"Cats." Just the name of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical can send some into a swoon.
For others, it's like a cat clawing a blackboard.
Count us somewhere in the middle. We know it's an over-glorified, vacuous tech show, but golly gee, it's fun anyway.
So we were among those happy to hear that Broadway in Tucson was bringing a production our way.
It opens next week. In preparation, here's a rundown of the show's facts, figures and inspirations.
The inspiration:
As a young boy, Webber read and loved T.S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats."
As a young composer back in the late 1970s, he wanted to try to write music to a story and lyrics already penned, rather than agreeing on the story with the lyricist, which is how he usually wrote. His favorite childhood book came back to him.
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The beginnings:
Webber fooled around with Eliot's verse and in 1980 gave a concert.
Eliot's widow, Valerie, was present at that concert and brought Webber some unpublished cat verses. Among them: "Grizabella the Glamour Cat," which inspired the musical's best-known song, "Memory."
What the heck are "Jellicle cats" (as in "Jellicle cats come out tonight. . . .")?:
They are, it seems, a figment of Eliot's imagination. The word was inspired by his niece, who, the story goes, would say "dear little cats" and Eliot heard it as "Jellicle cats." They are cats who lounge around and are peaceful by day, but let it all hang out when the sun slips behind the hills. That could just about define all species of cats.
By the numbers:
"Cats" opened in London's West End on May 11, 1981; it closed there on its 21st birthday in 2002 after 8,949 performances. It opened in New York on Oct. 7, 1982, and closed Sept. 10, 2000, after 7,485 performances.
"Cats" has been seen in 26 countries and more than 300 cities and has been translated into 10 languages — though the name has rarely been translated.
More than 150 artists have recorded the song "Memory."
The story:
That's right, it has a story. Though even we will admit it's kind of lame.
It opens as the Jellicle cats come out on this particular night to celebrate who they are and to party at the Jellicle ball. At the end of the ball, the wise old cat, Deuteronomy, will pick a feline to be reborn into a brand new Jellicle life.
At first, the cats are pretty suspicious of the audience, but they finally give in and carry on. Then they explain their peculiarities: how they have three names, why they are meeting and the unique characteristics of each.
For instance Jennyanydots, the Gumbie Cat, doesn't do much of anything: "She sits beside the hearth or in the sun or on my hat / She sits and sits and sits and sits — that's what makes a Gumbie Cat."
Among the cats is Grizabella, who left the tribe years ago to explore the world; now, she wants to rejoin it. She is shunned by most. She sings about her memory of the old days.
"Memory / All alone in the moonlight / I can smile at the old days / I was beautiful then / I remember the time I knew what happiness was / Let the memory live again."
Warning:
Please, no singing along.
If you go
Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Cats"
• When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 8 p.m. next Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. May 17; 1 p.m. May 18.
• Where: Tucson Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave.
• Tickets: $20-$50, available through Ticketmaster, 321-1000, or in person at the Tucson Convention Center box office, 260 S. Church Ave.
• Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes, with one intermission.
