Click here for a shorter description of the musical.
CATS StorylineNote:
There have been people who see CATS, or maybe who haven't seen CATS and
aren't sure what it's all about. I've put together a scene-by-scene description
of what happens throughout the tour show. I was going from memory, so I may have
missed a few spots. Also, some of the interpretations are from what I see when I
watched the tour show (8 times now). Some are from tidbits of what I have been
told from cast members. If any fan or cast members wish to add to or further
describe parts of this, please e-mail me. Thank
you.
Overture:
The music starts and we are greeted with a bit of fog and a wonderful light show. Then the cats begin to run through the aisles with their green eyes on their heads. I recall seeing on the left side, Demeter, Sillabub, Jellylorum, Munkustrap, Pouncival, Misto, and Tumble. Most of the time the audience was startled and there were a number of laughs. The lighting was wonderful. During the slow down and almost magical sounding part, the circle of lights rose up into the ceiling creating a beautiful lighting effect. Then the music stopped and we as the audience are blinded for just a moment as the headlights of the unseen car comes squealing by and stop on Demeter as she is entering the junkyard. One interesting theory is that some cast members think that Demeter had just left Macavity after he had abused her, and when we see her hissing at the car, she was just returning to the junkyard.
Jellicle Songs:
The cats came out one by one, or two by two. First the narrator and protector of the tribe shows up (Munkustrap), then Gus appears out of the pipe. After him is Skimble and finally Demeter returns. The others slowly enter the junkyard, at first seemingly unsure of the audience there watching them. Then as they relax slightly, Munkustrap stands up and asks his question. The others join in with questions of their own...all the while leading up to who they are as Jellicle Cats. The questions start again, but the focus soon shifts from asking the audience questions to telling the audience about themselves and basically just enjoying who they are. They tell of all the wonderful things they can do. They continue, building in intensity and fervor as they end up all together in a pyramid shape singing about being an angelical choir. That's when a large boot is thrown out at them to shut them up. The cats are startled, but then look up nonplussed and continue with their singing. They are almost reverant for a moment, then burst out in song once more, enjoying the music and the dance until they suddenly stop. Gus quickly moves to the front to stare at someone in the audience as he informs the others that there's a man who doesn't know what a Jellicle Cat is! Munkustrap then comes forward and wonders if he's really seeing someone who actually doesn't know what a Jellicle cat was! The two look at each other and ask almost mockingly, "What's a Jellicle cat?" The rest of the tribe repeats the question disbelievingly. They turn and start to walk away before stopping and runnig back to stare at the man and ask again "What's a Jellicle Cat?!"
Naming of Cats:
The cats slowly move back into a block formation, some making a face at the individual who didn't know what a Jellicle cat was. Then as one, they all face forward and begin telling everyone the difficult matter of the naming of cats. Almost as though they were in a trance, they tell of various names that you could give a cat. Simple or fancy. But they also mention how they need a name that more particular and dignified. They want a name that no other cat has that they could identify themselves with. But even beyond that, there is a third name left over. This is a name that only the cat himself knows and will never tell anyone else. In fact, if you see a cat in quiet meditation, it's most likely that the feline is thinking about his secret name. As they semi-chant their words, they move forward to show the intensity of how important their names are to them. The cats move out into the audience and essentially get face to face with some of the audience members before returning to the stage and then disappearing leaving Victoria alone.
Invitation:
Victoria remained in the middle of the stage grooming herself and just minding her own business it seems. Then Mistoffelees comes out and interrupts her. As the two stand up to dance, Munkustrap comes out and starts to sing the invitation to the ball. The other cats return bit by bit and begin to join in the dance. Demeter seems hesitant to join in the dancing and singing as though she were unsure if she should. Then Bombalurina comes over to her and encourages her to join in. (This seems to lend credence to the theory that Demeter had just returned to the tribe after escaping Macavity.) Munkustrap moves to the front of the stage and proceeds to tell the audience that Jellicles meet once a year to celebrate the Jellicle Ball. The Ball is where the leader appears and makes the Jellicle Choice of which cat gets to go to the Heaviside Layer where it can be reborn into another one of it's nine lives.
