#and in most of the songs they just kind of stand around-- think bustopher's number. thats the whole musical

[millenari]

whatever the hell is going on here

#cats the musical #mr mistoffelees #rum tum tugger #tuggoffelees #this is us tour 5 but this one performance is just bizarre and has no dancing #idk what the explanation for it is but the audience seemed to be into it? #its honestly kind of funny bc they cut the dance-only parts like the beetles tattoo and the ball #and in most of the songs they just kind of stand around-- think bustopher's number. thats the whole musical #and in misto's number i guess they replaced misto's choreo with [checks notes] misto and tugger playing gay chicken #honestly bc its us tour 5 i have to assume something shifty is going on here #they were trying to skirt around some labor law or contract thing or smth thats my only guess #cats fan on main

[sevenkittensinatrenchcoat]

Those Six Mistos: Bustopher Jones

This ended up ridiculously long

Vienna Misto hears the song start up and he jumps for joy and claps his hands together.

Skimble tries to keep Misto away from Bustopher. Misto follows Bustopher around and pulls his tail. Skimble catches him and shoves him back. Misto continues to have as much physical contact with Bustopher as possible. That is clearly his goal. Bustopher doesn’t seem to notice that he’s even there, not even when Misto nearly pounces on him and Skimble has to, once again, intervene.

Misto dusts off the hat Bustopher sits on with his tail and is able to stand next to him during his solo. Skimble stands on Bustopher’s other side, leaving the toms standing near Misto to handle his antics. Without decent close-ups, I have no idea who these toms are. I can barely identify most of the characters in this version anyway. I believe Coricopat is there and he seems to actually be pretty chill with Misto.

Misto preens and poses during Bustopher’s solo. When some of the kittens get close, he turns to Skimble in protest, as does the cat next to him, who I’m just going to guess is Alonzo.

After the solo, Misto appears to flap his hands while also seeming ready to swoon. He recovers to do his Most Gentlemanly Bow. Bustopher doesn’t notice. He applauds the solo, looking right at Bustopher as he begins to fall backwards, but he catches him, with help from Coricopat and Skimble.

After this point, Skimble becomes The Tom Who’s Losing It, dragging Bustopher to walk past the line of other toms he set up for inspection. Misto is thrilled to be walked past, but he stays put.

Vienna Misto, despite normally being played older than the other Mistos in this set, acts like an over-excited kitten around Bustopher. But, then again, so does Skimble. Since Skimble isn’t behaving any better than Misto, it doesn’t make sense for him to be worried about how Bustopher will react to him. I think Skimble views Misto as competition for Bustopher’s attention. Bustopher only pays attention to either one of them when they force him to, so nobody wins.

This is probably the prototype for all the other Bustopher/Misto interactions it will be compared to.

…

Paris Misto preens a bit when the number starts up and runs over to where Bustopher is about to appear. He, along with Skimble, lead Bustopher to where the camera can see him. If you can’t tell, in Broadway-based productions, Bustopher Jones is about, among other things, Misto and Skimble competing to get senpai to notice them. As soon as they’re both visible, Skimble shoves Misto away from Bustopher. He was just strutting around behind him and not making any trouble.

Misto gets in a brief fight with someone in the background, who I think might be Alonzo, because everyone’s determined to prevent Misto from having any fun in this number. Skimble catches him near Bustopher again and they continue to squabble. Bustopher hasn’t noticed any of this, another reoccurring theme.

Misto bats at Bustopher’s tail. This is the first time he’s done something that it makes sense for Skimble to scold him for. Skimble drags Bustopher over to the hat so he won’t notice Misto’s antics. Misto runs after them and dusts off the hat. He gets his usual spot beside Bustopher during his solo, on Bustopher’s right, next to Coricopat. Coricopat doesn’t fight with Misto.

During the solo, Misto cannot stay focused, sometimes listening, sometimes looking the void behind him, sometimes preening, and sometimes trying to imitate Bustopher. After the solo, he dances with the other toms and the fact that he’s the only one whose mouth isn’t moving stands out. He’s very quick to help when Bustopher falls.

There’s more bickering between Misto and Skimble. This time, Skimble won’t let Misto wave at Bustopher. Skimble lines up the toms and practically flings Bustopher into them. When Bustopher passes him, Misto waves to him, trying to get his attention, but he doesn’t notice.

…

Zurich Misto gets into some sort of disagreement with someone right away. He doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do and Skimble drags him into place, teaching him how to bow properly. He practices his bow again behind Bustopher’s back and then runs to grab his tail, possibly trying to get his attention so he can see his New and Improved Bow. Skimble runs in to stop him and they argue over it for a bit. When Skimble’s back is turned, Misto pulls Bustopher’s tail anyway. He’s mute. He can’t just call him. He doesn’t know how else to get his attention. Skimble runs in to distract Bustopher before he notices Misto and leads him to the hat for his solo.

Misto dusts off the hat and takes his usual spot on Bustopher’s right. Bustopher still doesn’t know that it was Misto who pulled his tail, so he’s fine with this. When the kittens roll in, Misto gets upset, but Skimble runs to take care of it.

Plato and Coricopat get up to something in the background that looks very close to making out. Misto notces and tries to direct their attention back to Bustopher, because they’re supposed to be listening to his solo.

After the solo, featuring another moment where everyone but Misto is singing and he’s not sure what to do about that, Skimble teaches Misto how to walk in a certain way. He’s putting a lot of effort into helping Misto impress Bustopher, instead of competing over it, a unique feature from the previous two.

Misto and Skimble run to catch Bustopher when he falls. Bustopher appears to elbow Misto off of him shortly after, and whatever happened, Misto cringes away. He shakes his head and scratches his ear, once again looking kind of lost, before Skimble leads him to the line of toms, standing between Coricopat and Plato, which is worth noting due to their previous interactions. Bustopher passes the line, correcting Plato’s posture slightly. Misto has a big smile when Bustopher finally looks at him, but Bustopher decides this is something that needs to be corrected. Zurich Bustopher is a dick.

Misto cries and Plato turns to comfort him. Misto appears to recover pretty quickly. The moral of this story is that it’s okay if senpai rejects you, as long as you have a good friend.

…

Buenos Aires Misto runs around hugging people, specifically Jenny and Jelly, when he realizes that Bustopher’s coming. He kitten crawls a bit and then has a talk with Skimble, Bustopher’s other biggest fanboy. Skimble is the one who has no idea what he’s doing in this version, sitting on the floor and nodding while Misto does his Most Gentlemanly Bow.

Bustopher has Skimble dust off the hat before he sits down to begin his solo. Misto is in his usual spot, but he starts further away from Bustopher than he does in other versions. Bustopher beckons Misto closer until he’s practically on top of him and directs the solo to him. Misto silently squees over it.

Skimble starts pawing at Bustopher to get his attention and Bustopher elbows him to stand back. Misto notices that Skimble has upset Bustopher and hisses at him, leaning on Bustopher while he does it, showing off that he has Bustopher and Skimble doesn’t. Skimble hisses back and the exchange has the vibe of two bickering children sticking their tongues out at each other.

Everyone’s allowed to get close to Bustopher towards the end of his solo. Misto gets Alonzo’s attention to make sure that he’s in on this. Skimble enjoys a brief moment of being close to Bustopher before getting waved away again. By pawing at him for attention, Skimble has proved himself to be a nuisance.

Misto and Skimble both wrap their arms around Bustopher at the end of the chorus and he waves them both off this time. They’re both still close enough to catch him when he falls. Skimble forms the line of toms and then interrupts Bustopher’s flirtation with Jenny to get him to walk past the line right now. Misto does what he usually does when someone’s bothering him, turning to Munk to get him to do something about it, which he doesn’t. Skimble shoves Bustopher past the line when he won’t move fast enough. Misto tries complaining to Munk again, but he soon gives up and kitten crawls to watch Bustopher’s fake golf swing. Bustopher is now more interested in flirting with Jenny than he is with either of them.

This version is generally hilarious, with this Bustopher being the opposite of Zurich Bustopher, showing favoritism towards Misto.

…

1998 Misto loses interest in whatever was up with Grizabella, running up to greet Bustopher immediately. Bustopher is busy examining his reflection in his giant spoon and doesn’t notice. Still, Misto is fine. He runs off to make sure that everything is perfect. He gets all the toms arranged as a group, still in a very good mood, before going back to the tire where Munk is to ask if he did a good job.

Misto realizes that he’s now stuck behind the other toms and he’s too tiny for Bustopher to see, so he runs around the group and blocks Bustopher’s path to do his Most Gentlemanly Bow. Bustopher turns to the nearby Asparagus, seeming at least a bit impressed and greets Misto with a Formal Hand Touch.

Bustopher attempts to leave early and Misto slides after him. Jelly gives him a Disapproving Look, but Munk stops Bustopher to help Misto out. Misto still pulls on Bustopher’s tail though. When Bustopher turns around to see who was pulling his tail, he knocks Misto backwards and is briefly concerned for him. He decides to stay for a bit longer to Misto won’t have a nervous breakdown. Skimble gets the hat and dusts it off. As Bustopher walks towards it, Misto kitten crawls beside him.

Bustopher begins his solo and Misto cannot stay out of his personal space. Bustopher gently waves him back, not calling attention to his mistake. Misto pretends to be okay and then does some preening. He covers one hand with the other to prevent that hand from touching Bustopher, because his limbs no longer obey him.

Bustopher turns to Misto briefly and touches his wrist. Misto is hanging on Bustopher’s every word, but after the wrist touch, he turns to the various other toms and points at himself, bragging about being special. When Bustopher turns back in Misto’s direction, he must once again control his disobedient paws, which appear to want to flap now.

Everyone starts singing and Misto has fun until the kittens edge closer. Misto warns them to stay back. Munk does literally the exact same gesture. They don’t look at each other, so no one is mimicking. They’re just both completely in sync.

For the last line of the solo, Misto leans towards Bustopher, eyes closed, imagining all the tasty food he’s describing, especially the rice pudding. He licks his lips and then scratches at his ear, possibly nervous that Bustopher might’ve seen the lip lick, which is not a very Gentlemanly thing to do.

During the chorus, Misto does a bit more preening and posing. He turns to Asparagus, not noticing that Bustopher is about to fall backwards, because he’s now too busy gossiping. He turns around to save the day at the last second and keeps Bustopher from falling off the stage. He then rushes to line up all the toms, once again having to make sure that everything’s perfect. Plato wonders why this kid is allowed to boss them all around, while Munk seems to find the whole mess endearing.

Misto leads Bustopher to the line, walking behind him in what he considers a “proper” way. It goes way more smoothly than the line formations of other versions. For the finale, he waits for Skimble so they can follow Bustopher together.

NOTE: 1998 is the only London-based production in this set, so you can see some staging differences. In Broadway-based productions, Misto and Skimble host Bustopher’s visit while Munk just stands back. Misto and Skimble usually bicker enough that you’d think Munk would intervene, but he never does. In London-based productions, it’s Munk and Misto who host Bustopher, with Munk managing to hide the fact that he’s as excited as Misto is. Unlike when Skimble is heavily involved, there’s no bickering.

…

Troika Misto runs off to gossip with Plato while everyone goes to greet Bustopher, stepping into the crowd a moment late. All the toms bow in unison and then the crowd splits up. Misto goes to Skimble who helps him get cleaned up a bit. He lets Skimble take the lead in hosting Bustopher and takes his usual spot for the solo. Unlike the usual arrangement, Munkustrap is next to him.

During the solo, Misto hangs on Bustopher’s every word. His paws keep circling his thighs like he’s trying not to touch them. As Bustopher describes delicious foods, instead of 1998 Misto’s one big lip lick, we get several smaller ones, including when rice pudding is mentioned. It looks like this actor had seen the 1998 version and was trying to do something similar, with both the lip licking and the “paws keep doing weird things”.

Misto bows and preens a bit during the next chorus, with Munkustrap, while also doing some preening, supporting him. Misto briefly gets distracted posing and almost misses Bustopher falling backward. Munk, Misto, Skimble, and Alonzo all crowd together to preen, pose, bow, and generally show off for Bustopher’s attention. I think they’re grooming themselves. This turns into the line of toms, with Skimble sort of organizing it while not paying that much attention.

Bustopher walks by the line and everything goes smoothly. Misto joins Skimble to watch the golf swing and they both seem quite proud of themselves.

#mr mistoffelees #bustopher jones #skimbleshanks #munkustrap #cats vienna #cats paris 1990 #cats zurich #cats buenos aires #cats 1998 #cats troika tour #wtf skimble #zurich misto needs a hug #misto is gay and autistic

[fizzingwizard]

in other news.

Little joys in my life: the 2016 revival of Cats and that I got to see it on Broadway. Because it was REALLY GOOD. Some people complained about choreography changes but I personally liked nearly all of them as much as previous versions. The cast was phenomenal. And I loved watching What’s New Pussycat? on Youtube, which the cast (led by Tyler Hanes, aka Rum Tum Tugger) filmed leading up to the premiere.

