding cats.

Photo: Oliver Labone

Oliver Labone, events manager for Venues Wellington – a man well versed in organising complex productions - says the team put Mittens out a side door, only to discover 10 minutes later that the fur-midable feline had come back in through the main entrance. “We went upstairs and spent the next little while being led around the venue, trying to direct him out. The phrase ‘like trying to herd cats’ definitely sprang to mind,” he says.

In the end no security was required to escort Mittens from the Michael Fowler Centre, just a bit of patience from the staff. In fact, his presence lifted morale. “Everyone loves him, he definitely has a calming effect on the office. One staff member was almost in tears, as she was a big Mittens fan and it was the first time she had met him,” Labone says.

Photo: Oliver Labone

The MFC team have one concern about Mittens though. “There is a production of Cats in the venue later this week, so we did wonder if Mittens had gotten his dates mixed up!” Labone laughs.

The curtain lifts on Cats: The Musical on these dates: