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Cats…. A review of the hit musical . Composed By Andrew Lloyd Webber. Based On The Poems By T.S Elliot. Review By Tabby Smith. Some Main Characters. It is hard to completely understand this story and therefor review if you do not have a basic understanding of the charcters involved.
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A review of the hit musical Composed By Andrew Lloyd Webber Based On The Poems By T.S Elliot Review By Tabby Smith
Some Main Characters It is hard to completely understand this story and therefor review if you do not have a basic understanding of the charcters involved
Old Deuteronomy The lovable leader of the Jellicle Tribe. He is very old and dignified.
Munkustrap The show's main narrator. A black and silver tom who is storyteller and protector of the Jellicle tribe. He is considered to be second in command after Old Deuteronomy.
Mr. Mistoffelees(my personal favourite) He has his own song and an extended dance solo in the second act of the show in which the other cats sing about how great he is! He is the magician of the bunch hence his nickname: magical mrmistofelees.
Grizzabella Grizzabella was once the most beautiful cat around, until she became older. She is then hated by the other cats for two reasons. The first being the fact that the other cats were jealous of her and the second that she left the group to explore the outside world. She tries desperately later on in the musical to be accepted once again.
Macavity Without a doubt, Macavity is the worst cat ever! His only goal in life is to cause crime. He has powers of manipulation, hypnosis and levitation which he uses to cause chaos and complete in his mind the perfect crime.
Victoria Victoria is the most distinctive cat as her coat is completely white. Her personality is both sweet and feminine. She is popular among all the cats and is seen to be the lead (female) dancer throughout the show. It is down to her that the other cats learn to accept Grizzabella once more.
Despite these being in my opinion the main characters (or cats) each cat has a different name and personality. All the cats are considered important , even if their role is in the general ensemble each has a part to play in the telling of the story. Anyway, enough about the characters and on with the review!
The Story The musical is based on T.S Elliot’s “old possums book of pratical cats” – a book of poetry. The show begins with the cats gathering to find out who has been chosen by Old Dueteronomy to be re-born (only the most deserving cat can make the journey). Each musical number is the story of a different cat. So the story is simply a plead from each cat to be reborn. The show can be interpreted in a number of ways, it has messages of friendship, loyalty, freedom and new begginings. The musical is about cats as they see themselves and not as humans see them.
The Review This show never fails to impress. The standard is high with outstanding costumes and an even more outstanding cast. I went to see ‘Cats The Musical’ in January 2014 and did not come home disappointed, this review explains why the show was so fantastic and includes only a few slight issues.
The show focuses heavily on vocal ability as there are no spoken lines. This delivers a huge amount of pressure on both the actor’s vocal ability and performance. Though the cast of ‘Cats’ (tour 2013-2014) had nothing to worry about, the vocals were truly extraordinary! However in some places I believe the casting directors focused slightly too much on the vocals as certain cast members had weaker dancing ability. This was only an issue because second to relying on vocal ability the show relies on dancing ability.The roles that are mostly dancing roles (Victoria, mrmistofelees) were over the moon astonishing! Ballet lovers will be astonished because despite not being classified as a ballet, Cats has huge balletic influence. I am in some ways a bias reporter on this matter as I love dance, especially tap dancing, this show matches my love for dance as a chorus line of tap dancing bugs makes an appearance and didn’t fail to impress even me!
Attention to detail is extremely important in a show like this and I do believe that this was achieved by every member of the cast.I imagine it is really hard, mimicking a feline for the entire performance but it was this that raised the bar and help made the show one step closer to Purr-fect! Attention to detail is shown not only through the cast but the set. Wow. The set is simply a junk yard but there is nothing simple about it! Every inch of the stage is part of the scenery, with lookalike chocolate wrappers, posters, household objects and general everyday items making up the iconic cats set.
Anyone who is a fan of musicals would love this show, it is like nothing you will have seen before. Strongly recommend this show as the standard is extremely high and the quality of the singing, dancing and acting is amazing.