Then I had the, uh, opportunity to see the 2019 film, which I HELD ON to optimism about until the last possible second. I really wasn’t going to be hard to impress. When something you love that no one around you particularly loves gets the star treatment... it’s exciting. I was willing to forgive it all kinds of mistakes if it did three things:

1) keep the “performance” the star, because at its core Cats is a celebration of dance and music, way more than it is a show about cats

2) preserve the cuteness and quirkiness of the characters, which is mainly seen in what’s going on in the background of each number

3) find a way to fix the transition from glamour cat to bustopher jones because that is the only thing from the original show I actually can’t stand x’D it’s so awwkard

SO... did the movie manage any of these things?

well, I’ve bitched about it in the past, so I won’t here, but in sum... NO, no it did not, and it was so shockingly bad in myriad other ways it’s just... an insult.

So recently I’ve been watching videos by various Youtubers who watched the movie. It’s cathartic. I expected to be insulted by them inevitably making fun of Cats itself, but the ones I watched all seemed like they were either fans themselves or at least fans of storytelling and performance enough not to sneer at something just because it’s not your standard Disney production. They each did a pretty good job breaking down all the reasons the 2019 movie is batshit and comparing it with what truly works about the stage show. My favorite was this video by Sideways which focuses on the music but does a lot of general commentary too. I was nodding along YES, YES THAT the whole time.

The only thing I really had to say in critique of these reviewers was: although their comparisons to the stage show were largely accurate, it was clear most, if not all, of the ones I watched had either never seen live, were relying exclusively on the 1998 DVD recording, or had only seen one performance. And I guess, normally, the latter wouldn’t matter, but the thing with Cats is: it changes every time you go. From the very beginning it’s been a very flexible show. You might think something is set in stone, but then find some random performance somewhere that did it different. And don’t even get me started on stages outside the US and UK - they do their own thing with abandon sometimes. Japan’s show is lovely but really Disney-fied in my opinion. I most like the performances that embrace the punk aesthetic from the 80s.

For example, one reviewer was expressing confusion by Mistoffelees in the 2019 movie. Why is Mistoffelees so shy and awkward? Why can’t he do proper magic? he wondered. If you watched the 1998 DVD, you might get the sense that Mistoffelees is a great magician. In some performances, he does seem that way. But in MANY, he’s not. There are performances where he fails several times to save Old Deut and where Tugger visibly encourages him, or even reacts to his failures. There’s an amazing French performance on Dailymotion where Mistoffelees never speaks and communicates via body language to Tugger. So the movie actually kind of got it right by making Mistoffelees shy and unpracticed! They didn’t have to, but they did. It’s usually endearing... it could have been in the movie if they uh, hadn’t ruined it in so many other ways, and then absolutely eviscerated Mistoffelees’s song... :8

Another thing a reviewer seemed confused by was Gus singing his own song in the movie instead of Jellylorum, but there are stage performances where that’s how they did it too. And another guy was surprised by the inclusion of Growltiger who he’d never heard of. That’s no surprise since most modern performances rarely included both Growltiger and The Pekes and the Pollicles - usually they’ll pick one and forego the other, for length I guess. So if you’ve only seen the DVD, you probably don’t know about Growltiger, because the DVD chose to skip it. (Gus only mentions it briefly in his soliloquy.)

Basically, Cats was a really long running show, and a really unusual one. It’s constantly changing. You can’t know it by seeing it once and you DEF can’t know it just by watching the DVD. That’s the fun of Cats... always being surprised. It’d be crazy to expect casual fans to spend lots of time digging up old performances *cough* I did because I’m nutty like that but it’s unreasonable to expect of everyone *cough*. However, if you’re gonna then go make a review video... you might want to do a tad more research first :P

Or not. Since, ultimately, the movie was so bad that even the broadest comparisons with the sage show hold up. Lol.

#cats musical

[magical-marvelous-mistoffelees]

Masterpost on amazing moments from the Cats 2019 NA6 Tour

This is a really long post on moments I saw (and remembered to write down) last night, when I saw the national tour of Cats the second time.

!!!I chose these specific moments because they are special to the tour or character choices made by the actors that you don’t get in the 2016 bway boot or the 1998 film!!!

There were also quite a few swings and understudies thrown in, presumably since there is a rough cold/flu going around the area I live in, and the actors may have caught something.

Spoilers below!

The first time I had seen the Cats NA Tour, I saw it in Charlotte as a birthday present while on vacation. Before that moment, I knew basically nothing about Cats, so I didn’t think to take notes like this time. However, I will try to include a few moments I remember from the first time as well.

Also, my favorite characters are Tugger, Misto, Mungo, and Rumple, so my eyes were typically drawn to them. I love all of the characters though, and everyone was amazing, so I tried to watch everyone as much as I could!

Opening/Prologue

Not too much to say about the prologue, since it wasn’t much different than the film or the 2016 version. 

Naming of the Cats

Bill Bailey felt like a younger version of Tugger. After hearing his name called out, he did a little hair flip with his mane

Mungojerrie and Bill Bailey spent the majority of the song messing around and talking to each other rather than speaking to the audience. 

However, when the cats broke away while discussing a cat’s third name, Mungo was in the audience. He was close enough to the mezz (where I was sitting) to hear, and his voice was so expressive! He didn’t just recite the lines as a chant with everyone else, but put his own emotion and charm into it. 

Invitation to the Jellicle Ball (Caitlin Bond, PJ Degaetano, Dan Hoy)

The first time I saw the Cats NA tour, I saw Victoria’s understudy (Erin Chupinsky) (who was amazing!). This time, I saw the original tour actress, who was one of the best dancers I’ve seen on stage. She had so much poise and control over everything she did, and played the character just a little older than she usually was, making her more serene and quiet than young and becoming.

Her makeup did not include much pink, and she had a black nose instead, along with black defining features like the bridge of her nose and her brows.

Mistoffelees is so dramatic??? Like whenever he comes forward to dance or use his magic, his actions are always big and confident. 

Anytime Mistoffelees had to move anywhere, he always included plenty of both ballet/jazz moves, but also some acrobatic tricks. Seriously, whenever he needed to get from point A to point B, there would be some sort of leap or cartwheel or spin.

Mistoffelees also loved to follow around Munkustrap. Whenever Munk moved around to talk to other cats, Misto would be right on his tail, trying to help. He was just so happy to be introducing the ball with Munk and Vic.

Old Gumbie Cat (Dan Hoy, Emily Jeanne Phillips)

Did somebody say Skimble and Jenny? Because these actors definitely delivered. Skimble was always somewhere near Jenny during her song, and helped her move around in her big costume.

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer really wanted to help out with this song (and basically every song) but were usually shooed off. This disappointed them, but they still managed to sneak in and help.

Mistoffelees continued to help out Munk in this song, guiding Jenny around and getting the mice ready in their costumes. He would often mess around with her, waving a hand in front of her face when she zoned out, giggling and shrugging. He also would fuss around and fix her fur/groom her.

JENNY WAS SO SPARKLY IN HER COSTUME!!!

Rum Tum Tugger (McGee Maddox)

McGee’s legs are SO LONG, and he always had a hip popped or his feet crossed. He also walked with so much swagger, especially in his hips.

Misto was so into Tugger’s song, constantly grooving, swaying, playing with his tail, or kneading the ground in the background. However, unless Tugger specifically pulled Misto out to dance, he would sit farther off in the background, either on the car trunk or so far downstage and to the side that he was basically in the shadows. 

Tugger went into the crowd after his number. The first time I saw Cats, he went up to someone and completely shredded their playbill/prgram. The second time I saw it, he sat next to an old lady and was playfully flirting with her. He also would run up and down the aisles, while Bombalurina tried to follow him. She would stop next to people (She actually went up to my friend!) out of breath, complaining that she wish he would stop running.

Tugger went up to Misto after his song and Misto teased him, swatting Tugger with his tail. That didn’t last long, because Misto eventually complimented his song and they had a little secret handshake between the two of them.

Grizabella the Glamour Cat (Tricia Tanguy)

We saw Grizabella’s understudy (Tricia Tanguy) and she was just as talented as my queen Keri.

Grizabella was definitely portrayed as older, similar to Elaine Paige’s version. However, she was young enough that everyone in the tribe recognized her.

All of the cats were initially shocked to see her, pulling away, before they leapt forward to either chase her away, sniff in curiosity, or hurt her as a joke.

She was SO desperate for any sort of physical contact, and she all but begged for it. Her face was twisted with sorrow and longing, and she was so happy when anyone reached out (although nobody touched her).

Skimble would pull away any young cat that tried to touch her, and Munk (tried) to keep people from hurting her. Munk also looked at her with such disdain in his eyes.

Demeter and Bombalurina were equally heartbroken when seeing her.

Can we talk about Tricia’s voice?! It’s so powerful, and she often used straight tone, putting vibrato in at the end of long notes. Her mix is super strong, which constantly made you feel like she was crying out for help, as if she still had hope that someone would. 

ALSO HER DYNAMICS. jUST. GOOSEBUMPS.

Bustopher Jones (Timothy Gulan)

Not too much to say, other than Misto kept following him around and he was so pleased to see everyone.

Bustopher also would try and talk to the conductor if he was far enough downstage. I couldn’t see if the conductor actually acknowledged him or not.

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer (Tony D’Alelio, Rose Iannaccone)

They were so cute! And their voices reflected on their characters so well! They were slightly nasally but in a childish, playful way. 

There were a ton of new tricks added.

They had the same swag bags as the 2016 revival!

They were the audiences favorite (outside of Grizabella, obviously).

Old Deuteronomy (Dan Hoy, McGee Maddox, Brandon Michael Nase)

Munkustrap got so annoyed when all of the cats were more interested in listening to Tugger than him.

Misto wasn’t really helping Old D get down to the stage, but was just kind of walking proud behind him, gushing over how awesome Old D was with audience members.

OLD D AND TUGGER WERE SO HAPPY TO SEE EACH OTHER! Old D looked so shocked but absolutely THRILLED to see Tugger. He stopped in his tracks and looked at Tugger, reaching his arms out as if to say “It’s you! I can’t believe you came!”, and Tugger returned the gesture as if to say the same thing. It was so nice to see Tugger become soft for a hot sec.

Macavity (Scare 2)

When everyone was running away, you could hear someone, in a shrill, overdramatic, high-pitched British accent go “MACAVITY?! TOOTLE PIP!”. I firmly believe it was Tugger.

Jellicle Ball

Old D and Gus are best friends, and were so happy to sing together.

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are little bullies, but in a lovable way. They would constantly push people out of the way to steal the spotlight, then taunt and tease whoever they attacked. Whenever an older cat saw them do this, they would get shooed away.

However, anytime somebody tried to antagonize Mungo and Rumple, and Tugger saw what was happening, Tugger would go protect the crime twins.

Mungojerrie loved to stick his tongue out. Anytime, anywhere. 

Old D and Grizabella kept reaching out to each other but only when the other could not see them.

Old D tried to stop Alonzo, Demeter, and Munk from chasing Griz away, but it didn’t work. 

Speaking of which, both Alonzo and Demeter had to make their way up to the balcony to reach her, but Munk just freaking SCALED the whole set to her up there. No harnesses or ladders or grips.

Grizabella the Glamour Cat/Memory (Tricia Tanguy)

Munkustrap was the last person to run from Griz, and was particularly upset by her presence. He seemed hurt that she would show up, but also ashamed he couldn’t bring himself to reach out. 

Again, Grizabella was so desperate to dance like everyone else, but instead of getting hurt or struggling because of her injuries, she would just give up when her old age made it difficult to dance. She looked distraught every time she failed to dance like everyone else.

Intermission

During intermission, it was announced that Zach Berger would be replacing McGee Maddox as Rum Tum Tugger.

Old D spent most of the intermission sitting out on the tire, while the rest of the stage was empty.

Gus the Theatre Cat/Pekes and the Pollicles (Kaitlyn Davidson, Timothy Gulan, Dan Hoy)

Jelly was so so proud of Gus’ accomplishments, and Gus was very bashful at first

The audience’s collective awww on the line about the palsy which makes his paws shake

Mungo and Rumple were so offended and embarrassed, but also hurt, when Gus singled them out on “think they’re so smart just to jump through a hoop”.

“tHAT’S NOT YOUR BLOCKING THATS NOT YOUR BLOCKING!!!”

Gus would forget the words and look super upset so Old D would rush to his side and help him remember

Skimbleshanks (Ethan Saviet)

Tugger (Zach Berger) spent the whole song up in the balcony, swaying along and nodding his head. He was either standing and leaning of the rail or sitting on the rail. 

He also kept trying to catch Misto’s eye, who was sitting off to the side for most of the song.

Mungo was the conductor of the train when they were acting out the sleeping car, and he was getting way too into it. He and Skimble also exchanged little salutes. 

Skimble came up to where Tugger was sitting, and Tugger gave him a little salute as well.

Skimble practically SCREAMED on the line “ met the station master with ELATION”.

Macavity (Alexa Racioppi, Emma Hearan, Tyler John Logan)

When Mac first showed up, and was using his magic to control everyone, all of the cats except for Demeter were affected.

Bomba and Demeter raced over to protect each other.

Demeter actually fought back, with the help of Alonzo, when Mac was dragging her around.

Before the power surge, instead of acting cornered or panicked, Mac was taunting, daring the cats to come and attack him on the car trunk.

Mr Mistoffelees (PJ Degaetano, Zach Berger)

ZACH BERGER IS PRECIOUS AND NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS. HIS RIFFS AND VOICE GIVE ME LIFE.

