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| Okay, first off, why do the only background for these musicals only look good in black??? Oh well... Now on to the musical.....Below is some information on the muscial that I know personally (when you've seen the musical at least 19 times, you tend to learn something about it!) The links to other information can be found scattered throughout this page, so enjoy!! *sniff* I miss seeing Cats every year....... "Cats" first opened on May 11, 1981 ( which is probably why I love it so much, seeing as my birthday is May 11.), and in 1983 won seven Tony awards (including the award for "Best Musical"). "Cats" is the longest running show in the whole history of musical theatre. The musical was played in the New London Theatre almost 9000 times. In the whole world "Cats" has been seen by over 50 million people in 26 countries...untill the great closing on its 21st birthday on May 11th, 2002. Like all great things, "Cats" was created because of a book and a dose of inspiration. The book being the one and only the poetry of Thomas Stearns Eliot "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" originally published in 1939. The inspiration came from Andrew Lloyd Webber, he got the idea for the musical on a plane. He was going on a long journey so he wanted to read something during the flight. In a shop on the airport he saw a book with the poems about cats that his mother used to read to him when he was a child. (It was "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" by T. S. Eliot, of course!). He bought the book and when he was viewing it in the plane, he thought he could create a musical about it. That's how "Cats" the musical came into being. (T.S. Eliot received a posthumous Tony Award.) Most all of the lyrics are from the book, a few poems have been changed a little (e.g., eight lines have been added to the "Song of the Jellicles"). Some of the texts, like "The Marching Song of the Pollicle Dogs" and the story of Grizabella were discovered among the unpublished writings of Eliot. The prologue is based on another unpublished poem, entitled "Pollicle Dogs and Jellicle Cats". "Memory" includes lines from and is suggested by "Rhapsody On a Windy Night", and other poems of the "Prufrock" period. All other words in the show are taken from the Collected Poems. The actors got to wear special cat-like costumes (like the one you see to the left towards the top of the page, who just happens to be my favorite of all the cats!), wigs, artificial tails and even collars. They also put on special make-up. The costumes were changed through the years. At first they were more "ordinary" and now they're so "feline" that the actors look almost like real cats. "Cats" has been produced on video (and recently on DVD too) what undoubtedly increased its popularity. Andrew Lloyd Webber was born in 1948. He is the composer of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat", "Jesus Christ Superstar", "Jeeves", "Evita", "Cats", "Song and Dance", "Starlight Express", "Requiem", "Phantom of the Opera"(another favorite! Go Figure!), "Aspects of Love", "Sunset Boulevard" and "Whistle Down the Wind". He has won six Tony awards, four Drama Desk awards, three Grammys (including the award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition for "Requiem") and five Laurence Olivier Awards. In 1997 Webber and Sir Tim Rice won the Golden Globe and an Oscar for the "Evita" movie soundtrack. Also in 1997 he was elevated to the peerage as The Lord Lloyd-Webber of Sydmonton. |
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