Grizabella
Encyclopedia
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
. She does not appear in T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
's work Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats is a collection of whimsical poems by T. S. Eliot about feline psychology and sociology, published by Faber and Faber. It is the basis for the record-setting musical Cats....
, but she is a prominent character in the stageplay. It appears that she is the feline version of the woman mentioned in T.S. Eliot's poem "Rhapsody on a Windy Night".
"Remark the cat
Who hesitates toward you in the light of the door
Which opens on her like a grin.
You see the border of her coat
Is torn and stained with sand,
And you see the corner of her eye
Twists like a crooked pin."
The character of Grizabella featured in an unpublished poem that T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
wrote for his godchildren, intending to include it in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats is a collection of whimsical poems by T. S. Eliot about feline psychology and sociology, published by Faber and Faber. It is the basis for the record-setting musical Cats....
. However, as his widow, Valerie Eliot pointed out, he thought it was too "sad for children" and so did not include it in the finished work. Valerie Eliot came to the 1980 Sydmonton Festival concert where Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
premiered some of his settings of the Old Possum poems, and gave him the paper with the fragment of Grizabella written on it. From there Lloyd Webber and director Trevor Nunn
Trevor Nunn
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera...
incorporated the Grizabella poem as a main strand of the plot of the show.
Grizabella is, at the time of her appearance, a very old cat, withered by her age to the point that she no longer resembles the proud, carefree, flamboyant dancer of her youth. Her fellow Jellicle
Jellicle cats
The Jellicle cats, or simply the Jellicles, are a type of feline mentioned in T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.Introduced in his poem Song of the Jellicles, they were originally depicted by Eliot as common black-and-white cats whose daytime nature is peaceful, pleasant and restful...
s are quite repulsed by Grizabella's dishevelled condition, and taunt her.
Possibly because of this, it is Grizabella whom Old Deuteronomy
Old Deuteronomy
Old Deuteronomy is a character in T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats and its musical adaptation, Cats.In Eliot's original poem, Old Deuteronomy is described as an ancient, wise cat who has "lived many lives in succession" and is respected by the other cats and humans in his...
consigns to the Heaviside Layer to be reborn. During her change, Grizabella sings the song "Memory", which has been thought of by audiences as a very emotionally touching, profound, and even mysterious composition. It has been recorded by over 150 different artists, including Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
, Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford OBE is an English actor and singer. He has garnered great critical acclaim and won numerous awards during his career, which covers radio, television, film, and stagework on both London's West End and on Broadway in New York City...
, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
and Kikki Danielsson
Kikki Danielsson
Ann-Kristin "Kikki" Danielsson is a Swedish country, dansband and pop singer. Sometimes, she also plays the accordion and she has also written some lyrics. She is also famous for yodeling in some songs. Kikki Danielsson gained her largest popularity in the Nordic region from the late 1970s until...
.
Another interpretation of Grizabella's past is that she left the Jellicle tribe to explore the outside world ("Grizabella the Glamour Cat"), despite knowing that she would never be allowed back in. The other cats shun her for leaving them, despite that she wants to be with them again. After several attempts to gain their acceptance, Grizabella's emotional appeal (represented by "Memory") is accepted; seeing how much she is suffering, she is chosen to be reborn.
The name Grizabella is probably derived from "grizzle" which means either "grey" or "disheveled", and "bella" which means "beautiful". Hence "Grizabella"; "The grey beauty" or "the disheveled beauty".
The role of Grizabella was originated by Elaine Paige
Elaine Paige
Elaine Paige OBE is an English singer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, North London, Paige attended the Aida Foster stage school, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16...
in the West End production. She later reprised the role for the video. In the first Broadway production, Grizabella was played by Betty Buckley
Betty Buckley
Betty Lynn Buckley is an American theater, film and television actress and singer. She is a Tony Award winner and Grammy Award nominee.-Early life:...
. Buckley won the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for outstanding achievement in the theater in 1983 for playing Grizabella. Laurie Beechman
Laurie Beechman
Laurie Hope Beechman was an American singer. As a performer, she was known for her Broadway performances in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Cats, and Les Misérables...
headed the First National Company of Cats and in 1984 she replaced Buckley. Beechman stayed with the show for more than four years and made occasional return engagements over the next decade. Dee Roscioli played the role in the US National Touring Company in 2003-2004. Dianne Pilkington
Dianne Pilkington
Dianne Lesley Pilkington is an English theatre actress and singer.- Life :Pilkington was born in Wigan. She trained at the Guildford School of Acting, graduating in 1997 with the Principal's Award....
(2006–2007) & Chrissie Hammond (2007–2008) played the role in the recent UK National Tour (2006–2008). Lea Salonga
Lea Salonga
Lea Salonga-Chien is a mezzo-soprano singer and actress from the Philippines well known for originating the lead role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon, for which she won the Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Theatre World awards.She was the first Asian to play the roles of Éponine and...
will star as Grizabella in the musical's Philippine run on July 24 - August 22, 2010.
Adaptation
Two weeks before the opening of Cats in May 1981, Webber wrote the melody for "Memory" and then Trevor NunnTrevor Nunn
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera...
wrote the lyrics, based on T. S. Eliot’s “Rhapsody on a Windy Night” and “Preludes”. The name Grizabella was from the title of another poem "Grizabella the Glamour Cat" by Eliot.
| phrases T. S. Eliot wrote in Rhapsody on a Windy Night | adaptation by Trevor Nunn for Cats |
|---|---|
| Twelve o'clock | Midnight |
| The moon has lost her memory | Has the moon lost her memory? |
| She is alone | She is smiling alone |
| Every street lamp that I pass Beats like a fatalistic drum |
Every street lamp seems to beat a fatalistic warning |
| The street lamp sputtered The street lamp muttered |
Someone mutters and a street lamp sputters |
| With all the old nocturnal smells | The stale cold smell of morning |
| Memory! | All alone with the memory |
| Sleep, prepare for life | Look, a new day has begun |
Players
- Elaine PaigeElaine PaigeElaine Paige OBE is an English singer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, North London, Paige attended the Aida Foster stage school, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16...
