Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats.

"I have a gumbie cat in mind! Her name is-"
"MAY. FOR THE LAST TIME.
STOP. SINGING"

I can't remember how many times this has happened today, I just know it's happened far too many times. Enough to make my parents go crazy anyway.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking on about, I have one word for you; CATS.

CATS the musical. You know the one. I went to go see a high schools production of this last week and wow, it left me breathless. CATS is based on "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" by T.S Eliot, and the music is by Andrew Lloyd Webber. That much I actually know.

But I have no way to describe the musical itself, so I've found my guide and I quote;

"Its the night of the Jellicle Ball. The cat clan has gathered for the annual event at which the revered elder Old Deuteronomy chooses the most deserving cat to ascend with him for a heavenly reward. The cats have gathered, and one by one, we learn about their personalities, exactly as T.S Eliot portrayed them in his book of poems."

So yes, CATS is quite literally a musical about cats (if you were silly enough to think otherwise).

We begin by meeting Jennyanydots (the gumbie cat), Cassandra, Bombalurina and Jellylorum. The cats welcome Rum Tum Tugger, a rock-star idol type cat and also the cat with the best hip isolations in town (Rolo). Slowly and silently, Grizabella the Glamour Cat appears. She's an aging beauty who's roamed some of the lowest alleys. She makes her entrance as the younger felines proceed to mock and avoid her. But the moment moves on to another introduction where we meet Bustopher Jones, a well-rounded and mature cat. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer provide a lighter moment before Old Deuteronomy sets a more serious tone for the ball. Poor Grizabella is barred from the festivities, so she wanders alone, reflecting on her memories of happier times. Meanwhile, Gus the theatre cat complains about the lack of dedication in todays actors and Skimbleshanks the railway cat finds pride in his job - keeping a single train on schedule. There are hushed whispers of Macavity, a fiend in feline shape. And suddenly out of nowhere the magical Mr Mistoffelees appears!

I'll leave it up to you to discover which cat gets to accompany Old Deuteronomy on this years ascension "up, up, up, past the Russell Hotel. Up, up, up to the Heaviside layer."

There are many more cats, such as Isis or Anoushka, who we don't get introduced to, but without them the show would be incomplete.

From the moment I sat down, I knew the show would be amazing. This wasn't a school production. This was a Broadway worthy performance of which all the performers happened to be school age.

I began by taking my seat in the audience, and before I know it, a bright red cat is beside me. My first thought is, "Where on earth did the cat come from?!" because the cat has seemed to appear out of nowhere. I watch with a grin as the cat proceeds to act, well, catlike. It's only when I see her eyes lock onto the ribbon in my hair that I realize I've made a mistake in wearing it. Quick as a flash, the cat has taken my ribbon and is running down to the front rows, playing with it. I can't help but laugh. After a few minutes my ribbon is returned and surprisingly its only slightly frayed. And then the cats disappear again, slipping into the darkness.

The first two minutes already had me captivated in the performance, despite the fact no one had come on stage yet. The lights go down and the audience falls silent. All of a sudden lights start appearing! Lights? No... they're eyes! CATS EYES! It's actually rather confusing. If you use your imagination (which I often do) it makes you think of some giant cat staring down at you. Then the lights are on and the cats are on stage leaping about singing 'Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats'. The next hour seems to fly and I'm left sitting in half-time break wanting to see more. The 20 minute intermission seemed to last forever. But before I knew it, I was back in my seat and the cats were back on stage. When each of the cats were singing their final lines and dancing their final dances, I sat there wishing I could watch it all over again. It ended far too soon!

So I went and bought another ticket to a later show and I'm going back tomorrow. Yeah, I know. Why buy another ticket if you've seen it already? Well, if you read my other posts you'll know I'm weird. Plus it was an amazing show and I have no doubt whatsoever that it won't be as spectacular as it was the first time. I'm incredibly and way over-excited to see it again.

So my dear red cat, Isis, here's the post I promised. .)

Update on my exercising; I've been on a further 5 runs (still using my newest favorite app) and I'm starting to get to the point where I actually like running! I haven't been running much with Sam because the doc has been training me up, but I'm eagerly awaiting my next run in two days. I've also started changing my lunches from the usual unhealthy junk I have in it to healthier, lower calorie foods. Yay! Today I had a brown rice stir fry thing. A complete and random creation. But I've put the recipe here (on my sparkpeople account) so you can take a look if you want to try it!

Love May
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