I was very disappointed in the audience, because I was the only person to applaud when Misto came down.

Zach Berger and PJ Degaetano didn’t have as much stage chemistry as compared to McGee Maddox and Tion Gaston, but they were still boyfriends best friends.

However, instead of giving Misto a thumbs up, like McGee, Zach... shot Misto finger guns.

Tugger constantly had the utmost faith in Misto, and never EVER took his eyes off of him.

After seeing Old D come back, Gus was so excited he tried to run over to him.

When Tugger sang about Misto right after Old D was brought back, instead of sounding somber and relieved, he was still cocky and confident. It was as if he was saying “I told you so, my magical boyfriend can do anything.”

When Misto ran into Old D’s arms, Old D spun him around

Memory (Tricia Tanguy)

When she came out, instead of looking around for anyone to reach out, she ignored everyone. Cats still came up to taunt her, but she walked out there with the sole intention of telling her story, not caring what anyone thought.

When she started the song, everyone sat facing away from her (outside of Old D), but as the song went on, they all slowly turned to face her.

After she collapses in the middle of her song, all of the cats lurched forwards out of instinct, before they stop, surprised that they were about to help her.

Bomba and Demeter were two of the last cats to greet her, and they went up to her together.

Grizabella was so shocked when she was chosen to ascend

Misc

Tugger always stuck to the side of the stage, on a prop upstage, or stood in the balconies overlooking the junkyard. He was rarely center of the stage, unless the spotlight was on him.

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer usually sat together near the car trunk, however, if they weren’t together, Rumple went with some of the other younger queens, like Electra and Sillabub (Ahren Victory), and Mungo sat on his own closer to Munk or Plato and the other toms.

Shockingly, Mungojerrie and Jellylorum stole the spotlight at several points during the show. Mungojerrie just had so much energy and excitement, and would always interact with the people around him. You could tell that his actor knew everyone in the cast and was super close with certain actors, because he gravitated towards them. 

Jellylorum (Kaitlyn Davidson) was always in character, however, instead of being played as older and slightly scrutinizing, she was a little younger and full of motherly energy. She was also close with everyone on stage.

Jellylorum was also always showing off her high notes!! We stan!! She was the cat who hit the C in the opening, and instead of someone belting at the end of RTT, she hit an A in her head voice.

Misto was very playful and energetic, and he could NEVER SIT STILL. He was always either playing with his tail, swaying or shifting how he was sitting, or kneading the ground.

#cats #cats na tour 6 #cats musical #rum tum tugger #mr mistoffelees #tuggoffelees #old deuteronomy #munkustrap #jellylorum #jennyanydots #skimbleshanks #gus #mungojerrie #rumpleteazer #bustopher jones #demeter #bombalurina #macavity #grizabella #broadway #theatre #musical theatre #my post

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ooc: First anyone can comment on this post or like it. If you want to ask me questions my ask box is open. I am more than willing to answer questions you may have.

A more cohesive list of my comments and thoughts on cats 2019, let it be known it is still hot garbage and still does not belong in the jellicle junkyard. Before I go on, I want to say, Cat’s is my favorite musical. I RP Munkustrap. To critique any version (and their are lots) you have to love The Musical. Any other critique is objectively a person who will rate it badly. Cats was never going to do well, it never has despite its run length through tours and different countries. Cats has never been viewed well by critiques, and is hugely hated in the theater community which is why when you see and read those reviews you have to know they have a preconceived notion of what cats is, and that is that its weird and therefore they cannot like it.

The three biggest critiques I see of the movie (and the show for the first one) is their is no plot, which I will discuss in this review how their in fact is one, how its horny and if you thought the movie was horny well John Partridge is knocking at your door asking if you’ve had your sexual awakening yet, and that the CGI is bad, which yes it is. My goal is to show why some of these are a bit unfounded but also let you see why a person who likes the musical is so disappointed that this movie only perpetuates that this musical is a joke.

Now onto the review. It is around 10k words, so negatives are under the cut.

Positives:

Robbie tried really hard, but sadly he wasn’t enough. He had a few off beats such as his initial intro, and his smile at the end that was weird. But he was good, and he made the shit show of gumbie cat and tugger’s song slightly better by joking with jenny any dots which was one of the best jokes in the whole movie.

Jennifer was a good Grizabella. Anyone making fun of her snot has forgotten Anne Hathaway singing I Dreamed a Dream, and should rightfully shut up.

The rewritten plot was bad, but the song that fit the best with the adaptions made for this horrid movie, besides Skimble’s song which I will talk about in a second, was Bustopher Jones. In the original his number is all about how well respected he is, but people remember his song is a story to make him seem better, we should not be surprised he is dumpster diving for food at all, sorry of a reality hit for old busty but its the truth.

Ian was a good choice for Gus, it was very similar to John Mills’ portrayal with only a bit more backstory. What was missing was a back and forth between someone, such as Jellylorum. Monologues are great but having a scene partner is better because that energy helps momentum and you feel things. Gus is arguably the slowest song, and it needs some livelness and no Misto’s little magic trick was not enough.

Mungo and Rumple were good. I hate the debut version of the song and they made me like it. For those wondering why we didn’t get the fun jazz number and got this slow moving one its because it came from the Debut on West End. The issue with the slow moving one is it falls in the middle where the pacing is already slow packed with more slow songs so it can seem a bit boring. I also wish Rumple kept her accent up.

The idea of the rundown theater/ballroom was really good. It allowed for a very similar feel that the junkyard presents with props and such for the cats to use. The issue is it was not our set the entire time and we are constantly taken out of it.

Skimble’s number was probably the best in the entire movie. It had the feel of the original with freshness from the tap which was genius. The tap dancing added the sounds of the railway in the same way the cats original make the train whistle noise. And the guy tapping was one of the originators of the Mad hatter in The Royal Opera House’s Alice in Wonderland so he was good. The issue with Skimble is the cut to the train and rail station which I will get to.

Negatives:

Three categories

Plot ( songs, characters, dance ), Technical ( movie stuff, CGI, proportions ), Anything I forgot.

Plot

Lets start generally. People say their is no plot even though Hooper attempted to “give” it a plot he failed. Their was no reason because all Hooper did was not only drop his plot halfway through, but he didn’t adhere to his own rules, nor did he need to add a plot at all. The dialogue was clunky at best, and not funny.

So the plot that Cats has always had is said almost immediately after the opening numbers. It is said by a grey cat that unless you know the musical you don’t know the name of but considering his prominence in the musical you know he’s important. He has solos in most songs, and even more in the movie. In the stage show this plot is seen through with a few interuptions. But here is he plot of the stage show for you. The jellicles come together for a ball where a cat will be chosen to be reborn. At times you get this threat, a cat by the name of macavity who you never seen he’s just scary. The cats ask who will it be, and the reason the songs are sung is because the cats are suggesting names of who it could be hence “i have a gumbie cat in mind...” This goes on for a bit their are two songs that don’t seem to fit in this formula, technically three, Grizabella’s songs (not memory), Peeks and Pollicles, and Growltiger’s Last Stand. Grizabella’s songs are to point out who she is and how she is distinctively not a jellicle, or no longer one. Peeks and Pollicles is entertainment they got a whole night to waste before dawn. The same can be said of Growltiger, but it is also paired with being Gus reprising a role more or less. The last two are for entertainment, just like the Jellicle Ball song where jellicles literally describe what kinds of cats they are, its also a bit of a mating dance but hey they are supposed to be cats. So we get to Macavaty he has threatened to appear quite a few times, he is scary, that is all we know. His song is sung as a cautionary tale to the audience and the kittens, he then finally appears and fights and hurts the protector among a few others and takes The Leader Old Deuteronomy. The cats are a bit distraught, then elvis cat struts in and is like what about Misto the magic guy. He then proceeds to say what Misto can do before Misto officially appears as Misto, he has been their all along though using his powers subtly to help the show progress he’s confident if their is something he is unsure about its where his powers come from. Misto brings Old Deuts back, and then Grizabella makes one last plea to the cats IN FRONT OF THEM explaining what happened and such. She gets the touch she craves and Deuts chooses her no words needed. Her plea isn’t part of a competition, it is one to be accepted being chosen is a secondary thing to that. Then we the audience get addressed formally like we did at the beginning a la “are you blind when your born” but this time its like “so you’re not a cat, so now you get us a bit more.” Then it ends.

The movie takes this fairly simple plot of party, guessing who could be chosen, we have to wait a bit before the choice can be made, threat appears, leader who makes the choice disappears then comes back, makes the choice, and turns it into a farce. Something that TS Eliot would hate. TS Eliot didn’t want his cats to be pussy cats, he wanted Hot Gossip. He didn’t want something cartoonish, which is why Andrew was given the rights in the first place. The thing is poetry should not ever be spelled out for you, is up to you to interpret, and these songs and plot is pieced together straight from Poetry. Hooper fucked with that vision, I mean Macavity falling at the end shows this perfectly, that was something you see in a damn cartoon.

The plot Hooper added didn’t work because he dropped it like halfway through. It was no consistent and because their were so many breakaways to the barge letting you see the barge instead of just thinking these cats are in perilous danger it ruins the steaks of not having them there. The plot was bad.

Additionally, and I’ll speak more on this a little later, when the cats are taken away you lose chorus cats. The only cats that are not in the entirety of the show are Bustopher Jones and Growltiger who are generally played by the same actor as the true range for them is that of an opera singer which you would never know looking at this movie.

Songs

Overture: It was weird. I thought the throwing a cat out of a car was a bit harsh and unnecessary. Also the choreography didn’t work. The camera did not know what to do. Additionally, their was some very bad CGI with opening said back. The individual cats did not get their little moments like they do in the stage show which only made them all blend together.

Prologue: Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats: It was drastically cut. Not all the cats get their correct solos, or solos. Some were duets which takes away from the individuality of certain cats. It again like the overture was messy with choreography with the camera not knowing where to go or who to look at. The beauty of the cinematography of the 98 production is you got to see the full stage when dancing happened so your eye could find a focus, you could focus on what you want. We are robbed of that with the choppy cutting and the camera telling us who to focus on. Its poor film choice. Cats a musical that is more music based than les mis you can’t just cut back and forth in a duet or in a song to who is singing like you can with les mis ( which hooper also fucked up ). Also what was with only like five cats singing the solos. I’m sorry this is when we are supposed to meat the chorus, this was like a bad choir rehearsal.

The Naming of Cats: Blink and you’ll fucking miss it. They make such a big deal about a second name but then ITS CUT! They don’t name any second names, only boring first names. Like why even include the fucking song if you aren’t going to tell us character’s names or second names. This would have been a perfect moment with the sloppy cutting to at least let us put names to faces. Everyone walked out of that theater not having a clue that the silver dad cat was Munkustrap cause as important as he is his name is said once in a song, that isn’t about him. This song was pointless in the movie because they cut so much of it. 

Invitation to the Jellicle Ball: So much is cut. So much. We don’t get solos from more than Munk. Its such a sad song with how much is cut and how important it is. It gives us Victoria’s solo which is also cut in favor of a Pas De Deux, which I get you got two great ballet dancers as your leads, but like let her have her damn moment since your so focused on making sure she is the focus of the movie.

Also my second fault to Munk, aside from him having no confidence or the write key in his first line “Are you blind when you’re born.” His solo here is weirdly paced and he doesn’t speak with confidence like he is telling a story, it sounds like he is speaking fast, and just not caring what he is delivering. If your audience conduit is confused the whole time, like this chick is, then don’t rush the deliverance of what the plot is.

This song also tells us the point of the musical and invokes the question “who will it be” which traditionally leads to the cats singing songs about different cats who may or may not appear suggesting who they think could be chosen. The competition which is completetely stupid, having each cat sing their song does not work. Most of the songs are songs sung by other cats about cats. Hence the opening line of the next number.

Gumbie Cat: Rebel Wilson cannot sing well. She has decent pitch. But she cannot sing well, nor does she understand the character. She calls Jenny lazy and fat. The stage version she’s essentially the opposite. Jenny is not a fat joke. She is busy cat who doesn’t get out much, but she does alot of good.

The cockroaches and mice. Besides bad CGI aside, this concept was poorly executed. It was a good concept, a good theory but the execution made it bad. In the stage production the cats in the junkyard portray the mice and cockroaches because its an act its like a play within a play. Here we get badly CGIed kids in mice costumes that ever version of the damn Nutcracker has done better. We get tap dancing cockroaches. However unlike with Skimbleshanks’ number, we do not get to focus on the tap or the clarity of the tap because of the poor filmography which I’ll talk about later.

This number was pretty much ruined by Rebel making a joke out of the whole. Additionally, she zips off her fur. Like its not a coat, or a bigger bit of fur its her literal fur. Its just wrong and it looks cartoonish which again TS Eliot did not want for his cats poems.

Rum Tum Tugger: Jason was a smart choice, but he also did not care about the number. He wasn’t giving it all he had. He has the vocals for it, but he wasn’t giving it. The dancing in this number suffered, none of the kittens or cats in general seem to be loosing their shits over him. They seem more happy about the damn milk.

Many critics say the movie is horny, let me tell you this number has nothing on John Partridge or any person who has ever played Tugger. I mention John because he is the only one who really went their with the hip thrusts and the kittens were the only ones willing to get up in there. Their was no fear the in 98 version, here they all seemed scared to show anything more than emotion. In a song that helps define some of the chorus cats we don’t get any definition from them.

