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| Cats | |
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 Logo | |
| Music | Andrew Lloyd Webber |
| Basis | Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot |
| Premiere | 11 May 1981: New London Theatre, London, England, U.K. |
| Productions | |
| Awards | |
Cats is a sung-through musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is based on the 1939 poetry collection Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. The musical tells the story of a tribe of cats called the Jellicles and the night they make the "Jellicle choice" by deciding which cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life. As of 2022, Cats remains the fifth-longest-running Broadway show and the seventh-longest-running West End show.
Lloyd Webber began setting Eliot's poems to music in 1977, and the compositions were first presented as a song cycle in 1980. Producer Cameron Mackintosh then recruited director Trevor Nunn and choreographer Gillian Lynne to turn the songs into a complete musical. Cats opened to positive reviews at the New London Theatre in the West End in 1981 and then to mixed reviews at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway in 1982. It won numerous awards including Best Musical at both the Laurence Olivier and Tony Awards. Despite its unusual premise that deterred investors initially, the musical turned out to be an unprecedented commercial success, with a worldwide gross of US$3.5 billion by 2012.
The London production ran for 21 years and 8,949 performances, while the Broadway production ran for 18 years and 7,485 performances, making Cats the longest-running musical in both theatre districts for a number of years. Cats has since been revived in the West End twice and on Broadway once. It has also been translated into multiple languages and performed around the world many times. Long-running foreign productions include a 15-year run at the Operettenhaus in Hamburg that played over 6,100 performances, as well as an ongoing run in a purpose-built theatre in Japan that has played over 10,000 performances since it opened in 1983.
Cats started the megamusical phenomenon, establishing a global market for musical theatre and directing the industry's focus to big-budget blockbusters, as well as family- and tourist-friendly shows. The musical's profound but polarising influence also reshaped the aesthetic, technology, and marketing of the medium. Cats was adapted into a direct-to-video film in 1998 and a feature film in 2019.
Background
Cats is based on T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, the songs in the musical consisting of Eliot's verse set to music by Andrew Lloyd Webber.[2] The musical is unusual in its construction; along with Eliot's poems, music and dance are the main focus of the show at the expense of a traditional narrative structure.[3] Musicologists William Everett and Paul Laird described Cats as "combining elements of the revue and concept musical".[4] The plot centres on a tribe of cats called the Jellicles, as they come together at the annual Jellicle Ball to decide which one of them will ascend to the Heaviside Layer (their version of heaven) and be reborn into a new life.[5] The bulk of the musical consists of the different contenders being introduced, either by themselves or by other cats.[6]
Poems
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Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats is a collection of light poetry about cats that Eliot had originally written for his godchildren in the 1930s. Due to the rhythmic nature of Eliot's work, there had been previous attempts before Cats at setting his poems to music, though none of these attempts had been met with much critical or commercial success.[7] John Snelson, a musicologist, wrote of the poems:
provided excellent material for musicalization, as Eliot's style in this collection is reminiscent of a popular lyricist. The poet uses repeated catch phrases, strong hooks, steady rhythm and outrageous, attention-grabbing, witty rhymes, which are the ingredients of every well-crafted popular lyric.[8]
Most of the lyrics in Cats were taken from Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats with very minor alterations. Supplementary verses from unpublished poems by Eliot were adapted for "Grizabella: The Glamour Cat" and "The Journey to the Heaviside Layer", while the song "The Moments of Happiness" was taken from a passage in Eliot's The Dry Salvages. Cats director Trevor Nunn and lyricist Richard Stilgoe provided the remaining lyrics, namely for the opening number "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats" and the most famous song from the musical: "Memory". The former was written by Nunn and Stilgoe and was modelled after an unpublished poem by Eliot titled "Pollicle Dogs and Jellicle Cats", while the latter was written by Nunn based on another Eliot poem titled "Rhapsody on a Windy Night".[2]
Creation
Inception
Lloyd Webber began composing the songs in late 1977 as a songwriting exercise, partly because Eliot's book had been a childhood favourite and partly to see if he could write music to predetermined lyrics. The compositions were performed privately for friends but Lloyd Webber had no further intentions for them at the time. After his song cycle Tell Me on a Sunday was televised by the BBC in early 1980, Lloyd Webber began to consider using his musicalization of Eliot's poems in the same vein for a televised concert anthology.[9] He approached producer Cameron Mackintosh to explore possible avenues for the songs.[10]
