Rumpleteazer is a character 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 book 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....

and 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...

's musical Cats

Cats (musical)

Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...

.

The Poem

In Eliot's original poem "Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer," Rumpelteazer is suggested to be a male cat. "They were plausible fellows...". However, Rumpleteazer is usually portrayed as female in the musical.

Rumpelteazer and her partner in crime, Mungojerrie

Mungojerrie

Mungojerrie is a fictional character in T. S. Eliot's book, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats which was adapted into the musical Cats.-Characteristics:Mungojerrie and his partner in crime, Rumpelteazer, specialize in petty theft and mischief...

, specialize in petty theft and mischief. In Eliot's depiction of this duo, these cats are depicted knocking over Ming vases and stealing items from their human family.

The Musical

In the original Broadway production, the person cast as Rumpleteazer doubled as another character, Etcetera. In smaller local productions, this double character casting still occurs. In addition, Rumpleteazer and Mungojerrie can be cast to double as another tertiary set of characters: the twins Tantomile and Coricopat.

Three distinct versions of the "Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer" music exist: the original London production's version has a slower tempo and more jazzlike sound, while the more common original Broadway version is upbeat. The version of the show as licensed by Rogers & Hammerstein Theatre Library is at first similar to the Broadway version, but then changes the 7/8 time signature to 4/4 time.

Andrew Lloyd Webber rewrote the music for the song "Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer" for the original Broadway production, and the song was sung by Mr. Mistoffelees

Mr. Mistoffelees

Mr. Mistoffelees is a character in T. S. Eliot's poetry book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats and its stage adaptation, Andrew Lloyd Webber's popular musical Cats. He is an important primary character, and one of the most popular of the show...

, while the actors playing Coricopat (Rene Clemente) and Etcetera Christine Langner danced the song as "dolls" made of junk, brought to life, and appearing out of the trunk (boot) of the car set piece, by the magic of Mr. Mistoffelees. In 1987, the Broadway production was re-worked and the song was given back to the characters of Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, then played by Ray Roderick (who had formerly been the character Carbuckety) and Christine Langner, whose role of Etcetera was replaced by Rumpleteazer.

Spelling

In Eliot's original work, the name is spelled "Rumpelteazer". Within the score, it is spelled "Rumpleteazer".

Costume

In the musical version of Eliot's cat poems, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are traditionally depicted as orange, black, and white calico or tabby cats. In the original Broadway production, they wore baggy clown-like costumes seemingly made of various food wrappers as characters performing for Bustopher Jones. Generally, Mungojerrie's costume is a darker, more heavily striped tabby pattern, while Rumpleteazer is paler. However, when they perform their solo song, they have additional costume pieces: a vest and stockings for Mungojerrie and a leotard and stockings for Rumpleteazer in some shows she also has a pearl necklace on. This has the effect of making them appear almost identically marked.

Cast

Rumpleteazer was portrayed by Bonnie Langford

Bonnie Langford

Bonita Melody Lysette "Bonnie" Langford is an English actress, dancer and entertainer. She came to prominence as a child star in the early 1970s then she subsequently became a companion of Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy's Doctor Who and has appeared on stage in various musicals such as Peter Pan:...

 in the original London cast, Christine Langner in the original Broadway cast, and Jo Gibb

Jo Gibb

Jo Gibb is a Scottish theatre actress best known for her role of Rumpleteazer in the Cats video and as Pearl the Observation Car in Starlight Express...

 in London and in the filmed video version. Joanna Silvers played by the part in the Worldwide tour from 2007-2008. She is at the moment being played by Kristen Quartarone (on her first national tour) in the Worldwide Tour and Justine Puy in the Australian Tour (2010).

Character

Rumpleteazer is a young, high-energy feline. It is unknown as to whether she is a kitten or an adult cat. Usually, she is depicted as a little older than a kitten, but younger than a cat. The nature of the relationship between Rumpleteazer and Mungojerrie is not known. Rumpleteazer sometimes joins the other kittens as they swoon over Rum Tum Tugger

Rum Tum Tugger

Rum Tum Tugger is one of the many feline characters in the poetry book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot, published in 1939, and in the musical Cats which was based on Eliot's book....

. This is rarely shown in the film, but often in smaller productions. She also will sometimes takes Etcetera's

Etcetera (cat)

Etcetera is a fictional character in Cats, the musical play based primarily on T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. Primarily a dancer, she is one of the chorus line kittens in the tribe of the Jellicle cats.-Origins:...

hysterical squealing role.

It is a matter of much debate as to whether Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are siblings or mates. It is thought they are mates as they dance together during the mating dance, however their interchangeable appearance as referenced in the poem and closeness can be explained as their being siblings.