Alot of people hate some of Rebel’s jokes, but the one that Robbie teased her about was well timed and much better than the rest of the jokes in the movie. It seemed natural and not forced. It also kind of goes with the traditional relationship of Jenny and Munk, and how they view Tugger.

This is the only time we see Tugger til the very end with Munk’s song. Because he sings a song, and its not for the competition it already fucks with the plot that Hooper set forth and thus doesn’t really fit into the narrative that Hooper is trying to weave. He should have left it. Originally the song is a mix of the adult cats and the kittens talking about Tugger and having Tugger more or less clarify for them. Its a waste of his character to be honest, and a waste of Jason’s actual talents.

Grizabella the Glamor Cat: Why do we need to know her specific backstory. Her costuming and song should be enough to tell the audience what we need to know. This is classic example of telling not showing, which is a big no no in writing.

Also because of how the beginning of this movie has gone we have no connection to the damn cats singing this song. Two of them typically have had parts in two other songs by now, and one of the cats is a “psychopath” as t-swiftizzle has said and doesn’t appear til much later in the movie. Like why do these cats care. The apprehension from the stage show is not there.

Kudos to Robbie for keeping the strange relationship up where he is hairs standing on end, but still admonishing the rudeness. However it didn’t seem to have an effect. These actors are so scared to touch each other, why would they make fun of and scratch at a cat they aren’t supposed to like. The song had very little agency because of how it was performed and who performed it because we had no connection to those cats prior. Jennifer tried but damn its hard to carry a whole shit show on your back even if Robbie is trying to help.

Bustopher Jones: I said it above and I’ll say it again, this was probably the best integrated song into the plot, while the shit plot still existed. However James Cordon’s jokes did not land. He didn’t carry himself as a distinguished cat in those deliveries which would have helped the character. I didn’t mind the junk and garbage surfing because it gives you a bit of a realistic look on what he probably does at the clubs and such. Think of him like a bit of a dirtier version of lady and the Tramp.

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer: Again I said it above, this number objectively wasn’t bad. They took a song that I found grating and made it fun to watch and sung pretty well. However again it doesn’t fit into the contrived plot that Hooper was trying to form. Having Victoria there seemed very stupid, I will say more about how she is a poor choice for an Audience insert later. But she did not need to be there. The glory of Mungo and Rumple’s song is that no one is there, and they are taking a mick out of everyone who thinks they are Macavity. Whether it is the West End debut version, or the faster brassier verseion of the 98 show, they are alone making fun of the fact that they fooled everyone, and explain why they can do it through their song.

Old Deuteronomy: It was fine, decent. Until Judi Dench opened her mouth. I am bitter that Tugger didn’t sing the song with Munk but considering how much of the song was fucking cut what would he have sung? That is another issue this musical had, they cut so many songs, and left in songs that weren’t needed or added songs not written by TS Eliot originally at all. You miss the softer side to Tugger by not having him sing or even be here.

Judi Dench, she’s a great actress, she was not a great Old Deuteronomy. This has nothing to do with the fact that she was a woman. I would have been happy if it was Julie Andrews or Maggie Smith ANYONE, but Judi Dench. Judi can’t sing, the talk singing she did was pitchy at best. And the issue is Old Deuteronomy is one of the more powerful singers in the show. Not only that, Judi just did not command any presence. It wasn’t that she was small, it was just that she didn’t draw you to her, the camera had to do that. She molded into the background and none of the cats aside from Munk interacted with her, which made her seem like a stranger and not a cat that these other cats love and trust.

Jellicle Ball: I am crying for Gillian Lynne. This in the stage show is what many call the orgy number. It is more or less a mating dance and where we get the lovely victoria having her second big solo, followed by a lovely pas de deux with Plato who later becomes Macavity which I find intriguing.

In the movie we get Jason asking if its okay to party then they try to bring up the tempo by cutting the music awkwardly. This song just does not work with the choreography given to it. I am sure the Les Twins are great dancers, but first why couldn’t their cat names have been Coricopat and Tantomile they seemed to serve a similar purpose. Second why were they in this. The shoes ugh, but the hip hop does not match the song at all. The stick out and are just awkward.

Instead of this being a beautiful dance, with amazing choreography we get a very strange dance circle after the choreographer attempted to have the dancers dance on the softer notes and down beats, which does not work in a song with very hard up beats, and that isn’t a ballet number. The choreography over all just didn’t fit and seemed ill timed at best.

Also all of the damn lyrics were cut. The Jellicle Ball essentially explains what a jellicle is, which is what Victoria wants to be yet its not fucking explained to her, its poorly explained through dialogue and even then she doesn’t know. Like why take out the lyrics of this number. It made no sense.

Grizabella’s Reprise: Unlike the first song being in front of people, this song isn’t. But if I recall cats are watching. This is where we get the first inklings of memory. This is her plight. Its ruined by Victoria.

Beautiful Ghosts: I will say straight up I am not a fan of T-Swiftie her songs are petty at best, and this one is no different. This song was not needed. We did not need this blatant reason for Victoria to connect with Grizabella, we didn’t need it forced. The beautiful thing about the stage show is the touch and connection between Victoria and Griz is that it happens at the end of the show, and ITS NATURAL and is in combination with Jemima/Silabaub.

The song’s words are written by Taylor, and everyone is saying it fits so well with the musical and it doesn’t. We have no reason to feel bad for Victoria, yes she was dumped out of a car, but we know nothing about her past, and the song doesn’t do anything but allude to what happened. It is the epitome of “I had bad shit happen to me my whole life, but at least your life was good.” It is a song that completely lacks empathy. Sympathy is when you say “well it could be worse” and the last thing Grizabella wants is fucking sympathy. She needs someone to feel with her, not say it could be worse. This song is horrible with a horrible message and sung by a person who can sing well. BUT, its sung by the wrong character, and with the contrived plot that is being forced down our throats, it does not fit into the plot because we don’t know anything about Victoria at all.

Also it greatly irks me that everyone was okay with adding a song that wasn’t based of Eliot’s poems. Every single song in the stage production is a variation of one of Eliot’s poems whether published or not. It is a butchering of his work in a whole new way saying “here we’ll make it better” which is a huge insult to a poet.

The Moments of Happiness: Is it even in the movie? IDK, if it is its probably pitchy and sing talked all the way through, and does nothing for the story or anything. I think it might be when Deuts is looking out the window. But like the song is an addressing to the cats, kind of like an introduction or a toast for the Ball. 

Magical Gus/Gus the Theater Cat: Ian was a smart choice, like John Mills he was a smart choice. BUT, the number felt long. John Mills’ number ran long and we didn’t get all of Mungo and Rumple’s song and Growltiger’s last stand was cut. Gus’ song is the slowest in the show. What helps the song have life in the stage version is Jellylorum singing with him. Actors in my opinion do better with a scene partner, and boy did this song need. It was slow and boring.

Growltiger’s Last Stand: We were robbed a good song. And what we did get, the one line we got was contrived and Growltiger’s song was reduced to a shitty villain song, on a shitty barge, to help this shitty plot. The worst thing is that this whole barge plot WASN’T NEEDED. We do not need to see people in danger to know they are in danger. It is better to not know than to know. This is the whole issue with upping Macavity’s role in the whole musical. A villain is better when they are unknown that’s why scary movies work.

I understand the original Growltiger song is racist, but they already cut songs, and they have shown no issues in changing lyrics, so they could have done. Growltiger originally is supposed to be a reenactment of a play that Gus did. The cats all help. This is another example of ruining the relationships the chorus cats have with each other, and robs them of characterization for us to see. Because remember in the stage show every cat is on stage 90 percent of the time, minus Bustopher, who I believe doubles as Growltiger because of the ranges and such needed. When we lose the cats we are introduced to the chorus becomes nameless faces and it makes me wonder why they are even there because they have nothing that makes them stand out.

Also because so much of Growltiger was cut we loose Griddlebone which is a fucking shame. We loose that tragedy of a tail. We loose a glorious opratic number. All for the sake of a shitty villain plot that had no real steaks at all because it all seemed so contrived and fake.

Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat: Possibly the best number in the show as it stayed the truest to its original form. It didn’t have much cut song wise. My issue with the song lies in the cinematography of it. This song I say rings the truest to the stage show because at the beginning we clearly see a formed railway track of beams. We get the lovely tapping to simulate the train which adds onto the other train sounds that are made in the number.

The issue is the fact that they take us out of the ballroom. There was no need for that. I will talk more about it later. But this number shows us the real issue with scale in this movie and how they have no clue how to address it at all. The cats at one point look like they are two inches tall, and at another point look like the scaling is correct. Their are many many bad bad jump cuts when they are on the actual railroad tracks. One was so bad you couldn’t even see the cast anymore. The scale is very off because it makes you question are they the correct portions when standing, or are they they correct portions when on their hands and feet.

The stage show manages to show everything this song showed within the confines of the junkyard, and it was completely feasible to do in the fucking ballroom but Hooper didn’t do that. When you have a big budget do not add unnecessary shots. That is what made the 98 version so great. They had a huge budget but didn’t over complicate the base show. The emphasized the dancing and singing and let those shine, and let the actors tell the story instead of letting the camera work and new shots tell the story.

Also the actor that played Skimble was Scottish I wish he let that come through. It would have made certain words and inflections just that much better.

Macavity: The Mystery Cat: In this stage show this song is a duet. In the movie is sung by T-Swizzle in order to get money from all her little fans. Taylor is an okay singer, i have heard better, and I have heard better for Bombalurina, both in seeing the musical live, and in the 98 version. They framed the song to be the one Macavity sings to show why he should be chosen but their are not cats to be chosen, remember that was the plot. Yeah its easy to forget.

Here’s the issue with how this song and its subsequent fight is worked out. The song’s lyrics are not changed so they talk about how bad Macavity is which in the frame of a competition to show your best qualities and why you should be chosen it does not fit. We know he was not going to get chosen, we knew from the beginning because it was shoved in our faces. Cats 2019 is a great example of a poorly written villain.

The song in the stage production is a cautionary tale told by two people who have likely had relations with Macavity. They are not only warning us the audience about him, but also the kittens who wonder who he is, who have never seen him. When you keep the context of the lyrics in with this new plot frame it doesn’t fit and only explains why he wouldn’t be chosen.

Additionally because its not a duet, and its sung by a cat we have never seen before, nor have any frame of reference for it doesn’t mesh well. Like why should we care?

Also the catnip. That is so pointless. Macavity is a magical cat, his powers to deceive and hypnotize are seen through his choreography in the fight seen with Munkustrap and Alonzo. But no we have to have magical cat nip spread by Bomby, Mungo, Rumple, and Griddlebone. Why even mention Griddlebone like this with the inclusion of Rumple if we do not get the song where we actually see just why she is an agent other than some lacky. Like this diminishes her character so much. ( And yes her inclsuion in the stage shows that don’t do growltiger like the 98 movie does also bug me this is not just a movie gripe, but the movie takes the stance to show us to her, but she is not the glorious white cat that is also so very evil, she is a wimpy little black cat who is scared that she is called out ).

Macavity’s fight seen mainly with Munk is taken away from us and given to the dumb barge cats fighting Growltiger. Again we have no real steaks in this fight. However we don’t see the barge cats again so why did it matter that we saw them off Growltiger? In the stage show, we actually see Munk, our silver tabby dad fight Macavity. It is a show of raw power that both he and Macavity have. It shows how dangerous Macavity is. It shows what cats do. They fight. We do not get this. We do not get see why all these other cats defer to Munk because his role as the protector is diminished to “I am dad cat hear me roar.” Losing this fight we loose alot of the connections we see between the main cats and the chorus cats. They all help each other, and want to fight. We see them care for a hurt Munk in the stage show. All that is gone and diminished to poor jokes, and twirling chains on a barge that looks about as real as a toy bathtub boat.

In the stage show, Macavity is scared away in this number. Which means he is still a threat but not for now. Not for the rest of the fight. Additionally this number we get the fake out of Deuteronomy coming back because that is how the fight happens. Macavity stole Deuteronomy just moments ago and to see Deut’s come back, we get a false sense of hope and a true feeling of Macavity’s madness. We don’t get that in the movie.

The movie boils him down to a bad villain in a cartoon. Which is the exact opposite of Eliot’s wishes. It is exactly the opposite of what Eliot wanted and why he was so scared to actually give away the rights to his poems.

Mr Mistoffelees: A song traditionally sung by the most confident cat in the musical Tugger, is sung by a character assassination in progress. This version of Mr. Mistoffelees tries to fit into the contrived plot of competing for a Jellicle Life and it fails miserably. A number that is traditionally loved by so many is utterly ruined by the lack of confidence in the entire delivery of the song. I will talk more about Mistoffelees’ character later.

But this song is riddled with so many starts and stops that we don’t actually get a climax to the song. And look Jason is back as Tugger, but his part is taken by Victoria, and the number just doesn’t work. I do not care what you ship. The number does not work the way it was sung or staged. Also Tugger shows back up in this number and when you think he is going to sing the a part its sung by Victoria, it cuts to her, and I was disappointed.