Jennyanydots:
The cats get a little playful and Munkustrap once again starts the song off by telling them that he has a specific gumbie cat in mind. Mistoffelees is standing next to him, almost as if he thought Munkustrap was going to sing about him. But Mistoffelees quickly sits down when Munk mentions Jennyanydots. Then the old stove/oven is opened up and we see Jennyanydots asleep inside. As Munkustrap continues his singing, Bombalurina walks out towards the front of the stage, realizes she's alone, and then waves her arm at Jellylorum and Demeter as though to say "Get over here! It's time to do our part!". When they sing about the mice in the basement, Skimbleshanks, Victoria, Sillabub, and Rumpleteazer dress up as mice (the costume parts are found in and around the old barrel on the right side of the stage). Then the part about the cockroaches is sung and Pouncival comes out dressed as a cockroach. It looks as though he stumbles and is almost going to fall into the audience, but catches himself just in time. Then the others come out marching all dressed like cockroaches. Skimbleshanks is the cockroach that acts up and is out of line and such during Jennyanydots's song! He pretends that he is going to fork Jennyanydots in the rear-end, but Jenny is too fast for him and catches him so he gets back in line. As the tap-dancing continues, the cats/beetles reach with their left hands and pull a string which releases their "wings". Alonzo doesn't dance with them. He's on the car for most of the tap dancing. The reason for this, I'm not sure. One guess is that at one time in the original London production, The person who played Alonzo also played Bustopher Jones. And Alonzo was off the stage getting ready for BJ. This is just a guess...not sure of the accuracy of my memory though. Jennyanydots is really getting into her dancing when everyone stops and sudenly says, "For she's a jolly good fellow!" She stops and says "Thank you my dears!" After that Munkustrap chases Jenny across the stage trying to put her coat on her. Jenny is basically just interested in hearing the applause but Munkustrap finally succeeds in dropping her coat over her.
Rum Tum Tugger:
The Rum Tum Tugger rips through an old shirt, interrupting the end of Jennyanydots song. Of course everyone realizes that it's the Tugger and start to sing about hiim being a curious cat. Tugger moves to his right and startles Demeter who runs away from him, but the other queens are quite interested in him. Munkustrap looks almost as though he's sighing when he and Alonzo say that Tugger is a terrible bore. Bombalurina think he's a curious beast and loves it when Tugger pays attention to her, but apparently she's too eager for him because he decides that she's not what he wants and drops her, literally, to the floor. So, instead, he goes out into the audience to find someone there to dance with. After Tugger went back to the stage, the music slowed down and he was in his limelight, grabbing the attention of all the queens by singing into his tail dramatically. Rumpleteazer squealed the loudest before Tugger finally finished the song. As the reprise came on, he moved to the side of the stage to blow a kiss to the lady he picked to dance with and then moved back to dance a little with the rest of the cats. He wasn't quite happy when his playfullness was interrupted by the arrival of an unwanted guest.
Grizabella the Glamour Cat:
As Grizabella enters the stage, the cats show a mixed reaction. The younger ones are curious. They don't know who she is it seems and want to go over to her. However, the older cats are disdainful and contemptuous towards the Glamour Cat and they keep the younger kittens away from Griz. Demeter is the only adult in the group who shows compassion towards Griz, but is kept away by Bombalurina. It seems that Demeter may know something about Griz's past and wants to accept her, but doesn't partly because she is afraid that if she does, the others would reject her too, and she needs them to protect her from Macavity. So she turns away and is comforted by Bombalurina. Off to the side, it seems that Plato and Pouncival are trying to convince Tumblebrutus of something and finally end up pushing him into the foreground. Tumble reluctantly turns towards Grizabella and acts as though he is going to touch her and accept her, only to swipe a paw at her and scratches her arm instead. He gets disciplined by Jellylorum for even approaching Griz. Finally all calms down and Griz looks at Munkustrap who is standing guard over the Jellicles. She sings about herself...how she hesitates towards them, how her coat is torn, and how her eye is twisted. At this time, Demeter turns around and sings what little she knew about the Glamour Cat. Griz had left the tribe earlier in her life (In the tour version Griz is considered to be about the same age as Munk!) and her life's journey had taken some definate downturns. Now she wants to return, but the cats who scorn her remember how she had left them...perhaps she had done them wrong when she left. As Demeter sang, you can tell that she has compassion for Griz. Then Bombalurina comes over and joins in. Only, her singing is more of mockery than compassion. The two sing their last lines together as Griz decides that she had better leave and try again later. After Griz leaves the stage, Demeter and a couple of the kittens move to the side to watch her leave. It looks like Demeter wants to go after her, but doesn't.