- Betty BuckleyBetty BuckleyBetty Lynn Buckley is an American theater, film and television actress and singer. She is a Tony Award winner and Grammy Award nominee.-Early life:...
- Angela RichardsAngela RichardsAngela Richards is an English actress, best known to television viewers for her leading role in the BBC drama Secret Army , set during the Second World War in which she played Monique Duchamps....
- Marti WebbMarti WebbMarti Webb is a musical actress from England, who appeared on stage in Evita, before starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's one woman show Tell Me on a Sunday in 1980...
- Anita HarrisAnita HarrisAnita Harris is an English actress, singer and entertainer....
- Lea SalongaLea SalongaLea Salonga-Chien is a mezzo-soprano singer and actress from the Philippines well known for originating the lead role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon, for which she won the Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Theatre World awards.She was the first Asian to play the roles of Éponine and...
- Stephanie LawrenceStephanie LawrenceStephanie Lawrence was a British musical theatre actress.-Background:Stephanie Lawrence was born in Hayling Island, Hampshire, the daughter of a singer and classically trained dancer.She was from an early age close friends with another Famous Islander Peter Chilvers who in 1958 invented the...
- Rosemarie FordRosemarie FordRosemarie Ford is an English dancer, actress and television presenter.-Television career:Ford is best known for her stint as the female host on the BBC TV game show The Generation Game with Bruce Forsyth in the early 1990s. She later hosted Come Dancing, again for the BBC...
- Linda BalgordLinda BalgordLinda Balgord is an American Broadway actress and singer, most notable for playing Norma Desmond in the 1996 US tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit musical Sunset Boulevard, being the last actress to portray Grizabella in the original Broadway run of Cats and originating the role of Queen Elizabeth I...
- Sally Ann TriplettSally Ann TriplettSally Ann Triplett is a British singer and actress most famous for her participation in the Eurovision Song Contest and many West End productions.-Eurovision:...
- Loni AckermanLoni AckermanLoni Ackerman is an American Broadway musical theatre performer and cabaret singer.Born in New York City, she made her Broadway debut in George M! in 1968, then replaced Bernadette Peters in the hit off-Broadway production of Dames at Sea.In 1971, Ackerman was cast in the revival of No, No Nanette...
- Chrissie Hammond
- Laurie BeechmanLaurie BeechmanLaurie Hope Beechman was an American singer. As a performer, she was known for her Broadway performances in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Cats, and Les Misérables...
- Dianne PilkingtonDianne PilkingtonDianne Lesley Pilkington is an English theatre actress and singer.- Life :Pilkington was born in Wigan. She trained at the Guildford School of Acting, graduating in 1997 with the Principal's Award....
- Debra ByrneDebra Byrne-Career:Byrne made her television debut on Brian and the Juniors, an early predecessor of Young Talent Time, which was hosted by a young Brian Naylor. She stayed with the show for 12 months. In 1971 she was cast as one of the original six Young Talent Time cast members...
- Kim CriswellKim CriswellKim Criswell is an American musical entertainer and actress.- Life and career :Criswell was born in Hampton, Virginia, but grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. After she graduated from high school, she studied musical theatre at the University of Cincinnati's College Conservatory of Music...
- Diane LangtonDiane LangtonDiane Langton is an English actress and singer.She has appeared in numerous TV shows like Only Fools and Horses, where she played Junie, an old girlfriend of Del Boy's, in the 1980s....
- Lillias WhiteLillias WhiteLillias White is an American singer and actress.The Brooklyn, New York native made her Broadway debut in Barnum in 1981. She understudied the role of Effie in the original 1981 production of Dreamgirls and played the part in the 1987 revival...
- Liz CallawayLiz CallawayLiz Callaway is an American actress and singer, famous for providing the singing voices of many female characters in films, such as Anya in Anastasia, Odette in The Swan Princess, and Kiara in The Lion King II:Simba's Pride....
- Natalie ToroNatalie ToroNatalie Toro is an American singer and stage, television, and film actor.Natalie debuted at the Apollo Theater at age 5. She studied piano and voice at the Manhattan School of Music and the High School of Music and Art until the age of 18...
- Ruthie HenshallRuthie HenshallValentine Ruth Henshall , better known as Ruthie Henshall, is an English singer, dancer, and actress best known for her work in musical theatre. Henshall attended the Laine Theatre Arts school in Epsom, Surrey before making her first professional appearance on stage in 1986...
- Stephanie J. BlockStephanie J. BlockStephanie J. Block is an American actress and singer. She is most well known for her work on the Broadway stage. She has additionally been nominated for a Drama Desk Award and a Drama League Award. She released her debut solo album through PS Classics in June 2009...
- Maarja-Liis IlusMaarja-Liis IlusMaarja-Liis Ilus, sometimes better known by her performing name Maarja is a pop musician. Maarja has achieved some chart success in a number of countries across Europe and Asia...
- Carol Nielsson
- Verity Anne Meldrum
- Sharon Benson
- Clare Burt
- Jacqui Scott
- Shezwae Powell
- Lindsey Danvers
- Ria Jones
- Jodie Langel
- Kathryn Holtkamp
- Angie Smith
- Anastasia Lange
- Delia Hannah
- Gretchen Goldsworthy
- Bev Harrell
- Donna Lee Marshall