When Tugger sings the song, he tells you of a cat with powers. Powers that we see used throughout the show in subtle ways. Its not shoved in our damn faces. its used in helpful ways. In stage productions he opens the car for Jenny, He lights the stage lights for Peeks and Pollicles. Its all these subtle things, but he knows he is good at magic. Tugger knows this. Tugger sings it.

Victoria and Mistoffelees singing the song rips that all away. Mistoffelees has no confidence in himself though he used magic through the show, it was shoved in our faces. Victoria suggesting he can bring Old Deut’s back is completely pointless because the only magic she has ever seen Misto do is bad magic that only half worked. Now granted she has this insane ability to see the best in everyone and see them ALONE so like who knows.

But the number is ruined because their is no continuation or build up. And no conjuring turn come on. Also Robbie tried, but he is no Tugger. It feels weird coming from him. Like yes he encourages the cats, but like we also never see the other side of being parent, because they cut Peeks and Pollicles which I will discuss at the very end of the song section.

Beautiful Ghosts Reprise: I have no clue if this is before or after Memory. But Victoria’s agency in this number is so stupid. All her interactions with Grizabella were in private where no one saw. Her touching Grizabella means absolutely nothing to us as an audience for many reasons which I will go into later. But here it means nothing because Victoria means nothing to the Jellicles as she isn’t one.

Memory: If you have an issue with the snot go watch Anne Hathaway sing I dreamed a dream and come back to me okay. Tom Hooper has a fetish about that kind of stuff or something.

But snot aside IT FITS THE SONG! Grizabella is supposed to be sad. This is her moment, her chance to cry out for someone to touch her her. Her chance to be accepted again.

We get back to the contrived plot cause she sings a song for a chance to win. But the song does not fit into the contrived plot because even if we are following the shit plot, because of Beautiful Ghosts it seems more like she wants to belong again rather than a chance to go to the Heavy Side Layer hence why Beautiful Ghosts is a pointless song even more than it already was.

In the stage show, Jemima sings with Grizabella. She is a chorus cat mostly but this is her moment to shine. Victoria gets it which fine, but also takes away from the Jellicles accepting Griz because Victoria is not a Jellicle herself. Why on earth should these cats listen to her? They have no reason to. Also because not only was the initial touch done in private, because all these characters don’t interact with each other the touch is rendered meaningless which almost renders the song meaningless. Which is a shame cause Jennifer killed it.

Journey to the Heavyside Layer: It was fine. I could have done without the Macavity bit at the end that was literally pulled from a Tom and Jerry Cartoon, which again Eliot would have hated. Yes its acted by a real person, but its cartoon like in nature ( just like jenny zipper her fur off ) which is the antithesis of what Eliot wanted to become of his poems.

The Ad-dressing of Cats: Why was this song kept in? Out of all the songs this one more or less directly addresses the audience. They had Judi Dench break the fourth wall and stare directly into the camera which was uncomfortable, and not done well. I have seen staring straight into the camera done well in exactly one piece of film and that is Mr. Robot. Here it was weird and uncomfortable. No one seemed to know what to do. The chorus was stronger than Judi so her words were overpowered. She was pitchy at best, and just downright awful in this song.

Then she tells Victoria she is a Jellicle which... like yeah finish out your contrived plot Hooper, but all if it was pointless. And it ruins the “Victoria is the Audience stand in” because the song actually addressed directly to the audience was not addressed to our stand in. It does not match the opening at all which is also addressed to the audience in the stage show. The book ends don’t match and its weird.

When I say book ends, at the beginning the number asks questions about cats can you do this can you do that. At the end it asks you “so you get what a cat is now right?” Its a pretty clever way to begin and end a show. But the movie got lost and forget what it was doing so here it seems weird and out of place.

Peeks and Pollicles: A number that was cut. This number is one of my favorites in the musical because it helps waste time til the end. It allows the cats to interact with each other and Old Deuteronomy. It is one of the best numbers to see the interpersonal relationships between our chorus of cats and our main cats.

This number not being in takes all that away and does not let us see personality in any of the chorus cats. Even Mungo and Rumple fall flat because we do not get to see them not be evil or talk about being mischievous.

This number also provides context for what a Peek is. In Macavity the word Peek is said but if you have only ever seen the movie you have no idea what that word is. In the stage show we learn that it is a term for a type of dog. Additionally, when we take this song out, we also lose some plot context of the cats and the junkyard putting plays to help act out the songs of who they think it will be. And in this case what looks like to be a rehearsed play that the cats are determined to mess up and make our silver tabby go from silver to grey.

Dance

There was so much sacrificed for the sake of cinematography. A musical based in dance had barely any dancing shown because of quick cuts. And what was shown was often clunky and didn’t actually look feline. Nor did it match the music because the choreographer tried to hard to be like the greats who choreographed the nut cracker and other ballets. He also ruined Gillian Lynne’s choreography.

They looked like trained dancers when they danced. Which yeah is good, but they didn’t look like cats. Their hands were often turned up, when to make them slightly more catlike they should be turned down. None of them got comfortable with being on the ground. They all seemed so very very stiff which is the exact opposite of how a cat should be.

None of them understood how to dance like a cat.

The tap dancing in Gumbie Cat as opposed to Skimbleshanks is astonishing. The tap dancing in Gumbie Cat is messy and hardly focused on, when its the star of the stage show. It looks contrived and like they were trying to hard to recreate a scene from a famous black and white film. Also this is a CGI comment but if you look hard enough you can tell that the cockroaches are like the same three dancers copied and pasted over and over.

Contrast that to Skimble with his clear taps. Now the actor who played Skimble is known for tapping. He is a member of the Royal Opera House, which is a ballet company in England. His tapping was made famous when he originated the role of the Mad Hatter, with some brilliant choreography that he was given. His tapping hear shines. It is just a really good example of tap. And its a shame it had to share the stage with the cockroach crap.

The opening numbers was not given what it deserved by the cats jumping everywhere. The opening is a highly for the choreography of the show. Its supposed to show you what you can expect. In the movie it was just alot of jump cuts, and Misto fucking it all up, sorry not sorry. I did not fall for the cute factor. Additionally the choral portion was not choral. They did not line up thus when they line up at the end at Trafalgar Square, we have no reference to them doing this before. Its a shame.

Tugger did not dance sexually enough. I know I know I shouldn’t say this. But most actors who play Tugger try to do some variation of John Partridge’s version, with less hip thrusts. Jason didn’t even try, and thus none of the kittens were enthralled with him. It made the point of his song pointless. Additionally Tugger is one of the strongest dancers in the show in my opinion. He dances in every number and adds his flare. Because Jason is in the movie all of 5 minutes we don’t see this.

I am sure the Les Twins are great dancers. But none of that was showcased. They were pigeon holed into this and tried to fit and failed.

So much choreography was cut because so much of the songs were cut. Jellicle Ball has so many lyrics that are danced and they are cut. So much dancing was cut in favor of showing us Grizabella running away. In the musical that is subtle and you know WHY? its supposed to be it is not supposed to completely take our attention of of the magic that is happening with the dance. That is why Griz is chased away because she draws your attention to her. We didn’t need the camera doing that, and thus ruining the flow of the number.

Characters:

Munkustrap: Not much bad about him. He had a few off beats. He tried. Thought their are times where he looked bored, and his face was not good at hiding it.

Victoria: One face wonder, she is like the Maddie from dance mom’s of this movie. She’s got a Maddie face, and it made it hard to think she had any emotion at all because she didn’t emote. Also white cats are more often than not deaf which the musical often shows as mute because Victoria has no solos. For her to speak was jarring. The speaking was jarring in general but most of the lines coming from her was off putting.

Her not being a jellicle outright ruined any agency she had in the movie. She had more say in things like Misto and Griz than she should have had. The solo she was given was petty and very very condescending to Griz.

She was a bad audience stand in because in trying to keep her original stage role they tried to mix it with this new plot role and it just did not work. And made you forget what they were doing with the plot because the plot was so contrived.

I don’t get why she had to have stripes and spots. She’s a solid white house cat, not some fucking snow leopard.

Misto: He was ruined. He has forced us to see his magic, then doubts himself when asked to use it. He is not confident in himself and a bumbling fool. In the stage production he is confident. The only thing he doesn’t understand is where his powers come from. This is seen wonderfully in the 1998 version where he looks at his hands as he is shooting sparks from them. His character was ruined.

Skimble: Like Munk nothing wrong. But we don’t see him interact with the regular chorus cats so it begs to wonder why is he even trying to show them anything. They don’t seem to know him. Their is no connection between the cats with songs named after them and the chorus aside from maybe Misto.

Tugger: He was not John Partridge. Just watch 98 cats and you will see what you are missing when it comes to who Tugger is.

Jenny-any-Dots: She was mischaracterized by Rebel as being fat, lazy, and old. Her character of being a respectable busy cat who seems lazy to her owners is assassinated. Like their is a reason Munk likes her but that reason is gone in the movie.

Old Deuteronomy: Judy Dench was bad. She couldn’t sing, and commanded no real authority or presence. Robbie could only do so much to give that to her. But she did nothing to earn it.

Admetus/Rumpus Cat: Sadly gone from this movie, though probably because Rumpus would have been more cartoonish than Macavity was and they were already hurting Eliot’s legacy enough. Also I’m not sure we could have handled the camp superhero of Rumpus Cat in this shit CGI.

Alonzo: Was he there? I don’t know. The chorus cats were all a singular blob that did not stand out and had not individuality and personality. He interacts with Munk alot but we didn’t see that.

Asparagus: Not present, granted he wouldn’t have been present anyways because Gus was only present for his number (and that awful barge seen) but in the 98 version and most stage versions he is the chorus version of Gus the Theater Cat. In 98 he is argued to be a son of Gus, or just a younger version of Gus. Because remember what I said in the stage production every cat is on stage for about 90% of the time.

Bombalurina: She’s apparently psychotic in this version. Which she’s not, but also in the stage version she’s not either. Instead of being someone who survived the influence of a less than pleasing purpose she is henchman number one. The Smee ( but more coordinated ) to Macavity’s Hook.

Bustopher Jones: Was decent. James was good, but he also missed the mark with his jokes and they didn’t land well. We saw a more realistic version of him instead of the show’s idealized version which I was fine with. But his lines were wooden and not good. Hence why this show should not have spoken lines.

Cassandra: Was apparently there? She looked purplish I think or maybe that was Demeter. I don’t know but she was rude, and more catty than show Cassandra. But we don’t really know who she is because beyond the Glamor Cat song she along with Demeter disappear into the background with cats that don’t matter.

Coricopat and Tantomile: Replaced with Plato and whatever the other philosopher was played by the Les Twins. They didn’t fit in. Shoving hip hop into cats has been proven to not work, hip hop tugger anyone? So why they tried again here, I don’t know. But they failed. We loose these lovely mystical twins, and get stuck with twins in converse? Like why? What brought on that costume choice, why did that slip through?

Demeter: Could be Cassandra. We don’t know. She’s just a mean girl and not a traumatized cat who is the first to think a sign of danger is Macavity. She was robbed of her duet cause t-swizzle needs all the fame. Munk doesn’t get his moments with her cause VICTORIA! Ugh.

Electra, Etcetera, Exotica: Were any of them there? The world may never know. The movie didn’t show us faces to put with names like the 98 version did. So if they were there who knows. You probably would have no seen or heard them since most solos they had were covered by like four other cats only. And the rest of the chorus cats was a brown grey blob because those are the only cat colors apparently.

Grizabella: We did not need to be told her back story. The song alludes to enough. Jennifer did great though. I just wish her moments were not in so much seclusion. It ruins her final song. We are robbed of young Griz in the opening number.

Gus: Ian did great. He was the right choice, the went a John Mills route. But his number dragged. Ian also didn’t have any connection to anyone in the cast. Like when Misto talks to him his reactions make it seem like he does not care who these cats are now. It makes him seem stuck up rather than reminiscent.

Jellylorum: Apparently was a kitten? Sigh. She is supposed to give Gus as a suggest and sing his song with him as a duet to kind of play off of each other. It gives the number some action and liveliness. Even with all the cuts, the number still dragged.

Jemima/Silabaub: First her name varies depending on where you are watching the stage show. Whatever she had was given to Victoria. Apparently this is because that cat was based of ALW’s wife. Which like fine, but like Hooper can you at least be more cohesive with your plot if you are going to cut a character out?

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer: We see no real personality from them. Sorry but we don’t. We just see them scheming with each other because they are “evil.” We don’t get the story that the show or the 98 musical gives us. A moment i love from the 98 version is when Macavity does come Mungo ducks and covers his head with hands. It just shows that even Macavity’s own guys, cause Mungo is mentioned in the song not Rumple ( which leads me to think she came later or pulled him out of that ), but it shows just how scary Macavity is. And we don’t get that in the movie. In the movie we get them not knowing Macavity’s plan, which like what use are you then?

Plato: Commandeered by the Les Twins he is ruined. In the show he has a pas de deux with victoria and its a bit sexy and still gorgeous with the gorgeous famous overhead lift that the show is known for. He also doubles as Macavity cause again all the cats are on stage for about 90% of the musical save for a few.

Pouncival: Not there as far as I can tell. Which is a shame Pouncival is a cutie pie in the 98 version.

Tumblebrutus/Carbuckety: His name varies depending on what stage show you are watching. He is the one who tumbles alot. He may have been there, but because of the crappy cinematography whatever tumbling there was, we didn’t see.