Bustopher Jones:
Skimbleshanks is the first to notice that Bustopher Jones is arriving. He quickly runs and tells Jennyanydots who has an obvious crush on the large chap. She immediately starts to sing about him and Bomb and Jelly join in. As they sing, Sillabub gets Demeters attention that BJ is coming. At first Demeter is reluctant to stop looking after Griz, but soon turns and joins in the singing about BJ just as he enters the scene. Bustopher is a jubilant uptown type of cat who frequently visits all the clubs. And of course, his favorite past time is eating. He expects a certain atmosphere of respect to his station in life. When Bustopher notices the audience, he gets a little flirtatious and throws his flower into the audience after sniffing it. Skimble, had been lining up the toms for inspection as BJ was doing this. Then Skimble quickly ushers BJ to the end of the line to inspect the toms. BJ doesn't like being pushed around and he decides to give Skimble a little push baack which sends Skimble into the bed frame behind them. BJ then obliges and inspects the toms, dismissing Pouncival for some reason known only to him. He goes to take a seat on the hat. But when BJ sat down, all the other cats sitting and standing gave a little hop as though BJ caused the ground to jump. He told of many different places he would eat depending on his mood. Then he got up and used his spoon to pretend to hit a golf ball off in the distance. After this, he went over and gave Jenny a kiss on the paw. Then a siren is heard as the cats are suddenly alert to the presence of a possible intruder. We can hear the sounds of car doors closing and then silence as Demeter gets all worked up thinking it was Macavity coming after her! She calls out his name in warning and the cats quickly disperse, Munkustrap being the last to leave after ordering Alonzo to leave first.
Mungojerrie & Rumpleteazer:
Instead of Macavity, we hear a giggle and Rumpleteazer appears followed by Mungojerrie. She giggles again and Mungojerrie shushes her. They look around to see if any other cat is around as they carry their loot socks. They back into each other and drop their bags as they start to sing about themselves. They are a notorious duo who like to create havoc in their house as well as take things that don't belong to them. The whole time, the people wonder which cat did the nasty deed and most of the time they leave it at that. Finally at the end of the song they admit that it was BOTH of them. After the admission, the two do a double cartwheel and say again that there was nothing at all to be done about that! About this time, the cats return only to find the two theives roaming about the junkyard. Munkustrap and Jellylorum pick up the loot socks and show them to Mungo and Rumple. The duo seem to look at the socks and get a look on their faces as if they had never seen the socks before in their lives! The two then move over to the car hood where the socks are thrown at them.
Old Deuteronomy:
The music starts off slow and melodic as Misto turns around, the first to sense the arrival of their beloved leader. "Old Deuteronomy?" he asks. Demeter moves forward and confirms it. "I believe it is Old Deuteronomy." After this, Munkustrap starts to sing about the tribes leader as he motions for Skimble to go out and escort Deuteronomy in. Skimble is happy to be the lucky tom who escorts him in, but stops and turns around to make sure that Munk really meant that he got to go. Munk reassures him with the wave of a paw and Skimble turns and heads off. Munk continues to sing, but is soon joined by Tugger. After Munk looks at him as if to wonder if the tom was being serious or joking around, he seems satisfied that Tugger was a bit more reverant for the old tom. Together they sing how old Deuteronomy is and that he has lived many lives. Deut had had many wives who had passed on before him, but they had left numerous "progeny's" or offspring. At this point Tugger waves his arm slowly indicating that some of the cats there are most likely some of the offspring. Then the singing gets more reverant and joyful as they turn to see Skimble approaching with their leader! The kittens want to go forward right away, but Munk holds them back waiting for just the right moment! The moment comes and they all gather around Deuteronomy in love and respect. Even though Tugger doesn't approach, he gives a respectful bow to the leader who returns the gesture. Finally Deuteronomy turns and welcomes them by saying that he must go slow and carefully. The cats are giddy at his arrival and start to play a little bit before there is a crash and the Jellicle's are once again alert. Munkustrap moves to the front and takes up his protective stance as Bombalurina takes the opportunity to check him out. But then Demeter calls out Macavity's name again in fear of him showing up and the tribe scatter once more with the exception of Old Deuteronomy and Munk who remains to protect the Jellicle leader.
