In "The New Teen Titans" (vol. 1) #15, The evil General Zahl placed the Titans into a devolving pit - where they devolved into strange creatures. Robin and the others morphed into monkeys - but Starfire devolved into a cat-like creature. This suggests Tamaraneans are an evolved form of human-feline. Interestingly, Starfire is transformed into a cat this episode.
The animated team made The Bullwinkle Show (1959) and The Muppet Show (1976) references throughout the episode which seems appropriate given the theater/vaudeville theme of the episode.
Mumbo's head against the 'golden circles within circles' is very reminiscent to the classic Warner Brothers' cartoon opening sequence.
One of the old men in the balcony is modeled after series character designer Derrick Wyatt.
Mumbo at the piano is flamboyantly dressed as Liberace, a flamboyant famous piano player.