By the next evening, Stilgoe had produced a draft for "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats". Grizabella leaves and the music changes to a cheerful upbeat number as Bustopher Jones, a fat cat in "a coat of fastidious black", appears ("Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town"). Producer Cameron Mackintosh then recruited director Trevor Nunn and choreographer Gillian Lynne to turn the songs into a complete musical. These numbers allow the cats to celebrate their tribe and species as a whole, in between the ones that celebrate individual members. From 21 August through 11 September 2013, the Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival (Auburn, NY) staged a production of the show with Taylor Dayne as Grizabella, KC Fredericks as Mr. Mistoffelees, Patrick Mellen as Old Deuteronomy, and Adam Ryan Tackett as Rum Tum Tugger. [90], Nunn was also adamant that the orchestra for Cats be hidden backstage — out of the audience's view — so as not to break the immersion. [13] Nicole Scherzinger, who played Grizabella in the 2014 West End revival, had originally agreed to reprise the role on Broadway, but her desire to return as a judge on The X Factor led her to withdraw. . Finally, the Jellicle patriarch, Old Deuteronomy, appears ("Old Deuteronomy"). Quickly memorize the terms, phrases and much more. Said Nunn: "[O]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. [31] The number also originally involved the cast putting on "Asian accents" to portray the Siamese cats. Victoria is the protagonist of the 2019 Cats movie. [289], The musical is also available for school and amateur licensing through The Musical Company. Cats has been translated into over 20 languages. The Musical! Lloyd Webber's compositions employ an eclectic range of musical styles so as to magnify the characters' contrasting personalities. [111] Leona Lewis was cast as Grizabella instead,[112] and was succeeded by Mamie Parris four months later in October 2016. He later recalled that if Cats had been a commercial failure, it would have left him in financial ruin. It also paved the way for the constant revolutionization of stage technology. The official Cats t-shirt became the second-best-selling t-shirt in the world in the 1980s, second only to the Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt. Isherwood concluded that the revival was "fundamentally the Cats you knew and loved when you were first bit by the musical-theater bug. For them, Cats is a soulless money machine."[307]. Back in the present, after Gus exits, Skimbleshanks is seen sleeping in the corner ("Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat"). The 2016 Broadway revival featured new choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler, who introduced more hip hop and cool jazz elements to the movements and dances. 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. [322] Siropoulos explained: Cats is considered the quintessential megamusical, because it reconceived, like no other show before, theatrical space as an immense affective encompasser, that transforms the viewing experience into a hypercharged thrill-ride and the spectator into an explorer of new and challenging aural and visual sensations. [352] Other stage shows that satirise Cats include Six Degrees of Separation,[347] Angels in America,[296] and The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!). polydactyl cat© ckellyphoto/Fotolia. Cats is a sung-through musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the 1939 poetry collection Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. Composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, the production of Cats is based on T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (1939), which the composer recalled as having been a childhood favorite. He displays his magical powers in a dance solo and uses them to restore the lights and bring back Old Deuteronomy. Now they probably don’t like or even approve of Cat Stevens or Cat Cora , but early studies indicate that cats may have definite musical preferences. [318][327] The marketing campaigns for the musical targeted family audiences at a time when this demographic was not a consideration in the industry. Old Deuteronomy calls the Cats back and the main celebration begins ("The Jellicle Ball"), in which the cats sing and display their "Terpsichorean powers". Due to the amount of dancing in Cats, most of the costumes did not last longer than a few months. Merchandising has since become an important source of income for the industry. [346][347] An episode of the musical television series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, titled "I Need Some Balance", parodied Cats by having all the songs sung by anthropomorphic cats who "introduce [themselves] over '80s Broadway beats". ", "Hoofdrol voor Jenna Lee-James in Nederlandse Cats", "Cats, Theatre Royal, Sydney, NSW, 26 July 1985", "Cats, Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, VIC, 10 October 1987", "Cats, Festival Theatre, Adelaide, SA, 24 February 1989", "Cats, His Majesty's Theatre, Perth, WA, 6 May 1989", "Cats, Princess Theatre (1886- ), Melbourne, VIC, 28 August 1993, 6 November 1993", "Cats, Lyric Theatre, South Brisbane, QLD, 28 July 1994, 3 September 1994", "Cats, Newcastle Civic Theatre, Newcastle, NSW, 10 September 1994, 1 October 1994", "Cats, Her Majesty's Theatre (1973-2001), Sydney, NSW, 31 December 1994", "Cats, Festival Theatre, Adelaide, SA, 30 December 1995, 27 January 1996", "CATS news: Delia Hannah confirmed to play Grizabella in Adelaide & Perth", "Cast lists: Australian Tent tour, February 2001", "Cats Run Away to the Circus, Australia, Australia, 11 December 1999, 24 February 2001", "Cats Run Away to the Circus, Samuel Sherlock Reserve, Frankston, VIC, 3 January 2001", "Cats Run Away to the Circus, Amphitheatre, Gateway Island, Wodonga, VIC, 10 January 2001", "Cats Run Away to the Circus, Bolton Park, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 17 January 2001", "Cats Run Away to the Circus, Aerodrome Ovals, Mildura, VIC, 24 January 2001", "Cats Run Away to the Circus, Weroona Oval, Bendigo, VIC, 31 January 2001", "Cats Run Away to the Circus, North Gardens, Ballarat, VIC, 7 February 2001", "Cats Run Away to the Circus, Vansittart Park, Mt Gambier, SA, 14 February 2001", "Cats Run Away to the Circus, Harris Street Reserve, Warrnambool, VIC, 21 February 2001", "Cast lists: Asia Pacific/Australian tour, 2009–2010", "Cast Announced for the All-Australian Production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats", "Delta Goodrem Plays 'Grizabella' in Australian Production of CATS, Beginning Tonight in Sydney", "Delia Hannah to Play Grizabella in Adelaide & Pertha", "SOPHIA RAGAVELAS TO STAR IN THE NEW PRODUCTION OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER'S CATS NEW ZEALAND", "Cats The Musical – Spectacular TransTasman Cast Announced", "Lea Salonga Plays 'Grizabella' the Philippines, 7/24", "Musical review: Not enough meat in the high-energy, visually spectacular Cats", "Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical 'Cats', one of the longest running shows on London's West End, coming to Hong Kong in 2018", "Classic musicals 'Cats' and 'Evita' to tour Taiwan", "From Cats to Chicago, China is loving Western musicals – but what of its own? 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