The Jellice Ball:
Old Deut moves to the center of the stage and invites the Jellicles to come back out. The first ones out are Victoria and Sillabub. They look nervous but eventually calm down as Alonzo comes out and the kittens become playful again. One by one or two by two the cats return as the Jellicle Ball starts. At one point, I noticed that Tugger was teasing Teazer. He would lightly bat her on the top of her head and then look away and act as if nothing was happening. She would look back and get a funny look on her face as she straightened out the fur on her head and then go back to watching the dancing. Tugger did it a couple of more times before she was able to turn quickly enough and swipe at him when she caught him! Then Tugger turned to flirt a little with Sillabub. Skimble saw this and ran over to hiss at the tom! Then it looked as if he was ordering Sillabub away from Tugger. Tugger just gave Skimble a look that seemed to say "What? I was just being friendly!" There is always 2 or 3 cats at some point or other who has stopped dancing to rest in the background. But at the same time, as they rest, they have to still act like cats and continue with various antics. So if you've seen the show before, take a look at what's happening in the background...it's quite interesting....but don't count out the dancing that's going on either! It's terrific!
During the sensual part of the Ball, we see Victoria in the middle and Tumble lifts her in the air gracefully as Skimble comes over and Tumble sets her down. Those who pair up are: to the left of Vic and Tumble are Misto and Cassandra, they do an interesting little synchronization movement by sitting up and down and moving their legs...really cool effect. Then to the left of them are Demeter and Plato. Plato is lying on his back and holds Demeter up above him...she is facing him laying out flat, just balancing on his hands! Behind them were Jellylorum and Pouncival (I think)...unfortunately I couldn't see what they were doing. To the right of Vicki and Tumble are Bombalurina and Alonzo. Again, an amazing feat of strength and balance for both of them! Alonzo picks Bombalurina up from behind and lifts her from the hips or stomache area. She arches her back and paws the air. Meanwhile, he is balancing her on his own stomache. It's hard to describe but an interesting effect...impressive in artistic and dance value. To the right of them are Mungojerrie, Sillabub, and Rumpleteazer. All I can remember of them is that Rumpleteazer and Sillabub are both facing the audience and Mungo is between them with his back to the audience. I couldn't quite catch what they were doing, but he eventually helps them to lie down and then he lies down between them right before they move over into the center with everyone else. Behind them were Jennyanydots and Gus. I was able to see them "sniff" one another but lost sight of them after that. Old Deut was on the tire with Tugger to his right (audiences left) and slightly behind. Munk was on the opposite side but a little in front. Griz was on the car unseen by everyone except the audience. That is, until after everyone reaches the center, Cassandra is the first to realize that something is wrong. Then Misto. Then Skimble. Then as Tumble leads the charge to scare Grizabella away, Misto comes out front and moves his hands around making the lights flash on a bit. I still love the look on his face that seems to say "Cool! Look what I can do!" After this point, I just got lost in watching all the dancing and listening to the music.
Memory:
Griz comes out once more and the cats hiss at her again. Demeter looks at her and seems to want to go over, but Alonzo stops her. She hisses at him and even gives him a swipe as if to say "Don't tell me what to do!" He gets all huffy as if to say "Fine! Do what you want but I'm not stickin around to see you do it!" He then takes off. Demeter moves closer to Griz reaching out to touch her, but Now Bombs cuts her off with a warning hiss. Demeter didn't like this either...but seems more reluctant to go against Bombs' wishes so she hisses back and then runs off as well. At this point Rumpleteazer starts to head forward in curiousity, but Mungo stamps his foot and distracts her. They run off the stage together. Jelly sings in what I interpret as a mocking tone "You see the border of her coat is torn and stained with sand". Sillabub heads forward and repeats from memory of what she heard earlier, "And you see the corner of her eye twist like a crooked pin." Sill doesn't seem to be mocking, but more curious as she tries to reach out and touch Griz but is blocked by Jellylorum. They all run off stage and finally Griz is left alone on the stage, or so she thinks. Old Deut starts to leave, but seems to stop and watch what she does instead. Poor Griz recalls the dancing and fun of the Ball and tries to do it herself, but she seems unable to capture the magic, or perhaps she is injured because she does grab her back or seems to trip at one point or another. Finally, she gives up that dream and realizes how quiet it was. At which point she begins her song about her loneliness and her memories of happier times. When she finished, she began to walk off the stage at which point Old Deut steps down from the tire and starts to reach out to her. Griz senses movement behind her and reaches her paw behind her to see if whoever it is would touch her. But Old Deut changes his mind for some mysterious reason ...(perhaps because he wanted the Jellicles to accept her of their own decision and not because he asked them to?)... and he puts his hand down. Griz is disappointed, but doesn't seem surprised. She continues walking off the stage with as much dignity as she could muster for someone who's been through what she had been through. Old Deut then sits down to meditate as Intermission starts.
