"Great Performances"
Cats (1998)

Director:

David Mallet

Writer:

T.S. Eliot (book)

TV Series:

"Great Performances" (1972)

Original Air Date:

5 October 1998

Genre:

Music | Musical

Tagline:

The World's Best-loved Musical - The Memory will Live Forever

Plot:

"Jellicle" cats join for a Jellicle ball where they rejoice with their leader, Old Deuteronomy. One cat will be chosen to go to the "Heavyside Layer" and be reborn. The cats introduce themselves. |

Plot Keywords:

Based On Musical | Broadway | Cat | Independent Film | Based On Book

Cast

Elaine Paige	...	Grizabella the Glamour Cat
John Mills	...	Gus the Theatre Cat
Ken Page	...	Old Deuteronomy
Rosemarie Ford	...	Bombalurina
Michael Gruber	...	Munkustrap
John Partridge	...	Rum Tum Tugger
Aeva May	...	Demeter
Geoffrey Garratt	...	Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat
James Barron	...	Bustopher Jones
Jo Gibb	...	Rumpleteazer
Drew Varley	...	Mungojerrie
Susie McKenna	...	Jennyanydots the Gumbie Cat
Jacob Brent	...	Mr. Mistoffelees
Susan Jane Tanner	...	Jellylorum
Phyllida Crowley Smith	...	Victoria

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Germany:o.Al.

Filming Locations:

Adelphi Theatre, Strand, London, England, UK

Company:

Really Useful Films

Trivia:

Elaine Paige, Susan Tanner, and Femi Taylor were all members of the original London cast; Ken Page was a member of the original Broadway cast. Page, Michael Gruber, and Jacob Brent are the only American performers in the video.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the Macavity song with Demeter and Bombalurina, Demeter's left legging changes from being pulled up or down by her ankle between shots.

Quotes:

Grizabella: Touch me! It's so easy to leave me all alone with the memory of my days in the sun. If you touch me, you'll understand what happiness is. Look! A new day has begun.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "I Love the 80's 3-D" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Macavity: The Mystery Cat

Perhaps the most entertaining of all stage musicals, now in its filmed version.

I have long enjoyed the musical 'Cats', both in several attendances at live productions and simply listening to the music on CD. 'Cats', the movie, was created in 1997, a full 16 years after its debut on stage. This isn't simply the taping of a stage performance. For the movie they assembled the best cast they could from among 'Cats' stage veterans. The set was designed especially for the movie, the makeup was toned down to look better in the closer perspective of the movie, especially the close-ups, a full orchestra was used, songs were recorded in a studio, and conventional movie techniques were used for the filming -- multiple angles, close-ups, cameras moving on tracks, etc. What we get is a movie that is does not have the realism of a stage production, and it is fairly obvious most times that singers are lip-syncing their own recordings, but a movie nonetheless that is a superb supplement to the live performances. The DVD has a very nice 'making-of' special, we see Andrew Lloyd Weber personally supervising the musical numbers, we see some of the makeup artistry at work, and a few before/after shots of actors and their characters.

Overall a fine DVD of a superb movie of perhaps the most entertaining stage musical of all.