Practical Cats, as the show was then called, was first presented as a song cycle at the 1980 summer Sydmonton Festival. The concert was performed by Gemma Craven, Gary Bond and Paul Nicholas. Eliot's widow and literary executor, Valerie, was in attendance and brought along various unpublished cat-themed poems by Eliot. One of these was "Grizabella the Glamour Cat" which, although rejected from Eliot's book for being "too sad for children", gave Lloyd Webber the idea for a full-blown musical.[11] He explained:
The musical and dramatic images that this created for me made me feel that there was very much more to the project than I had realised. I immediately decided that I needed the support of another to encourage me to re-work my settings and to see if a dramatic whole could be woven from the delightful verse that I was now to be allowed to develop.[9]
Lloyd Webber thus decided to turn Practical Cats into a musical, co-produced by Mackintosh and the Really Useful Group's Brian Brolly.[11]
Development
Shortly after the Sydmonton Festival, Lloyd Webber began setting the unpublished poems he had been given to music, a few of which were later added into the show. He also composed the overture and "The Jellicle Ball", incorporating analog synthesizers into these orchestrations to try to create a unique electronic soundscape.[12] Meanwhile, Mackintosh recruited Nunn, the then artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), to direct Practical Cats. Nunn was an unusual choice as he was considered "too high-brow" for musical theatre,[13] but Mackintosh felt that a "pedigree" director was needed to ensure Valerie Eliot's approval of the project.[14] After much persuasion, Nunn came on board and was joined by his RSC colleagues, choreographer Gillian Lynne and set and costume designer John Napier.[10][15] Nunn initially envisioned Practical Cats as a chamber piece for five actors and two pianos, which he felt would reflect "Eliot's charming, slightly offbeat, mildly satiric view of late-1930s London".[16] However, he relented to Lloyd Webber's more ambitious vision for the musical.[16] Nunn was also convinced that for the musical to have the wide commercial appeal that the producers desired, it could not remain as a series of isolated numbers but instead had to have a narrative through line.[15] He was therefore tasked with piecing the self-contained poems together into a story.[17] Nunn wrote about the significance "Grizabella the Glamour Cat" had on the construction of the narrative:
Here in eight lines Eliot was describing an intensely recognizable character with powerful human resonances, while introducing the themes of mortality, and the past, which occur repeatedly in the major poems. We decided that if Eliot had thought of being serious, touching, almost tragic in his presentation of a feline character, then we had to be doing a show which could contain that material, and the implications of it. Furthermore, we would have to achieve the sense of progression through themes more than incidents.[18]
An event called the Jellicle Ball was referenced by Eliot in the poem "The Song of the Jellicles", while a cat version of heaven known as the Heaviside Layer was mentioned in one of his unpublished poems. Nunn expanded on these concepts by conceiving the Jellicle Ball as an annual ritual in which the cats vie to be chosen to ascend to the Heaviside Layer, thus giving the characters a reason to gather and sing about themselves in the musical. He also added the element of rebirth as a play on the idea that cats have nine lives.[2]
One of Nunn's stipulations for agreeing to direct Practical Cats was that actress Judi Dench would be cast in the musical. Lloyd Webber was happy to oblige given her credentials and so Dench joined the company in the dual roles of Grizabella and Jennyanydots. Former Royal Ballet principal dancer Wayne Sleep was offered the part of Mr. Mistoffelees after Lloyd Webber and Mackintosh attended a performance by his dance troupe, one of the many dance showcases they saw in preparation for the musical. Casting for the other roles began in November 1980, with auditions held across the UK for dancers who could also sing and act. There was an initial disagreement over the casting of Nicholas as Rum Tum Tugger; Nunn had misgivings about the actor's easy-going attitude but eventually yielded to Lloyd Webber, Mackintosh and Lynne, all of whom were keen on Nicholas for the role. Sarah Brightman, who had already made a name for herself with the chart hit "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper", arranged a private audition and was cast in an as-then undecided role. By December, the full cast had been assembled.[19]
Meanwhile, Mackintosh engaged the advertising agency Dewynters to design a poster for the musical. After much back-and-forth, the agency presented a minimalist poster consisting of a pair of yellow feline eyes (with dancing silhouettes for the pupils) set against a black backdrop. The producers and the creative team loved the design but felt that the title — Practical Cats — looked out of place when paired with the image of the cat's eyes. The musical's title was thus shortened to just Cats.[20]
