Gifford, J. Daniel.The Automotive Security System De-
sign Handbook. Blue Ridge Summit, Pa.: Tab Books,
1985.
Elizabeth D. Schafer
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Cats
Identification Broadway musical
Authors Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
(1948- ); lyrics by T. S. Eliot (1888–1965),
Trevor Nunn (1940- ), and Richard Stilgoe
(1943- )
Director Trevor Nunn (1940- )
Date Premiered on Broadway on October 7, 1982
One of the most successful musicals in histor y,Catsran on
Broadway for a total of 7,485 performances. The success in
the United States of a British musical with no book to speak
of redefined Broadway and influenced musicals through-
out the 1980’s and beyond.
By the early 1980’s, Andrew Lloyd Webber had a rep-
utation for hit musicals that defied theatrical con-
ventions, andCatsbroke several molds. The show
was based on a collection of children’s verse, T. S.
Eliot’sOld Possum’s Book of Practical Cats(1939), and
while many previous musicals had been based upon
children’s literature, the concept of an entire cast
made up to resemble anthropomorphic cats was rad-
ical for its day.
Told entirely in song and dance, the show exem-
plified Lloyd Webber’s love for spectacle. The set was
a giant garbage dump. Props and wings of the stage
were distributed throughout the theater, and cast
members would variously appear and dance among
the audience, giving them the illusion of entering a
different world and being involved in the show.
The story ofCatsis simple. Eliot’s book is a set of
short narrative poems, which the play strings to-
gether, using some of Eliot’s unpublished ideas as
well, to form a longer narrative. The play takes place
on the night of the Jellicle Ball, where different cats
are nominated for the honor of going up to the
heaviside layer to be reincarnated.
Lloyd Webber’s experiment succeeded in part
because of an unpublished poem. “Grizabella the
Glamour Cat” tells of an old and disgraced beauty
queen, and Eliot felt that the story was too depress-
ing for children. However, in the midst of a fun and
seemingly frivolous show, Lloyd
Webber used Grizabella to illus-
trate one of his favorite themes:
Those society marginalizes are of-
ten the most worthy of respect.
For her anthem, Lloyd Webber
used a melody he had written as a
tribute to Puccini. Trevor Nunn,
the show’s director, wrote a lyric
based upon Eliot’sPrufrock and
Other Observations(1917). The re-
sult was one of Lloyd Webber’s
most famous songs, “Memory.”
After singing the song, Grizabella
ascends to the heaviside layer to
be reborn.Impact Catsreceived eight Tony
Awards in 1983. It changed the
way Broadway musicals were con-
ceptualized, as shows throughout
the 1980’s would use bigger sets,
special effects, and fanciful con-
cepts.Catsand its signature song188 Cats The Eighties in America
Betty Buckley plays Grizabella in a scene fromCatsperformed during the 1983 Tony
Awards ceremony. The musical won seven awards, including one for Buckley.(AP/
Wide World Photos)