Growltiger: Ruined to a poor attempt at a pirate on a toy boat barge.

Griddlebone: Ruined, and demeaned to a low lackey instead of a lavish cat who does with movie Macavity wishes he could.

Macavity: He became a cartoon villain as opposed to an actual threat. He wasn’t ginger, and his eyes were weird he was the only one with weird eyes. He wasn’t scary, any agency he had as a threat was ruined by shoving his badness in our face. They could have just had the cats disappear. Its like Tom Hooper saw a scary movie saw what made it scary, the unknown, and decided I’m not going to do that. Also any thing that would have shown his strenght is gone because hsi fight was taken away.

Any cat in the chorus is just a blob, or not CGIed. LOL. Part of this is because the cast does not interact with each other. In the stage production touch is important. Interpersonal relationships are important. We don’t get any of that. We are not used to touching and nuzzling thus when we see it is awkward. Not to mention the awkard rubbing noise we get when it does happen, it doesn’t help. The cast aside from the named cats, and munk have no personality, they fade into the back and its such a shame because each cat is so unique and different. Granted we wouldn’t know that since when they explain that in the stage show, they cut it out in the movie.

Technical Stuff

The first four songs are pretty much ruined because it takes just about that long to get accustomed to the strange CGI. The CGI is bad, I have seen better CGI cats in video games. Honestly I know makeup is time consuming, but it is cheaper than CGI. Better cats make up that isn’t just the theater makeup can be seen in Doctor Who. What made this CGI so jarring is the lack of noses and lips that looked like cats. We know via BTS pics that the actors wore make up. So why they couldn’t put noses on, or the line straught down to the mouth then curled up the ends of the mouth to give us a muzzle is beyond me. It looks like bad photoshop. I will never understand that decision.

I don’t care that dicks were CGIed out. That is not what made cats “sexy” in the first place. The dancing made it sexy. The CGI was equal to that of movies in the 90s and poorly made video games from the early 2000s.

From a film standpoint it was poorly shot. Tom Hooper does not know how to shoot dance. And it shows. He does so many swift cuts and pans that we don’t get a good view of what the choreography is.

We are too often forced to see things that are already obvious because of other tactics like shadows and voices. We do not need to see a cat disappearing via Macavity. We do not need to see so much yet our focus is taken from the group ruining whatever connection the group had to eachother and us the audience in order to show us bad dialogue and special effects to show capturing. I said it earlier its like Tom Hooper saw scary movies and said I wont do that I’m gonna do it like Tom and Jerry do, but that’s an insult to Tom and Jerry. Or he has never seen a horror movie in his life.

Their are far to many unnecessary scenes paired with jump cuts. We never get a sense of the group of cats as a whole because not only are they seperated from the only cats we know the names of, but we have to see where those cats are since we have to know they are in danger. No one knows of the thread, except like once, which is when Griz arrives. Its like the chorus doesn’t care, even though Hooper does his damndest to make sure we the audience care, but we don’t even our audience stand in doesn’t. These scenes are mainly Growltiger’s barge, and taking us out of the ballroom for Skimble’s number.

Now onto proportions. They are all over the place. A watch would strangle a cat, a ring would not fit around their wrist. They at some points can just reach a door knob, while at other parts barely reach a foot off the ground. The cockroaches and mice did not size down well. Skimble’s number had so many issues with size and cinematography which is a shame cause it was one of the best of the movie. The cats can walk on the tracks like with 3 feet on either side of their own. Yet we all know that is not correct. They look two inchest tall in comparison to the tracks. Yet we see them inside the train and they are like child sized. Then we have weird cuts to wide shots of the bridge which doesn’t help with proportion as one wide shot is so wide the cats nearly disappear. Another proportion issue was the stage in the ballroom it was a normal stage and they measured to it like a normal stage. The moon looked like something out of 1920s black and white film so was proportioned for a normal human, but the chandelier was big and felt oddly proportioned in the ballroom. Like it should not have been able to fit through the whole in the roof.

Tom Hooper did not know what he was doing with this movie. It is very clear he had no vision and did no know what the show was about hence why he had to push his new plot in while keeping everything the same so it seemed like hot garbage which is exactly what it was.

Tom does not know how to film dancing, and he has been notorious for cutting songs and such with Les Mis and he did it again. He cut songs, and then added a song which he did with Les Mis too. He messed up guys.

Back to the CGI for a minute besides the overall choice being bad because all the did could be done with practical makeup and would have looked better. It was poorly done. Their ar emoments when their is just color on the actor’s hands, when their is no color, when their is fur. Judi’s main is curled under her chin so it looks like a really bad fake beird. If you are in the background you may not be CGIed at all. There wer emoments where the connections did work such as feet on the ground, and Munkustrap helping Victoria off the car looked weird cause Victoria’s fur slid around but not with her body. And that is just a few things I noticed. The tails were good but like, it took away from the dancing.

Their was real awkward sound design. First of all the butchering of Andrews music to fit certain aspects like Tugger asking for the party to be turnt up. It was weird and didn’t fit. Additionally any moment where nuzzles or touches happened were awkwardly silent with a sound that sounds like the rubbing of a plasticky material together. None of which is helped by they never actually touch eachother because their is somoene blocking the camera. A show that has a character essentially scream “touch me” lacks touch one of the most basic cat interactions.

Breaking the fourth wall was jarring because it didn’t happen throughout. The 98 version gets away with it because they do it from the beginning. But this was weird. It was a poor choice, and an example of wanting to keep the original but it not coming across because of choices made prior.

Other Stuff and Random Thoughts

The movie was really confused at what it wanted to be. It wanted to have the original plot, but also this new plot which was forotten half way through and remembered again. Continuity was a huge issue with this movie. Victoria as audience stand in doesn’t work because the audience is addressed at the end. The jokes didn’t land. And the subtle jokes in the stage version are all but erased.

Cats would have never done well, even with an extended timeline and good CGI. If it was a perfect movie it would not have done well because it is Cats. Cats has never done well with critics. Its biggest fans are often children because they get the story because it is such a simple story. This movie forgot that, but also tried to make it easier to follow, but they failed cause it was confused.

This movie is a huge disservice to TS Eliot. Eliot did not want pussy cats, that is why he didn’t give the rights to Disney. It wasn’t that he didn’t want animated cats like in Aristocats. He didn’t want his cats to be like Tom from Tom and Jerry, which Macavity became more or less. Their were cartoon moments in the movie, and its a disservice to the Poet. Adding to his works with a new song is a disservice. Making the choreography so contrived because the new choreographer wants to show he has subtlties like Balanchine of Nutcracker fame was a disservice to Gillian Lynne.

The movie lost the vision of what cats is and was. It lost the vision of what a cat is because the cats did not act like cats. We never saw a true cat fight, or the cats interact with each other in ways that weren’t awkward. We never saw them being cats yet we are told that they are cause Judi told us so. They never acted like cats or moved like cats. Simple hand turning downwards instead of upwards, or bending of the legs, holding yourself a little differently that makes all the difference.

The move wasn’t aboslutely terrible, but it was pretty bad. I still think its garbage, and I don’t think its worthy of the title Cats because it was hardly that. A bigger budget does not mean cool CGI, and more shots, it means improve the basics to the very best. The Corridor Crew on Youtube say it best, if you can do it practically do it because it will always look better. This movie missed so many marks.

I say all this out of love because Cats is my favorite musical. But this movie failed. I wish it could be chosen to be reborn, but I’m afraid what we’d get. So I’ll stick with the stage production, if you can see a tour or any of the productions around the world do it. If not watch the 98 version, get the DVD because the one on youtube cuts out some good parts like Tugger playing bagpipes.

I wanted this movie to be good. I wanted to be proud to say I like Cats and I can’t unless I specify the stage version, because this version is not deserving of a like from me.

So I’ll repeat what I said at the beginning of this review, Cats 2019 is garbage that does not belong in the jellicle junkyard. Granted, no one from the 2019 movie or who has seen it would get that reference, but that’s okay. Us real fans know. We’re the true fans we get it. We will love this musical, but I say we cannot love this movie for so many reasons, and I hope I have laid out a few of my own.

#ooc: out of cats #cats 2019 #cats 2019 review #cats the musical

[kiraraneko]

CATS as reviewed by a furry

Apparently this is a movie review blog now lmao (listen I just have some Opinions™ I feel like writing down lately) You’ve already heard from a hundred sources about the terrible CGI and bad quality of the film overall, so I’m going to focus more on the characters themselves and how they’ve been translated from stage to film. As someone whose been a fan of CATS since childhood AND is active in the furry community, I hope this will be different from the other reviews. (YES THERE ARE SPOILERS)

Let’s just start this off by saying - everyone who keeps comparing this film to “furry porn” clearly is not familiar with furry porn, because the alleged “hornyness” of the actor portrayals is pretty in-line with the stage play. The only reason this movie comes off as so much more sexual is because the bad fur CGI doesn’t keep your brain from knowing these people are all basically nude. The stage play costumes feature fur tufts and limb wraps that work to somewhat hide the human silhouettes, whereas (even with some characters in coats and accessories) everyone’s fur in the movie is so skin-tight they end up being unmistakably human, so every sway and hip-thrust comes off as slightly disturbing in an uncanny way instead of feline and graceful.