The musical was scheduled to open on 30 April 1981, with previews starting on 22 April. Shortly before tickets went on sale in mid-February, Nunn revealed to the alarmed producers that he was struggling to write the script for the musical. Despite still having no established book or score, rehearsals began on 9 March 1981 in a church hall in Chiswick, London.[21] The situation improved later that day when Lloyd Webber, Mackintosh and Nunn met with Richard Stilgoe, a musician known for his ability to improvise lyrics on the spot, in hopes that Stilgoe could write an opening song for the musical. By the next evening, Stilgoe had produced a draft for "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats".[22] However, "Memory", an 11 o'clock number for Grizabella that Nunn insisted the show needed as its "emotional centre",[23] still had no lyrics at this point. Lloyd Webber's former writing partner Tim Rice was brought in to write a lyric for the song, but his version was rejected by Nunn for being too depressing. The lyrics for "Memory" were not completed by Nunn until well into the previews.[24]
Many of the ensemble characters were created by the original cast through extensive improvisation sessions held during the rehearsal process. Said Nunn: "n day one of rehearsals what we had was 15 poems set to music and five weeks later we had a show with characters, relationships and stories running from beginning to end."[25][26] The production faced a last minute mishap when Dench snapped her Achilles tendon during rehearsals for "The Old Gumbie Cat" and had to pull out one week before the first preview. Shortly after this, the original music director, Chris Walker, also had to leave the production for medical reasons and was replaced by the film conductor Harry Rabinowitz. Dench's understudy Myra Sands replaced her as Jennyanydots, while Elaine Paige agreed to take over the role of Grizabella. Opening night was pushed back to 11 May, but Mackintosh refused to postpone the previews as he wanted to dispel the industry rumours that the production was an impending debacle.[27]
The development of Cats was also plagued by financial troubles. Mackintosh struggled to raise the £450,000 (US$1.16 million[28]) needed to stage the musical in the West End as major investors were sceptical of the show's premise and refused to back it. Lloyd Webber personally underwrote the musical and took out a second mortgage on his house for the down payment of the theatre. He later recalled that if Cats had been a commercial failure, it would have left him in financial ruin.[29] The remaining capital was eventually raised by small investments procured from 220 individuals through newspaper advertisements.[2][13] After the musical became a massive hit, the rate of return for these investors was estimated to have exceeded 3,500 per cent.[30]
Synopsis
Act I – When Cats Are Maddened by the Midnight Dance
After the overture, a tribe of cats known as the Jellicles gather on stage and describe themselves and their purpose ("Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats"). The cats (who break the fourth wall throughout the show) then notice that they are being watched by a human audience, and proceed to explain how the different cats of the tribe are named ("The Naming of Cats"). This is followed by a ballet solo performed by Victoria to signal the beginning of the Jellicle Ball ("The Invitation to the Jellicle Ball"). At this moment, Munkustrap, the show's main narrator, explains that tonight the Jellicle patriarch Old Deuteronomy will make an appearance and choose one of the cats to be reborn into a new life on the Heaviside Layer.
Munkustrap introduces the first contender Jennyanydots ("The Old Gumbie Cat"), a large tabby cat who lazes around all day, but come nighttime, she becomes active, teaching mice and cockroaches various activities to curb their naturally destructive habits. Just as Jennyanydots finishes her song, the music changes suddenly and Rum Tum Tugger makes his extravagant entrance in front of the tribe ("The Rum Tum Tugger"). He is very fickle and unappeasable, "for he will do as he do do, and there's no doing anything about it".
Then, as Rum Tum Tugger's song fades, a shabby old grey cat stumbles out wanting to be reconciled; it is Grizabella. All the cats back away from her in fear and disgust and explain her unfortunate state ("Grizabella: The Glamour Cat"). Grizabella leaves and the music changes to a cheerful upbeat number as Bustopher Jones, a fat cat in "a coat of fastidious black", is brought to the stage ("Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town"). Bustopher Jones is among the elite of the cats, and visits prestigious gentlemen's clubs. Suddenly, a loud crash startles the tribe and the cats run offstage in fright. Hushed giggling sounds signal the entrance of Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, a pair of near-identical cats. They are mischievous petty burglars who enjoy causing trouble around their human neighbourhood ("Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer"). After they finish, they are caught off-guard and confronted by the rest of the cats.