Moments of Happiness:
The cats came out slowly and were amusing to watch. At one point we see Mungo starting over to see Jellylorum (I think) and Sillabub slides down the car trunk and runs between the two oblivious that she nearly ran them down! But Mungo wouldn't have any of that! He quickly swiped at her and even knocked her off-balance and she fell down giving him a surprised look! Mungo laughed at her. It was soo cute! It reminded me of my own cat when she gets startled sometimes! Pouncival is off to the other side spinning around in a circle very fast trying to catch his tail! Then Gus came in with the help of Jellylorum and everyone settled down in a relaxed repose as Old Deuteronomy sang about the Moments of Happiness. Griz came out to listen on top of the car. As the tribe listened, Deut sent mental images or thoughts of what he was trying to say, but they didn't want to accept it and almost seemed to writhe in pain when he did. Then as if to try another tactic, Deut sent a message that first Pouncival received and showed this by putting out a hand in front of him and shaking it. His other had went behind him where Cassandra put her hand in his and put out her other hand. Then Sillabub grabbed that hand and stood up to sing the message that Old Deut sent. She told the Jellicles to look at the moon and let their memories lead them back to a time when they were most happy...and then perhaps they could find a new meaning in life from that memory. Once Sill finished singing, the contact was broken and the three cats looked at each other as if to figure out what had just happened. But the message was still there and everyone was trying to understand the meaning of it all. Then when they think they are all about to grasp it, they all stand up and....the moment is past. They lose their concentration and begin to move about once more, and Griz quietly disappears out of the yard. That's when Gus is led to the front of the stage.
Gus:
Jelly sings about how Gus had been famous in his younger days. Gus' paws continuously shook as she invited him to sing as well and he told more stories of his younger days. But nothing could ever compare to the one time in which he took part of FireForeFiddle, the Fiend of the Fell. When he sang about "when Victoria reigned", Victoria, who was sitting beside Deut, raised her arm as if to either salute Queen Victoria, or pretend that she was the queen, or just acknowledging her namesake. Another thing I noticed in the background that was cute was that Demeter was sitting on the pipe and occasionally paw a little playfully at Pouncival who was inside the pipe. Mungojerrie, Bombalurina, and Sillabub were sitting beside Old Deut. Mungo and Bomb would occasionally glance at each other, or I think I recall him grooming her, or one or the other would point something out. The thing I thought was just the cutest though, was when Bombalurina tapped Sillabub on the shoulder and when Sillabub turned to look at her, Bomb moved her face close and they would just barely touch noses and then pull back! How CUTE!! It was just sooo cat-like! When Gus finsihed one part of his song, Jellylorum encouraged the audience to clap and give him applause. This seemed to give Gus new strength as he sang more of his feats of the past including the fact that he once played Growltiger and that he could do it again. His voice gets stronger and louder right before he changes into Growltiger's outfit!
Growltiger:
Gotta love the "fake" muscles that blow up. When the cats sing about the Siamese that mauled Growltiger's missing ear, they made themselves sound like siamese. Griddlebone's appeareance is precluded by all the cats sniffing the air. When she makes her appearance, Misto tries to clean the floor she walks on, Alonzo tries to impress her with his "hook" which Griddlebone just looked at and had a look on her face that essentially said "ewww!" Tugger tried to impress her with just his looks and she seemed to like him, but when she turned around and saw the Bravo Cat, she nearly fainted! Growltiger's not-so-subtle hint of the crew going into their bunks to sleep immediately sent the cats into their "bunks" and Griddle seemed to be waiting for attention from Growltiger. However, Once Growltiger started to sing, he seemed to like the sound of his own voice and stopped paying attention to her and began to play it up with his singing! Griddle was obviously unhappy about this as she waves her tail back and forth forcefully. She finally got his attention bye raking her claws on his front. The two sang until they suddenly realized that they were surrounded by siamese cats! Griddle quickly disappeared as Ghengis gets an extra sword that is hidden behind the helm and hands it to Growltiger for a proper dual. They pause to take some pretty big breaths before fighting. Growltiger seems to get the better of Ghengis and when he's busy laughing it up, Ghengis stands back up and points the sword...well....where it counts the most, let's just say. Growltiger very quickly backs up...but he does so right into the tip of another sword and he is finally "captured". He steps up to the edge of the "ship" and he plugged his nose before jumping. :) At the end, Ghengis was left alone on the stage flashing his sword. He then turned around and there was Gus once more reaching out to him as if trying to touch a dream. Then Genghis bowed to Gus and slowly did some turns and disappeared off-stage as Gus recalled once more his role of FireForeFiddle the Fiend of the Fell. He then sadly left the stage as Sillabub, saddened by the story, went to seek comfort from Old Deuteronomy.
