T. S. Eliot

musical --- THE possum's book of practical cats

Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats and other poems by T. S. Eliot. Cats is one of the most popular musicals of all time having been performed around the world in numerous productions (the show has been translated into over 20 languages).

Cats was first shown in London's West End, at the New London Theatre, on May 11, 1981. It was originally produced onstage by Cameron Mackintosh and Lloyd Webbers's The Really Useful Theatre Company. It was directed by Trevor Nunn, associate director and choreographer Gillian Lynne, designed by John Napier with lighting by David Hersey.The show then made its debut on Broadway on October 7, 1982 at the Winter Garden Theatre with the same production team. On June 19, 1997 Cats became the longest running musical in Broadway history with 6,138 performances. It played a total of 8,949 performances in London and 7,485 in New York. Its New York record was surpassed on January 9, 2006 by The Phantom of the Opera, which was also composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Cats' final performance on Broadway was on September 10, 2000. Its final performance in London's West End was on its 21st birthday, May 11, 2002 and broadcast on a large screen in Covent Garden to the delight of fans who could not acquire a ticket for the final performance.

The musical is as of 2006 touring the UK.

In 1998, Andrew Lloyd Webber produced a video version of Cats, based upon the stage performance (augmented for the media of film), starring Elaine Paige, who originated the role of Grizabella in London, Ken Page, who originated Old Deuteronomy on Broadway, Sir John Mills, Michael Gruber, and John Partridge, among other dancers and singers drawn largely from stage productions of the showwas directed for film by David Mallet with choreography and musical staging . It by the show Lynne in London's Adelphi Theatre, and was released on VHS and DVD, as 's respected original creator Gillian well as broadcast on Television worldwide.

The story involves a group of felines, known as the Jellicle Tribe, who inhabit a junkyard and congregate for an annual Jellicle Ball. At the conclusion of each Jellicle Ball, one cat is chosen by Old Deuteronomy to ascend to the Heaviside Layer, a sort of cat equivalent of Heaven (a concept derived from an unpublished Eliot poem). Each cat "auditions" with a different song and/or dance number, some nominating other cats while others put themselves forward. Some minor complications involving the abduction of the Jellicle patriarch, Old Deuteronomy, by the evil Macavity occur before a cat is chosen.

The final selection turns out to be Grizabella, "the Glamour Cat," whose now-faded charms do not prevent her from singing "Memory," the show's best-known song. It has been recorded by over 150 artists, and is considered by some to be Webber's signature tune. The lyrics are based on Eliot's poems "Rhapsody on a Windy Night" and "Preludes."

Cats was originally conceived as a song cycle and the intent from the beginning appeared to be to capture a sense of the fun and style of T.S Eliot's words in music. Indeed, the focus of attention is more on the nature and structure of Jellicle society than on developing any particular character or series of events; the question, "What's a Jellicle Cat?" is posed early in the show, and everything that follows serves as part of the answer.

The name "Jellicle Cat" is derived from an attempt by T.S. Eliot's infant niece to say "dear little cat". The name "Pollicle dog" is similarly derived from an attempt by that same child to say "poor little dog".

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