Finally, the Jellicle patriarch, Old Deuteronomy, arrives before the tribe ("Old Deuteronomy"). He is a wise old cat who "has lived many lives" and is tasked with choosing which Jellicle will go to the Heaviside Layer every year. The cats put on a play for Old Deuteronomy ("The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles"), telling a story about two dog tribes clashing in the street and subsequently being scared away by the Great Rumpus Cat. A moral from Old Deuteronomy is interrupted by a second loud crash, presumably from Macavity, which sends the alarmed cats scurrying. After a quick patrol for Macavity, Old Deuteronomy deems it a false alarm and summons the cats back as the main celebration begins ("The Jellicle Ball"), in which the cats sing and display their "Terpsichorean powers".
During the Ball, Grizabella reappears and tries to dance along, but her age and decrepit condition prevent her from doing so ("Grizabella: The Glamour Cat (Reprise)"). As a result, she is once again shunned by the other cats, but that does not stop her from vowing to return for another chance to be in the spotlight while a guilty Old Deuteronomy looks on ("Memory (Prelude)").
Act II – Why Will the Summer Day Delay – When Will Time Flow Away?
After the Jellicle Ball, Old Deuteronomy gathers his tribe to contemplate "what happiness is". Jemima (also known as Sillabub), the youngest of all Jellicles, understands the patriarch is referring to Grizabella, and passes the message on to the rest of the tribe ("The Moments of Happiness"). Gus – short for Asparagus – shuffles forward as the next cat to be introduced ("Gus: The Theatre Cat"). He was once a famous actor but is now old and "suffers from palsy which makes his paws shake". He is accompanied by Jellylorum, his caretaker, who tells of his exploits. Gus then remembers how he once played the infamous pirate captain, Growltiger ("Growltiger's Last Stand"). Gus tells the story about the pirate captain's romance with Lady Griddlebone, and how Growltiger was overtaken by the Siamese and forced to walk the plank to his death.
Back in the present, after Gus exits, Skimbleshanks is seen sleeping in the corner ("Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat"). He is the cat who is unofficially in charge of the night train to Glasgow. Skimbleshanks is considered vital to the rail operations, as without him "the train can't start". Within his song, a whole steam train engine is assembled out of objects in the junkyard.
With a third crash and an evil laugh, the "most wanted" cat Macavity appears. He is the so-called "Napoleon of Crime" who always manages to evade the authorities. Macavity's henchmen capture Old Deuteronomy and take off with the patriarch in tow. As Munkustrap and his troop give chase, Demeter and Bombalurina explain what they know about Macavity ("Macavity: The Mystery Cat"). When they are finished, Macavity returns disguised as Old Deuteronomy, but his cover is blown by Demeter and he ends up getting beaten by Munkustrap and Alonzo. Macavity holds his own for a time, but as the rest of the tribe begin to gang up and surround him, he shorts out the stage lights and escapes in the resulting confusion.
After the fight, Rum Tum Tugger calls upon the magician Mr. Mistoffelees for help ("Magical Mr. Mistoffelees"). Known as the "original conjuring cat", Mr. Mistoffelees can perform feats of magic that no other cat can do. He displays his magical powers in a dance solo and uses them to restore the lights and bring back Old Deuteronomy. Now, the "Jellicle choice" can be made.
Before Old Deuteronomy can make his decision, Grizabella returns to the junkyard and he allows her to address the gathering. Her faded appearance and lonely disposition have little effect on her song ("Memory"). With acceptance and encouragement from Jemima and Victoria, her appeal succeeds and she is chosen to be the one to go to the Heaviside Layer and be reborn into a new Jellicle life ("The Journey to the Heaviside Layer"). A tyre rises from the piles of junk, carrying Grizabella and Old Deuteronomy partway towards the sky; Grizabella then completes the journey on her own.[i] Finally, Old Deuteronomy closes the show by giving his final speech to the audience ("The Ad-dressing of Cats").
Notes:
- ^ The method in which Grizabella ascends to the Heaviside Layer varies depending on the production. In the original London and Broadway productions, she climbs up a stairway that emerges from the ceiling. In the 1990s and 2000s scaled-down touring productions, she ascends via a flying saucer-like vessel.[31]
Music
Musical numbers
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- †"Growltiger's Last Stand" has been dropped from US and UK productions since 2016,[32] with "The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles" moving to Act II to replace it.[33]
- ‡Also credited as "Song of the Jellicles and the Jellicle Ball".[33]
Orchestration
Based on the definitive 16-piece licensed version.[34]
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Characters
Cats is an ensemble show with a large supporting cast and no leads.[35]
Featured
Characters who are featured singers and/or dancers:
- Asparagus (Gus) a.k.a. the Theatre Cat – A frail elderly cat who used to be a famous stage actor.[36]
- Bombalurina – A flirty and confident red queen; she is best friends with Demeter and the two share an intense hatred for Macavity.[37]
- Bustopher Jones a.k.a. the Cat About Town – A fat upper-class cat with a "fastidious black coat and white spats". Respected by all, he is a man of leisure who frequents gentlemen's clubs for their fine dining.[38] In most productions, the actor playing Gus also plays Bustopher, though in early productions the part was handled by the actor playing Old Deuteronomy.