Victoria the White Cat Now here’s where I’ll admit to my blatant bias - Victoria has always been my favorite cat (other than Rum Tum). Here’s a bit of trivia for you: Ever wonder why my fursona is a white cat? (Jumpcut to me as an 8 year old wearing a scarf around my waist, pretending to be Victoria). Her role in the play is small but she’s elegant, beautiful, and an incredibly talented dancer, and I always idolized her for that. So, you can imagine I was pretty delighted to find that she plays the role of “main character” in the film. Now in the play, the cats explain to the audience about who and what they are, with Munkustrap (the grey tabby) serving as a kind of narrator/translator and leader. Since you can’t exactly address a stage audience in a movie, Victoria fills that role of the “questioning onlooker”, which I feel fits her character very well considering she’s both a younger/newer cat to the Jellicle scene and she was the first to accept Grizabella, which connects her nicely to the entire story (both in the play and the movie). What I was markedly less jazzed about was the addition of her own song in the movie. I think it was a nice attempt to expand her role, but as an extension to Memories, I found Beautiful Ghosts to be frankly kind of boring and unnecessary. She’s essentially saying to Grizabella “I was just abandoned and I don’t have anything, at least you have good memories to look back on” which to me, came off as belittling to Grizabella with a dash of “poor me” for Victoria. However, the reprise version with Old Deuteronomy I actually ended up liking much more. It is less condescending when two old cats are singing to one another, versus a kitten who has their whole life ahead of them lecturing Grizabella about a past she knows nothing about. One last thing I’ll note about Victoria is her slight re-design in the movie - she’s been given some light striping patterning as opposed to being a pure white cat. This doesn’t bother me at all as I assume when it comes to lighting and rendering, pure white fur would have been too distracting on screen. Jennyanydots / The Gumbie Cat I’ll just come right out and say that this segment was probably the worst translation from the play in the entire movie, and it happens early in the film, so you’re already questioning what the hell the rest of the movie is going to be like. In the play, she’s a slow-paced and motherly type cat that only becomes energetic at night, when she sheds her fur to reveal a vibrant coat and goes to work teaching vermin of the house good manners and skills like crocheting (as opposed to hunting them, like other cats would do). In the movie, she’s flitting about the kitchen like a hyperactive rabbit, rampantly consumes some of the insects she’s painstakingly coached, and whines about wishing to leave her household. If this butchering of her character weren’t enough, they actually included the fur-shedding bit in an incredibly disturbing skin-unzipping sequence where she steps out of her cat skin to reveal a sparkly dress underneath. Characters in the CATS play occasionally do wear some clothing accessories, but this movie does not know the meaning of subtlety, and various characters are wearing fullbody clothes which even further breaks any illusion of these characters being cats. It just constantly wants to remind you that these are human people in unitards jumping around on a greenscreen. Rum Tum Tugger Undoubtedly a fan favorite, Rum Tum is the rockstar cat who swoons all the kittens and makes a general ruckus, with stylistic influences of Mick Jagger and Elvis. To say the least, I thought his part in the movie was fine, but certainly doesn’t quite have the punch to it that the stage play does. The movie has him breaking into a 50′s style diner while milk is liberally poured for all the younger cats. Both his character and that of the Gumbie cat’s are diminished further as she makes fun of his singing and dance moves - which may have been a funny addition, if it weren’t for her alleging his show-offiishness to a recent neutering. This joke just went a little too far in my opinion, and really detracted from the rest of Rum Tum’s performance. Bustopher Jones A very charming and gentlemanly cat, Bustopher’s sequence started well and then just got really weird. His song prominently describes his love of fine dining, his cheerful demeanor, and his well-groomed fur. The last of which was directly contradicted in the movie, as he rolled around in actual garbage making an utter mess of himself. He’s shown gorging himself through the entire segment with increasing fervor, until it’s just a bit too much to bear witness to. At one point, he’s meant to trapeze into a trash can, but the cat who jumps on the other end of the catapult is markedly smaller, and nothing happens. This is actually quite a funny moment, until once again, the joke goes a little too far and Bustopher comments being “sensitive about his weight”. This is just.. a bizarre comment considering he’s sung an entire song about being charmingly large and we’ve just watched him unabashedly stuff his face for five solid minutes. Applying human weight-shaming to the ideals of a cat is just completely unnecessary, awkward, and contradictory to his character. It changes him from an indulgent but experienced chap into something to be pitied. Asparagus / Gus the Theatre Cat Possibly my favorite segment of the movie, this is the only part I actually teared up at. As a child, I always thought Gus was a very boring character with a boring part, but watching as an adult I can understand and appreciate him much better. Sir Ian McKellen did an absolutely phenomenal job of channeling the frail, endearing, proud character of Gus (despite the wonky camera work of the scene). This might be the only part of the movie that matched, or perhaps even exceeded the stage play version, and I don’t think it’s any surprise that it also happens to be the most subdued sequence, relying almost entirely on character acting and line delivery, instead of fancy effects cluttering up the screen (as this musical should be). The end of his storytelling features some “lightning strikes” for emphasis, created by what I imagine would be a simple shadow stencil, and it added some genuine atmosphere to the idea of Gus as a performer with simple stage effects. It was a nice subtle touch, and I only wish the rest of the movie could have been more like that. I found his line condemning “modern productions” to be more poignant than ever before, and it makes you wonder if this movie suddenly became painfully self-aware.  Also I just want to throw this in: Before Gus’s song, there’s an unintentionally hilarious shot of Mr. Mistoffelees walking up on him drinking milk from a dish, except Gus is mostly in shadow with his cat features obscured and is standing fully upright, so he just appears to be a hobo man lapping at a dish, like someone legit just walked up on Ian McKellen being a complete fucking weirdo.  Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer This segment was another one that just didn’t come across quite right. These two are mischievous partners in crime, causing mayhem and stealing treasures. The '98 film version characterizes them as playful and upbeat, delighting in trouble-making, but they don’t seem to be quite experienced or clever enough to get away 100% of the time. The 2019 version came off as almost.. sinister to me. They coerce Victoria into stealing, frame her, and then leave her to what could nearly be her death, all while sort of talking through their lines with a cold inflection. This is supposed to take after the original “languid” London version, but they don’t play off each other very well and you don’t get a sense of the fun, amusing partnership they’re supposed to have. It’s mostly just watching them destroy several rooms of a house and then leaving Victoria to her fate like utter assholes. I don’t really have anything more to say on these two, it was just kind of bland and forgetful and leaves you disliking them instead of enjoying watching them have a fun romp. Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat I would give Skimbleshanks the award for “most baffling redesign”. As mentioned earlier, this movie takes cats-wearing-clothing to an uncanny level, and this is certainly the uncanny-est. While the play version has him in a cute waistcoat and arm warmers with elbow patches to give a “train conductor” vibe, the movie has him in full bright red overalls, with other reviews calling him “gay nightclub Mario”, lmao! As much as I wanted to enjoy this number, the sight of him was just too weird to look past.  The tap dancing during his skit was a fitting addition to his character - he is quite bouncy and light on his feet, so I thought it suited him very well and really liked that part. His song picks up after that, with all the cats dancing on the rail and there’s more weird camera work, at one point zooming out so ridiculously far it’s actually jarring. The rest of his song was okay, a CGI greenscreen that can do anything you want unfortunately just isn’t as creative and inspiring as watching actors build a train engine representation out of junkyard scraps on an actual stage.  Magical Mr. Mistoffelees The movie really took some liberties with this character, and I’m still on the fence about whether it was a good choice or not. In the play, Mistoffelees is a magician cat, performing tricks through his segment (including the most complex dance routine of any character) while other cats usually sing about his feats (in the ‘98 film, it’s Rum Tum). They went for the younger, unsure version of Mistoffelees in this new movie, and doubled up on it by turning him into something of a comedic-relief character. He doesn’t quite have a handle on his magic, and he trips up on his words and his feet several times through the movie. This would have been fine if his musical number hadn’t been such a let down. This is supposed to be his grand moment, but his “magic” ends up being underwhelming and the chorus repeats for SO long you’re practically begging for it to end. Where “Oh! Well, I never! Was there ever a cat so clever as Magical Mr Mistoffelees?” was once a cheerful and upbeat line, it will certainly become a droning echo in your mind after watching this movie. The added plot of his implied attraction to Victoria I also found kind of weird, though I’ll admit that might just be my personal tastes. I always liked Mistoffelees being a more aloof kind of cat.  Grizabella / The Glamour Cat Alright buckle in, I’ve got some strong opinions about this one. Grizabella is undeniably the star of CATS - she’s an incredibly emotional character, visually intriguing, and her performance in the musical is nothing short of heartbreaking. She was referred to as “the Glamour Cat” in her prime, but it has turned into an almost mocking title as the other cats reject and shun her. We never really know why, but it can be implied she may have been cold and elitist to the other cats who once adored her, or had some other tragic and sudden fall from grace. Despite Jennifer Hudson putting in a damn good effort to play the role of this character, the movie itself let her down. The CATS play and the Jellicle ball which it centers around, while being a musical, is foremost a ball in which cats perform for the honor of being chosen. The dancing is just as important as the singing, and Grizabella’s character is heavily communicated by her posture. She’s hunched, stiff and limping, reaching out for others to accept her, and at one point even attempts to mimic some of the other cat’s dance moves before slinking away in shame. The 2019 movie paradoxically chooses to use extremely tight face-shots for just about every character routine. It is frustrating and claustrophobic to watch a movie where cats who are supposed to be expressing their character through movement are shown from only the shoulders up, just standing there singing into a camera - and this frustration is paramount at the Grizabella sequences.  Jennifer Hudson, singing her absolute heart out with tears pouring down her face, is still emotionally lacking because of the terrible cinematography refusing to show her doing any actual acting. I was so distracted by the mucus running down her face that I couldn’t even connect with her. I thought the costuming of Grizabella was very well done, but you barely got to see any of it. Overall a very disappointing performance, because Hudson was doing all the right things, and it could have been great if the movie had met her even halfway. Macavity the Mystery Cat Played by the incredible Idris Elba, Macavity underwent some heavy changes and expansion in this new movie. He’s the main antagonist of the play, and most of his antics like committing serious crimes and alluding the police are sung about as rumors but doesn’t himself sing, and actually doesn’t have any speaking lines in the play, adding to his mysterious character. When he eventually appears, he battles with Munkustrap and steals Deuteronomy (who is brought back by Mistoffelees). Macavity is usually depicted with vibrant clashing colors, wild hair, and uses quick threatening movements, while the Idris Elba version rein-visioned him as extremely sleek, black-furred, and sly and cunning, often emerging from the shadows to tempt other cats with their vices. He is given numerous speaking lines, and his villainy is expanded on as he kidnaps the other cats in an attempt to be the chosen Jellicle. I actually quite like this interpretation of the character, and it makes him a little more relatable instead of the vicious enigma he is in the play.  Something of note is just how literally the new movie took the rumors of Macavity’s powers. His abilities, which were muted and used sparingly in the play, were used constantly and without hesitation in this movie. He spends most of his time teleporting other characters and creating illusions, but then uses trickery to try and win the Jellicle ball, and fails to demonstrate his power of levitation when it really matters. So whether he does or doesn’t have real powers seems to be.. situational to say the least. Another thing I want to point out is just how uncomfortably sudden Macavity’s reveal is. He spends most of the movie in the shadows hidden under an oversized coat and hat, and then suddenly appears at the Jellicle ball without any disguise on whatsoever. Idris Elba is a damn fine looking dude, and you can clearly see his very human-shaped abs beneath his sleek Macavity fur, which is so close to his actual skintone that I’ve seen him described as “extra naked” and it’s pretty accurate. You just really aren’t prepared for this moment when it happens. Growltiger This guy is a rough and rowdy pirate-esque character with a dramatic love life. His segment was cut from the ‘98 film, so seeing the play in person is just about the only way to experience it. Because of this, it’s probable that many people may not even be aware of this character, so I was pretty excited to hear that he would be featured in the 2019 movie. Growltiger is quite overdue for his time in the mainstream spotlight. Turns out, unfortunately, Growltiger's Last Stand is not what you get. His appearance in the movie is more or less a cameo with a short introduction, and the rest of the time he’s serving as Macavity‘s henchman in the background. This is based on the 2015 revival of him as a dock worker, but I feel it was a weak representation of his character, and really wish he’d been shown in a better light. The movie cuts out pretty much every fight scene, and Growltiger‘s would have been dramatic and fun to watch, especially after Gus’s reminiscing. Instead, he was kind of lazily thrown into a river by Gus, who previously bragged about playing the role of Growltiger on stage, which is kind of an interesting juxtaposition if you don’t think about it too hard. Old Deuteronomy A surprising change was the decision to make Deuteronomy female, played by Judi Dench. I love old grandpa Deuteronomy, but this didn’t really bother me. Deuteronomy is a wise, beloved leader of the Jellicles and there’s not really anything integral about the character that says they couldn’t be female. Deuteronomy carries himself with dignity, but isn’t afraid to dance along with the songs of the other more lively cats, and Judi Dench certainly has an air of authority and respect about her. The character’s songs are reflective and thought-provoking, but once again, the 2019 movie fails to make any of these sequences actually entertaining. The absolute worst part of the entire movie comes at the very end, when Deuteronomy makes horrific, unblinking eye contact with the camera, and slowly talks her way through the Ad-Dressing of Cats. This is absolutely bewildering considering how the movie deliberately sets up Victoria as a main character in place of the audience, only to completely chuck that out the window of a moving car just to break the 4th wall in the most uncomfortable way possible and directly address the audience anyway. What is even the point? I can’t imagine there’s a single person that would watch that and be okay with it. The Ad-Dressing of Cats is supposed to be a cute, fun little recap of everything the cats supposedly taught you, but this movie made it feel like a lecturing stare-down. Other notes The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles was cut entirely from the movie, which is fine because it isn’t integral to the story or anything, considering it was also cut from the stage play when I saw it live. I kind of shudder to think of how The Great Rumpus Cat would have been interpreted in this movie, so I think we were all probably spared some indignities.  While this movie was watchable and certainly an interesting take on the play, it creatively added very little and only succeeded in making me desperately want to go watch the ‘98 musical. I thought at least this movie would be a fun soundtrack to view, but many of the songs just didn’t have the punchiness, joy, charm, or energy that I’m used to. There were parts of it that I liked enough to say this isn’t the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but that’s not exactly a glowing review. From the perspective of a theatre fan and a furry: If I want to see CATS, I’m most certainly going to choose the filmed musical over this new movie any day.  I’m infinitely more charmed by the graceful 80′s style dancers of the play than I am by the uncanny valley, painfully human cat-people of the new movie (and honestly I haven’t seen a single piece of fanart for it, so that really tells you all you need to know).

#CATS #cats the musical #movie review #furry fandom #rambles #no one is going to read all of this lmao #i just wanted to share my thoughts

[bellepullman]