Skimbleshanks:
To cheer up Sillabub, Old Deut pointed to Skimble lying asleep on the old hat. She went over as well as Victoria and Rumpleteazer. When they called out "Where is Skimble!" Teazer batted his back and woke him up. He fell off the hat and stood yawning before standing on top of the hat to sing his part. During his song, when he was singing about keeping an eye on things, Victoria bumped Jellylorum out of place and Skimble had to go fix that. Jelly gave him a coin that he took and went off to the side to bite it to make sure it was real. He then put it in his pocket for safe keeping before turning to see Pounce and Tumble making a ruckus. They then formed the half-circle around Skimble and he made a show of talking about the sleeping car express. When Skimble saw a mouse, he quickly stepped on it and picked it up then threw it to Mungo! Mungo spun around really fast as he caught the mouse! One of the pistons for the train can be found lying beside the pipe, and the other one is lying towards the back behind and above the tire. Sillabub and Victoria held the pistons and Rumpleteazer held the light. Demeter and Bomb had the front two wheels. I can't recall who had the other two. Munk was in the middle and I think Tumble and Pounce held up the front and back ends. Then the train fell apart and everyone giggled as Skimble wanted desperately for things to go just right. But, Skimble also has a good sense of humor because he ended up smiling as he got an "oh well" look on his face. The pyramid consisted of Tumble, Alonzo, and Munkustrap and Skimble climbed up with no problem.
Macavity:
The crashing sound announced Macavity's presence once more and this time he showed up! Tugger is the fake Macavity who comes out right before the real Mac appears. The two black henchcats (Misto and Mungo I think) show up with a net and kidnap Old Deuteronomy while Macavity distracts the rest of the tribe. He runs off and the adult tomcats chase after him. Alonzo stays behind to protect the queens that remain as Bombalurina seems to encourage Demeter to sing about who Macavity is. Behind Dem, Alonzo does what is called a "shadow dance". Basically he's somewhat mimicking what Demeter does. Then it's Bombalurina's turn to stand up and tell what she knows of the Hidden Paw. Then as the two sing together, the other queens start to join in and other toms return...not having found Macavity or Old Deuteronomy. By the time Demeter and Bombs finish their song, the rest of the toms return. The queens look hopefully at the returning toms, but are disappointed to find that their beloved leader was still missing. Then they turn around only to find Old Deuteronomy returning by himself! As the tribe gathers around him, Demeter hisses at the leader! She starts to warn everyone away and Mungo is one of the first to recognize that something is wrong after Demeter. He runs to the back of the stage and prevents Rumpleteazer from approaching Deuteronomy as Demeter makes sure everyone stays away from Old Deuteronomy. Everyone is confused until Dem actually jumps on top of the leader! They spin around and she reveals who he really is....Macavity in disguise! He doesn't seem fazed as he begins to strut around the stage just being his pure evil self. The others hiss at him and take feeble swipes to keep him away. He then knocks Munkustrap aside to get at Demeter cowering fearfully behind him! As he swings her over his shoulder, he keeps the others at bay with one claw, but soon needs to readjust his hold on the queen. As he does so, Munkustrap is able to grab hold of her and Alonzo sneaks in to take her away from Macavity! Then Munkustrap and Macavity go at it in a fierce fight! With realistic dance/fighting and sound effects to back them up, this had got to be one of the best scenes in the show! After a minute, it seems that Macavity has the upper hand when he knocks Munkustrap out for the count! But Alonzo was ready on the side lines after he set Demeter down by some other cats. He begins to fight the Napoleon of Crime as Bombs and Jellylorum try to revive Munkustrap and clean his wounds. Alonzo is swung around by Macavity and it seems that Macavity might win again, but Alonzo is able to get a good claw on Mac's arm and Mac ends up having to protect it...now weakened. Munkustrap revives and goes in to fight once more, but Macavity still had alot of fight in him and knocks Munk down again. Alonzo comes back to swipe again and by now the rest of the tribe is tired of Macavity and join in the swipes. Macavity knows he is outnumbered now and jumps up above the car hood where he grabs a couple of jumper cables. Raising them above his head, he short-circuits all the lights...but must have gotten a little electrocution himself as we can hear a loud yell right after the lights go out. All is quiet for a moment, then a light...perhaps a flashlight is turned on and after moving it around a little bit, they see the spot where Macavity had been standing. Alas, Macavity's not there. Then the light moved again and we can see Munkustrap being revived and Demeter seeks out Alonzo. The two meet in the middle of the stage and she thanks him for saving her by nuzzling him with her head. Then everyone realizes and says that they have to find Old Deuteronomy...still.
