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Others
Well, these are the things you might want to know, if they are the comparisons of the original production of Cats, then they come from the CD I bought (see picture below), which shows me many differences comparing with nowadays production. Take a look, they are very interesting. If you have any comment, please tell me.
1. CATS has been playing for nearly 18 years at The New London Theatre from 11 May 1981, the longest running musical in British history.
2. CATS plays in over 250 theatres around the world.
3. Broadway production of CATS will be closing on 10th September 2000, it was opened at Winter Garden Theatre on 7 October 1982.
4. In the original production of CATS, Quaxo (Mistoffelees) had more solos than nowadays Quaxo. E.g. in "The Old Gumbie Cat", Quaxo sang the parts which nowadays Munkustrap sings, and in "Old Deuteronomy", Quaxo sang the parts which Rum Tum Tugger nowadays sings, George (Plato) also participated in this song in the past. Futhermore, this is very interesting, when Grizabella sang "Memory" before being sent to Heavyside Layer, in the middle of the song, she collapsed to the ground, then, it is Jemima to sing to encourage her, but , it WAS Quaxo who sang "Burnt out ends of smoky days, the stale cold smell of morning, a street lamp dies, another night is over, another day is dawning" to encourage her to sing "touch me, it's so easy to leave me....". Well, Quaxo or Mistoffelees you prefer to say was more important in the past than at present. (Also see point 10)
5. In the original production of CATS, the tune of "Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer" was completely different from that of nowadays, the old tune I feel is not very fair-sounding. Also, Rumpleteazer didn't giggle before she showed up.
6. Elaine Paige was one member of the original CATS cast in London, so was Susan Jane Tanner. Elaine played Grizabella in it as well as in video, and Susan played Jellylorum the same with video. So, they have been performing together 19 years ago.
7. In the original production, the song "Grizabella" occurred after "The Rum Tum Tugger", and "Grizabella: The Glamour Cat" occured in the end of act one, before Grizabella sang "Memory". And yet, in video and nowadays production, "Grizabella The Glamour Cat" occurs after "The Rum Tum Tugger".
8. I think you have noticed that in the song "The Rum Tum Tugger", Tugger doesn't sing as everybody sings, and when he sings, everybody is quiet. But in the original production, Tugger did sing some parts of the lyrics with the chorus, i.e. the part "The Rum Tum Tugger is a curious cat", the part "For he will do as he do do", and the part "The Rum Tum Tugger is artful and knowing". Futhermore, Tugger didn't say "NO" to Bombalurina, he just murmured "hm~~".
9. In the original production of cats, there were some verses which are occurring in the song "Jellicle Ball" nowadays occurring in "The Invitation to the Jellicle Ball" right behind the solos of Mistoffelees and before the introduction of the celebration by Munkustrap.
10. Well, this is more interesting. In video and nowadays production, it's Demeter who says three times of the name "Macavity" to alarm her friends, and that's why so many people think Macavity did something to her before. But in the original production, it was Mistoffelees (Quaxo) to alarm his friends, showing he could detect things first.
11. In the original production of CATS, the first 2 verses of "Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat" were sang by Rumpleteazer, not Old Deuteronomy.
12. Did you ever wonder why in the song "Macavity", neither Demeter nor Bombalurina mention the name Rumpleteazer as a wicked cat? Well, in the original production of CATS, Bombalurina did mention Rumpleteazer after Demeter mentioned the name Mungojerrie, and Bombalurina also mentioned Griddlebone as well as nowadays production.
13. In the original production of CATS, most songs' melodies were quicker than those of nowadays, if you ask me, I will say "It's not pleasant to listen to because I have got used to the melodies nowadays."
14. In the London production of CATS nowadays, there are some cats who didn't appear in the video. They are : Bill Bailey, Carbucketty, and Victor. But there is neither Pouncival nor Timblebrutus in it.
15. In some productions, Jemima is known as Sillabub, and Plato is known as George.
16. In the original idea of T.S. Eliot, he didn't describe all the cats such as Rum Tum Tugger and Mistoffelees are in a tribe called Jellicle. The Jellicle cats do appear in this book, but they are all black and white (remember the lyrics- "Jellicle cats are black and white), and they look exactly the same(there are iconographs or illustrations of every cat in the book). So, there is a mystical tribe called Jellilce, and cats such as Tugger and Mistoffelees are not in it.
17. Mistoffelees is a all black cat in the book "Old Possum's Book Of Practical Cats" (remember the lyrics - "He is black"), and the Rum Tum Tugger is a skinny cat which doesn't have a lion-like mane according to the illustration which I mentioned in point 16.
18. The first time that CATS has been faithfully reproduced in a thrust stage environment since the original West End production.
19. CATS Awards include: 1981 Evening Standard Award : Best Musical, 1981 Olivier Award : Best Musical, Seven Tony Awards : Best Musical, Best Score, Best Featured Actress, Best Costumes, Best Lighting, Best Book, Best Director
20. "Growlitger's last stand" was turned into a parody of Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
21. From the start, CATS was about cats and nothing but. There was no hidden program or larger meaning. (by Michael Walsh, a writer)
22. Andrew had a cat called Persens in his teenager period
The picture in my CD