![]() Examples given include "Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey," the last of which was derived from the 1902 song " Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey". ![]() English professor Dorothy Dodge Robbins noted that the many examples of feline names given in the poem by the Missouri-born poet were heavily influenced by his love and adoption of British culture: "After all, his are the monikers of distinctly London cats they are not the practical names of Midwestern barn cats." įamilial names are typically common human names that the cat's "family use daily". It states that "a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES" specifically, one that is "familiar", one that is "particular", and one that is "secretive". The poem uses a short rhythmic dialogue to describe how cats get or choose their names. Eliot, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter-īut I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular, Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames: There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter, Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey. Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James, When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.įirst of all, there's the name that the family use daily, ![]() You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter This musical juggernaut continues to thrive across so many stages and mediums… It’s almost as if the show has nine lives.The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter, “CATS” eventually came to the silver screen in 2019, when director Tom Hooper adapted the musical into a film with numerous stars, including Judi Dench, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen and Taylor Swift. The musical’s hit song “Memory” has also been recorded by over 150 artists, including Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis and Barry Manilow. It returned to Broadway for an acclaimed revival in 2016. “CATS” has been presented in over 30 countries, translated into 15 languages and seen by more than 73 million people worldwide. It also earned seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical - awarded posthumously to Eliot. Running until the year 2000, it broke records as the longest-running Broadway show in history (a record later broken by another of Webber’s shows, “The Phantom of the Opera”). Opening on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1982, the show caused just as big of a cultural tidal wave in America. He did so alongside an impressive creative team, including legendary producer Cameron Mackintosh, director Trevor Nunn, choreographer Gillian Lynne, and set and costume designer John Napier (who also designed for Siegfried and Roy).Ī visual and musical spectacle unlike any other show, “CATS” became an instant blockbuster and ran for 21 years in the West End. He adored them - to the point that when he gained acclaim in adulthood as a titan of musical theater, he decided to adapt the poems for the stage.Ĭomposing all of the show’s music, Webber first launched “CATS” in London’s West End in 1981. ![]() Years later, piano teacher Jean Lloyd Webber read these poems to her young son Andrew Lloyd Webber. That’s because he originally drafted these verses to amuse his godchildren, before publishing them through Faber and Faber, a publishing house where he worked as an editor. These whimsical descriptions of feline characters, such as “The Old Gumbie Cat” and “Rum Tum Tugger” certainly differed from Eliot’s more dramatic and influential works. Eliot, a Nobel Prize winner for literature, published a collection of poems called “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.” Believe it or not, blockbuster musical “CATS” – got its start in 1939.
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