Mistoffelees:
Tugger tells the tribe that they ought to ask Mr. Mistoffelees how to find Old Deuteronomy. The light is turned quickly over to him and the tribe doesn't seem to take him seriously as they start to move away. But he stands up with urgency in his voice asking them to listen and not scoff at him! He then began to tell about how magical Misto was and before they knew it, Misto appeared above them and came down almost from out of nowhere. With his coat shining, Misto moved his hands, said "Presto" and all the lights came back on! This greatly encouraged the Jellicles as Tugger began to tell them more about various magical feats that Mistoffelees had done. When Tugger told them that not long ago Misto had produced seven kittens right out of a hat, Misto seemed to get a look on his face that said, "I can? Well, I guess I'll give a little demonstration." After which, a can was shot to him and he pulled out a rainbow cloth that the kittens just loved! Tumble and Sillabub each took an end and began to play with it as Misto and Tugger moved around the stage. Meanwhile, Demeter and Alonzo are all cuddly up on top of the car. It looks like romance is in the air for those two. Finally Misto goes over to the car and pulls out a red cloth that seems to come from the tail light. He shakes it out and points to Cassandra, wanting her to volunteer. She seems eager at first, but she seems to realize that she was going to disappear and shakes her hands in front of her as if to say, "On second thought, I don't think I want to do this!" But the cloth is drapped over her as she backs up and everyone pulls the cloth forward. Cassandra is still supposedly underneath shaking her hands in protest. Then Misto waves his paws over the red cloth and pulls it off to reveal that he has conjured Old Deuteronomy back from Macavity's clinches! As Misto turns and looks at his paws as if he were surprised that he was able to do that, but at the same time knew he could, Old Deuteronomy is looking at Tugger thinking that Tugger was the one who brought him back. Though he would love to take the credit for bringing the leader back, Tugger put up an arm and pointed out Misto, who was the one that brought him back instead! As all the cats were in awe and unsure if it really was their beloved leader, Misto turned back around and ran towards Old Deut. He jumps in the leaders arms and begins to lick his face! That proved to the others that Old Deut really was back and they all gathered around him! All the cats celebrated Deut's return and praised Misto's abilities as Tugger announced one more time the magical, the mystical, Mr. Mistoffelees! Misto did a jump and the toms lifted him up in the air! After the cheer was over, they set him down and he started to go off, but realized that the spotlight was still on him. As if to say that his time in the limelight was over, he made the spotlight shrink and finally blew it out.