- Demeter – A troubled and skittish queen; she is best friends with Bombalurina and the two share an intense hatred for Macavity.[37]
- Grizabella – A former Glamour Cat, ostracised by the Jellicles, who has lost her sparkle and now only wants to be accepted.[39]
- Jellylorum – A motherly caretaker who watches out for the kittens and looks after Gus.
- Jemima/Sillabub – The youngest kitten. Idealistic and jovial, she is sympathetic to Grizabella's plight.[40]
- Jennyanydots a.k.a. the Old Gumbie Cat – She sits around all day and is seemingly very lazy, but at night, she becomes very active as she rules the mice and cockroaches, forcing them to undertake helpful functions and creative projects to curb their naturally destructive habits.[41]
- Macavity a.k.a. the Mystery Cat – A notorious criminal known as the "Napoleon of Crime".[42] Usually played by the actor playing Admetus/Plato.
- Mr. Mistoffelees – A young black-and-white tuxedo tom learning to control his magical powers.[43] He is a featured dancer, performing his signature "Conjuring Turn" (twenty-four consecutive fouettés en tournant) during his number.[44] Mistoffelees' chorus identity is sometimes known as Quaxo.
- Mungojerrie – A mischievous troublemaker, he is one-half of a notorious duo of cat-burglars along with Rumpleteazer.[45]
- Munkustrap – A grey tabby tomcat who is the storyteller and protector of the Jellicle tribe. He is Old Deuteronomy's second-in-command and the show's main narrator.[46]
- Old Deuteronomy – The wise and benevolent elderly Jellicle leader who is beloved by his tribe.[47]
- Rumpleteazer – A mischievous troublemaker, she is one half of a notorious duo of cat-burglars along with Mungojerrie.[45]
- Rum Tum Tugger – A flashy and unappeasable cat who loves to be the centre of attention.[48]
- Skimbleshanks a.k.a. the Railway Cat – An upbeat and active orange tabby cat, who lives on the mail trains and acts as an unofficial chaperone to such an extent he is considered rather indispensable to the train and station employees.[49]
- Victoria – A demure and graceful white kitten. She is a featured dancer, opening with a ballet solo after "The Naming of the Cats" and is the first character to touch Grizabella.[50]
Others
Other characters who have appeared in multiple notable productions include:
- Admetus/Plato – The chorus identity of Macavity. He is a teenage ginger-and-white young tom, and is typically paired with Victoria in a pas de deux during the Jellicle Ball.[51]
- Alonzo – A black-and-white tom. He is vain, insecure and full of bravado.[52]
- Bill Bailey/Tumblebrutus – A playful tom kitten, often performing acrobatics as well as being a strong dancer. His costume consists of brown patches (including a brown eye patch) on a white base.[53]
- Carbucketty/Pouncival – A playful and acrobatic brown-and-white tom kitten.[54]
- Cassandra – An elegant and aloof brown pointed queen.[55]
- Coricopat and Tantomile – Mysterious twin brother and sister with psychic abilities.[56]
- Electra – A reserved and solemn tortoiseshell kitten. Her costume is brown, red and black.[57]
- Etcetera – An exuberant and immature tabby kitten. Her costume is white, black and brown.[58]
- Griddlebone – Growltiger's lover in "Growltiger's Last Stand", in which she sings "The Ballad of Billy M'Caw" or the mock Italian aria "In Una Tepida Notte" (depending on production). Usually played by the actress playing Jellylorum.
- Growltiger – A theatrical character Gus recalls playing in his youth, and who appears in Gus' memory during "Growltiger's Last Stand".[36] In some productions he is portrayed as a vicious pirate; in others, he is more comical. Usually played by the actor playing Gus.
- Rumpus Cat – A spiky-haired cat with glowing red eyes, seen as a sort of superhero figure in "The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles" despite his ineptness. Usually played by one of the male ensemble characters in the play within the musical.[59]