Cats Antwerp - 30th March 2017

Ahhhh OK. So, the good bits are very very good indeed! This show tho. For a start, it's not so much a theatre as a building site, that will hopefully soon become a concert hall. Literally, coils of electrical cable on the stairs front of house. And backstage is worse -the place is full of construction dust. It's literally pulling the cast out sick, everyone's coughing and losing their voices. Disastrous. Also they can't use the fly tower tonight, so no Misto rope, plan B heaviside layer. Now I might be imagining things but I think Rumpleteazer WAS in jellicle songs, but she certainly wasn't in the rest of the opening numbers. But mungo and jemima covered by announcing tugger, which worked nicely having various kittens excited to see him. By the time we actually got to mungo and Rumpleteazer, she turned up, and from then on it was all fine. Dane was mungo, Alice Cornwall was Rumpleteazer. Tugger though! This was Nathan Johnson covering for Pepé Munoz, and he was so fluffy and pretty! Slight air of swing about him, not 100% owning the role, but I was more than happy. Jennyanydots - Joanne Lee Martin, loved her bouncy energy! They've had a knack of finding good Gumbie Cats recently, and she's not letting anyone down. Also she has new costumes, her house coat is plush and round, and her tap is so rich and fringes! Still find the new tap painfully dull. Grizabella- ohhhh boy the new costume is not flattering. Jo Ampil is not particularly tall, but that costume is so far from anything remotely glamorous on her. Not kind. Possibly that distracted me, but I didn't connect with her grizabella the way I have done in the past. Bustopher has a red flower again! Jenny's gorgeous in this number,and also I had been afraid of new material in there, fortunately not. Munkus picked up bill in a manner I find very familiar of removing the naughty cat from where he's not meant to be and putting him in place! Old Deuteronomy-the number gave me a chance to really appreciate having tugger back! As for John Ellis, I think the working conditions were really getting to his voice, he was not on top form at all. Also, his young deut top is all lovely and plush velour, but its a good 4" too long and the hem is on a pale flat line, it needs a trim to blend into the trousers too. OK, then when we should have got to Pekes and Pollicles is when things started going wrong. we got right up to the start of "of the awful battle...." when we get a macavity crash, then the weird and tonally clashing bit of loosely paraphrased macavity. Didn't seem necessary. Then "jellicle cats come back, come all" to start the jellicle ball. the energy was wrong for the intro but then the show was all over the place. The ball itself was amazing, all pulled together and again, tugger back was so good! Front of house was so unorganised too, no one controlling people flow at the interval getting up onstage with old Deuteronomy. And audience so slow to come back. Moments of happiness- vocal difficulties but to be fair, under the circumstances, forgivable. Gus. Things got interesting. OK Charlotte Scott as jelly is gorgeous. Tony magill as Gus, got a proper wig back! Not a particularly frail Gus. Had whole ensemble playing about much longer, no costume changes. Pekes and Pollicles. On one hand, pretty fun, on the other, kills Gus. Literally kills any emotional pull of the character. Do not care about him. Not sure why he needed to go off stage to don his trash robe. Nobody wins from this change around apart from the running order making the show Slightly shorter. I was enjoying it as it was going on but the absolute lack of tragedy about his character means I don't care. He's an actor in his 40s not as active as he used to be, not in his 80s frail and ancient. I didn't hate the arrangement, didn't even miss Growltiger, but having a hale and lively Gus, with no reprise of his song, just finish his number and leave, absolute disaster. Skimbleshanks! Always reliable to lift the the mood! Joe Henry was covering, and fun, great ensemble number. Tugger around more than usual. Because - possibly just due to this theatre- only one decoy macavity. Macavity song - Agnes pure as Demeter was skittish and twitchy, the only possible criticism was the she was mumbling her lyrics. most of the audience may not be native English speakers but you still need to enunciate! Charlie Johnson as bomba was gorgeous, all slinky and smokey, lovely moments of catting about through the show too with washing and combing her hair... I don't know if there's new orchestrations, band problems,sound levels or what, but the sound and timing on macavity fight was all off, especially ending up with alonzo standing around waiting his turn. They all fought through, and the throws were magnificent, wonderfully scary macavity. Misto! Love! Shiny and sparkly! I lost count, 29 or 30 spins, long time since I've seen Misto manage that. And he's so bright and cute. And the new jacket has subtly colour changing lights, controlled from the lighting board, and he's covered in AB crystals so all the sparkly rainbows. To the end of the show - again, no flying, vocal difficulties for old Deuteronomy, disconnect from grizabella, wonderful character moments in the ensemble. Mungo and Rumpleteazer touching hands mirroring grizabella and vic! Alonzo and Cassandra beautiful elegant sync, as much as the twins. Sophia mcavoy is a gorgeous Vic, just everything you want. Grace swaby as jemima, hit every Mark, would likely shine more in a show with fewer problems, everyone else rightly adores enric marimon and Aaron hunt as carby and bill. Jak anderson beautiful Admetus, scary mac. Ohhhh, extra music for grizabella has been cut, phew. So there's a really solid cast, rockstar tugger, and new material that fails so hard. And Gus is nerfed. But tugger is back!

#cats the musical #cats international tour

[sevenkittensinatrenchcoat]

Vienna-Based Mistos and Grizabella: Misto Becomes the Misto You Know

Once again, I find myself fascinated with the Vienna production and it’s descendants, especially when it comes to Mistoffelees. There are bits with Misto in these productions that are sometimes very similar to the 1998 VHS, but other productions don’t have them.

In the majority of productions I’ve seen, when Grizabella first appears, the first cats to respond are Coricopat and Tantomile, who hiss at her. Some productions have Mistoffelees sense her first, which all the Vienna-based ones do. But, they all do it slightly differently, with a noticeable difference between the first two (Vienna and Amsterdam) and the later two (Paris and Zurich)

Vienna:

This production started in 1983, but the recording is from 1990, near the end of the show’s run. Mistoffelees was played by the same actor, Valentin Baraian, playing him for most of the run. Occasionally, covers would step in, but he was the official Vienna Misto the whole time. So, despite the film being from 1990, it’s a characterization developed in 1983. I’m sure it evolved over time, but not in the same way as productions where the role changed hands.

I know it’s very hard to see here, but those are Misto’s hands behind Grizabella. When he first approaches her, he briefly tries to block her path, but when she insists on going forward, he walks behind her.

A cat, I’m not sure which one, runs up to Grizabella and hisses at her. Misto signals the cat to stand back. Throughout the scene, several cats approach Grizabella, some attempting to reach out to her, and others just to hiss at her or scratch her. With the former, one of the older cats will rush to stop them. Misto himself only stops the ones approaching threateningly. This means that he’s following her around to make sure that the others don’t hurt her.

After Grizabella starts singing, he tries to fend off the cats who approach her, but only the ones that do something to upset her, since she turns on them for the “you see the border of her coat is torn” line.

Conclusion: Vienna Misto is one of the adult cats, allowed to approach Grizabella and take charge while she’s there, since Munkustrap seems reluctant to do anything one way or another. But, even though he knows who she is and what she did, he personally has nothing against her and shadows her to keep her from getting hurt. Since one of the kittens succeeds in scratching her, he doesn’t seem to be very at it, but he cares enough to feel like he needs to try.

Amsterdam:

NOTE: Due to not having access to a full recording of this production, if one even exists at all, the following screenshots are taken from the clip @junkyard-gifs uploaded. As far as I can tell, the clip is from 1987. 

When Misto notices Grizabella, he runs up to her and holds his arms out, blocking her path. Once again, it seems like Misto is old enough to know who she is and that she’s not welcome.

However, Grizabella will not be stopped. She just shoves him out of the way. He’s not Munkustrap. He’s not the protector. He can’t tell her what to do.

However, this shove is technically an act of violence, so Misto warns the others to stay back. She attacked him! I’m guessing this Misto is not often shoved out of the way. Some Mistos are, but not this one.

The other cats scatter and Munkustrap steps up to handle the situation. Misto is still mad about it.

Conclusion: Amsterdam Misto (Dr. Diavolo, which is an amazing name) is one of the adult cats, since he seemed to know right away that Grizabella wasn’t welcome. But, unlike Vienna Misto, who seemed to have some sort of connection to Grizabella, this Misto doesn’t like her and likes her even less after she pushes him. He seems less mature and more prideful than Vienna Misto, with his dramatic reaction to being shoved, but I get the feeling that most of the other cats would’ve behaved the same way in this situation.

Now, both of these Mistos knew who Grizabella was. In general, full adults know Griz, while the kittens and sorta-adults don’t. This is the most clear generation gap in the show. In both these productions, Misto was put on the side of the adults. This matches up with most earlier portrayals of the character. By the time Jacob Brent played him, he was a younger character, only just starting to become an adult, who comes up age by the end of the show. I’ve always been curious as to when exactly this change took place. How did we get from here:

to here:

I don’t have any pictures of Timothy Scott’s Misto and Grizabella, so this comparsion doesn’t work quite as well, but you get the idea. In the above picture, Misto is just sort of waiting to see what Grizabella does. He doesn’t know her.

Well, I think the next two entries in the Vienna Line show some of the journey from point A to point B

Paris

The recording of the Paris version is from 1990, during the last month of the show’s run. It was uploaded to YouTube by Guy-Paul de St. Germain, who played Misto in the recording, and in London shortly after, as well as in a later UK Tour.

Misto approaches Grizabella, and the film quality makes it hard to see what’s going, but what I think is going on is that Munkustrap and Misto are equally quick to react to Grizabella, but Munkustrap keeps his distance, while Misto approaches her. From what I can tell, he does so neutrally, just trying to figure out who she is.

Munkustrap doesn’t physically intervene, but he warns Misto to get away with a sharp hiss. Misto backs away and stands in the corner, where he remains for the rest of the number.

After one of the kittens (I’m pretty sure it’s Tumblebrutus) scratches Grizabella, Misto sort of leans toward her, almost taking a step in her direction. But, he looks back over his shoulder before doing anything, and whatever he sees keeps him in place. I’m guessing he was looking to Munkustrap for permission to see if she’s alright after being scratched, and was denied permission.

Conclusion: Paris Misto most likely doesn’t know who Grizabella is. He obeys Munkustrap’s instructions regarding her, but he doesn’t seem to know what to think of her. He’s concerned for her when she gets hurt, but he prioritizes Munkustrap’s orders over that concern. The general tone is very similar to the VHS, though 1998 Misto started glaring at Grizabella, copying Munkustrap, instead of just following his instructions.

Zurich

The Zurich footage is from a 1992 bootleg. In 1992, Misto was being played by Lindsay Chambers, who’d go on to play him on Broadway for a few years. He was playing Misto on Broadway when Jacob Brent was cast as Pouncival, so this is where Brent’s Misto starts to connect to Vienna-based Mistos.

When Misto starts dancing to the reprise of Tugger’s song, he gets really into it and Grizabella shows up right behind him, making it seem like he nearly crashes into her. When he sees her, he just stops and stares. He doesn’t react at all. He just waits to see what she’ll do.

Even though he’s not doing anything, Grizabella treats him like Amsterdam Misto, pushing him out of her way. Since Amsterdam Misto was actually blocking her path, it made sense for her to do that, but here it’s just rude! He doesn’t know who she is and made no move against her. If she wants a cat to welcome her back into the tribe, he probably would’ve done it. But it seems like Zurich Grizabella is focused on getting to Munkustrap. She wants to talk to the one who’s in charge.

Like in the Paris version, when Grizabella is scratched, Misto steps towards her. But, Zurich Misto is quick to stop himself. He doesn’t need Munkustrap to tell him to stay away, though Munkustrap is right there. I can’t tell if he’s glaring at Misto or glaring at Grizabella, because of Bootleg Quality. But, if Munkustrap isn’t glaring at Misto, Misto just decided to stop by himself, probably remembering getting pushed out of the way. Grizabella really lost herself an ally here. From other scenes in this version, I’ve noticed that Zurich Misto often doesn’t seem to understand the social rules of the tribe and gets in trouble frequently. In the very next scene, Skimble will stop him from pulling Bustopher’s tail, but he’ll insist on doing it anyway, so even if the rules are explained to him, he still might break them if he really wants to. He’d go against the tribe to support Grizabella if he felt like he had a reason to. But, because she pushed him, his first impression of her is negative, so if the rest of the tribe says she’s bad, he’ll go along with it.

Zurich Grizabella confuses me, basically.

Conclusion: Like in Paris, Zurich Misto is not a full adult. He doesn’t know who Grizabella is and reacts to her neutrally at first. The key difference is that he doesn’t go against Grizabella because that’s what the adults are doing, but in direct response to her actions. Compared to both Paris and the VHS, Zurich Misto isn’t quite as invested in pleasing authority figures. He wants the Important Cats to like him, but he’s more willing to go against them.

So, my theory about How Misto Became 1998 Misto is:

1. In different ways, both the London and Broadway productions originally characterized Misto as a full grown adult, somewhat established as a magician due to a love of showing off.

2. Most early productions had a similar characterization for Misto, including the Vienna production.

3. The Paris production seemed to be where things began to change. One of the actors who played Misto, either Tibor Kovats or Guy-Paul de St. Germain started playing the character differently. This might’ve been because of the decision to have Mistoffelees dance with Victoria. London’s Admetus and Broadway’s Tumblebrutus were established as kittens around Victoria’s age. If Misto was out of her age range, it would be kind of weird. This wouldn’t stop the London production from pairing her with Alonzo in its later years, but whatever. So, Misto was aged down to be only as old as they could get away with if they wanted to pair him with Victoria, even if it was just for one dance, since a lot of productions don’t have Victoria interact with her dance partner much outside of the dance itself. Mistoria shippers can make a thing out of it and everyone else can not make a thing out of it, because it works either way.

4. The Zurich production also paired Mistoffelees with Victoria for the dance, so they might’ve aged him down for similar reasons. Like in Paris, Tibor Kovats played Misto in this version early on. I don’t have any footage of him in the role, but he’s what really connects Paris and Zurich, so this Misto characterization might’ve come from him. If not, Guy-Paul de St Germain and Lindsay Chambers had very similar ideas for what to do with the character, with just enough difference that it could just be a coincidence. 

5. Guy-Paul de St Germain played Misto in London, bringing this new characterization into that production.

6. Lindsay Chambers played Misto on Broadway, bringing this new characterization into that production. Future Mistos of both London and Broadway would be more likely to base their portrayals on these Vienna-based Mistos.

7. When Jacob Brent was cast as Pouncival on Broadway, Lindsay Chambers was playing Misto. Jacob learned the part while Chambers was playing it, and when it was his turn to play Misto, he also played him as a young tom coming of age.

And he was very good at it.

8. Jacob Brent played Mistoffelees in the 1998 VHS. When the show closed in London and on Broadway, the 1998 version became the version that most people saw first, so a generation of future Mistos learned his characterization, so it became the one that remained popular into the present day.

And that’s probably where Baby Misto comes from.

#cats 1998 #cats vienna #cats paris 1990 #cats zurich #cats amsterdam #there was no reason for this post to be as long as it is #mr mistoffelees #dr diavolo #dutch misto got a phd #anyway it's time to tag some actors #valentin baraian #i don't know who the amsterdam guy was sorry #guy-paul de st germain #lindsay chambers #tibor kovats #even though i haven't seen him #he might have something to do with this #and of course #jacob brent #cats 1998 wasn't doing mistoria on purpose #but mistoria might've helped create this one #but i'm not tagging the ship #because i don't ship it and it might attract a shipping war to my blog #and i have a rule about this #i don't want any shipping wars on my blog #if it involves shipping and an argument #i want nothing to do with it #even the tags for this thing are too damn long