Memory:
All the cats sensed that dawn was approaching and that it was time for the Ball to end. Sillabub announced that daylight was arriving. It was just beginning to get light out and they could see the dew on the flowers. Munkustrap stands and tells everyone that now is the time for Old Deuteronomy to choose the lucky cat who gets to go to the Heaviside Layer. They all bow their heads and raise their paws for him to choose....but then they are interrupted once more by Grizabella. Tugger thwacks his mane in disgust at her rude disruption and some of the kittens begin to approach, but are turned away. Demeter thinks of approaching as well, but soon turns and runs to join Alonzo back on the car hood as he puts an arm around her protectively. The kittens don't try as hard to approach Grizabella. They instead just turn and hide their heads...much like the rest of the tribe....with the exception of Old Deuteronomy who raises his paw and motions for her to speak..or rather...sing her mind. She does so with all her gusto and feeling she could muster. She talks about her memories and how she remembers a time she was much happier. She knows this should strike a chord in the hearts of the Jellicles because of Old Deut's speech to them earlier in the night about finding their moments of happiness. She sings on with the attitude that seems to portray her saying "How dare you turn away from me! You should know better! I know you know better!" But soon her own feelings seem to overwhelm her and she falls to the ground in seeming despair. As she was singing, the cats slowly, one by one, began to turn around and look at her...finally hearing her words and the words sinking in. First the younger ones turn, and so on until the last two (Tugger, Jenny) have turned to watch and listen as well. When Grizabella fell, Sillabub took up the song almost as if to encourage her. She sang perhaps of a favorite memory in which she was happy. Griz recognized this and joined back in the song. Renewed and revived, she stood up once more and sang as she had never sung before what she desired most....to be touched. To be accepted back in the tribe in which she was once a part of. She acknowledged that it would be easy for them to leave her alone, but she also said that if they touched her, they would capture the meaning of happiness...hers and theirs. Then she pointed out that the dawn has arrived. A new day has begun. The ball was over and she hadn't been accepted. Grizabella begins to walk off, but Victoria stood and took a few steps towards the queen. Griz sensed movement behind her, but almost didn't seem to dare to look. Instead, as she had done earlier that night, she stuck her paw behind her to see if anyone touched it. Victoria realized that no one was stopping her from approaching Griz and she turned to look at Old Deut as if to ask if it really was okay now to touch the queen. Deut motioned for the kitten to go ahead and Victoria put her paw in Grizabella's.....finally touching the rejected queen. Griz, surprised at first, then a look of relief and pure joy came over her face as she turned to see Victoria nuzzling her paw. All the other cats of the tribe then came over and formed a line in which they can accept her back. But more to the point...the line lead directly towards Old Deuteronomy. The Jellicle's were essentially chosing to give up their own chance to go to the Heaviside Layer in favor of Grizabella whom they felt deserved it more than they did.
Up to the Heaviside Layer:
Grizabella ended up in front of Munkustrap and Old Deueronomy. For a split second we wonder if Munkustrap accepted her back as well since he had been so adamant about keeping others away from her. But then he takes her paws and puts them in Deuteronomy's own paws. As he does so, the rest of the tribe begins to sing "Up, Up, Up, past the Russell Hotel, Up, Up, Up, Up to the Heaviside Layer". Old Deut leads Grizabella to center stage and then reveals the tire to her. Up to this point, she doesn't seem to realize that she was the one chosen to go to the Heaviside Layer! When she does, she turns around as if to ask Munk if what she thinks is true! He smiles and leads her back to Old Deut reaffirming that indeed, she is the lucky cat who was chosen! Griz and Deut climb aboard the tire and it begins to rise...floating towards the sky! All the Jellicles gather around and wave to her. Then a circular platform with many lights on it comes down and meets them in the air. This is as far as Old Deuteronomy goes. Grizabella must go the rest of the way by herself. She boards the platform, still unbelieving that she was chosen, but she has an extremely gracious and happy look on her face. As the platform rises back to the the sky, she reaches up as if to greet the Heaviside Layer. She disappears as the rest of the Jellicles sing about life to Everlasting Cat.
Ad-dressing of Cats:
Old Deuteronomy stays on his tire and addresses the tribe...or rather the audience who got to see this unusual sight. He sings of how they should now know more about cats now...how they work and play and how to approach them. What types of food they may like. It is so cute watching the faces of the tribe trying to remain still and reverent as they hear Deut sing about the various foods they like. Some lick their lips, others shake their head. Cassandra doesn't seem affected by it, though. Munk has a look on his face as if to say, "I don't think I can hold this respectful pose much longer! I hope he finishes talking about that food soon!" Skimble is in the back with Sillabub just below him. Tugger is on the car trunk. Old Deut sings on about how cats are entitled to expect evidences of respect. Then the show was over. Everyone took off and went once more into the audience. They would be off playing or staring at the audience members. Then they all returned to the stage and took their final bows ending with Tumble doing a full back layout! Then all leave the stage leaving Bombs there encouraging Tugger to come hither...only to push him down in revenge for when he dropped her earlier in the show! She then encouraged the audience to applaud her on, which they did, before she stepped on his back and started to walk off-stage. He gets up and twirls his tail with a look to the audience that seems to say, "Hey! This could be fun!" And he chases her off the stage, Bombs seeming to have a "Yipes!" look on her face as she disappears back stage.