Previous Post Here, And The Jellicle Ball Section Names Here. And Also For This Post The 1998 Film Jellicle

does anyone else love the slight banter between demeter and bombalurina during “macavity the mystery cat”? like after demeter’s part, bombalurina gets up and sings about how hot macavity is (rosemarie ford KILLS it i love her voice), but i have a different interpretation about this.

so we all know bomba is very honest and frank about what she thinks, even if she doesn’t say it, it’s written all over her face. she mocks grizabella and gives her the singular most dirtiest, judgiest look ever. she also questions and looks greatly concerned about jennyanydots’s interest in bustopher jones. gotta love her.

bomba obviously knows how much of a piece of crap macavity is, and she knows how much he hurt demeter, whom she’s very protective of. it doesn’t really make sense to me that bomba would outright tell demeter and everyone else that she thinks the man who’s literally broken every human law, who terrorises the jellicles, who traumatised the hell out of her beloved demeter, is hot, but it does make sense that demeter used to think so, and would obsess over him so much that she’d actually get with a guy like that.

i bet demeter used to swoon over macavity and give long rants about him to bomba, who’s just sitting there judging demeter’s taste in toms like “girl get a grip”. and now bomba’s getting back at her by singing one of those rants that she had to sit through so many times she’s memorised it. it’s her way of teasing her. i think the tone she uses is the same exaggerated, sarcastic tone that she uses to mock grizabella. it’s like saying to her, “see how ridiculous you sounded?”

but ultimately, she just wants demeter to not let history repeat itself. she points to her and stresses the fact that he’s a fiend in feline shape. she also says the words “like a snake” bitterly, because that’s exactly what she thinks of him.

and then of course demeter stands up and tries to defend herself like, “oh come on, you can’t blame me. he was outwardly respectable, anyone would’ve fallen for him.” and bomba’s quick to retort with “i know right, yeah, he totally is. cheating ‘at cards’ is definitely respectable. he used to do that to you, remember?”

bomba looks at her all smug and demeter shoots her a look like “okay now you’re pushing it”. and then they carry on with their duet.

i’ll admit, demeter’s not my favourite cat in the world, but her relationship with bombalurina makes me love her like the rest.

p.s. this is so incredibly random and i literally just thought of this after i posted but the term “rose gold” is literally them and i won’t elaborate

happy jellicle valentine’s day!! i feed thee, starved tumbletoria shippers (including myself 😄). but i tell you once, and once again: THIS SHIP DESERVES MORE LOVE 🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪

random but AUGHHH tumbletoria has got to be one of the prettiest ship names ever 😩💗💗

in honour of may 11th, the day that cats the musical premiered, i have sewed these two lovely cat plushes of victoria and tumblebrutus using socks

if you want to make some as well, i followed this tutorial, and crocheted the tails for the braided effect. i used regular markers for the colouring but if you’ve got fabric markers you should do it better than me 😅 also i didn’t have the materials and was too lazy to make their collars so shhhh

i’m planning to wear them on my shoulders when i go to see cats live for the first time in june! ahhh so excited 😸

happy 44th anniversary!! 💖 🐈🎶🎤🩰🪩🐈‍⬛

alonzo, my favourite cat of all time!!!!!

i wanted to experiment with negative space and that sort of thing. i'm also trying to grow out of being overly dependent on lineart. :D

i love him!!!!!!!! x♾️

etcetera & electra ideas

i have been so eager to make this post because honestly? i don’t talk about the queens as much as the toms, which is way less than they deserve. also i really wanted to wait until i could give them some GOOD ideas. originally i was gonna make etcetera a “culinary” cat but that’s BORING and she deserves a better role >:(

i struggled with them a lot because they don’t have much canon at all, largely due to the fact that they weren’t cats that t.s. eliot created, they don’t sing many lines in the show, and i couldn’t draw any inspiration from their ‘98 actors either. all we have is their personalities, so i had to dig a bit deeper in terms of cats production lore and stuff.

these two have been sitting at the back of my mind for too long but no longer!! i finally have some fun ideas for them so let’s dive in!

etcetera :

inspired by broadway cats where “mungojerrie and rumpleteazer” was reimagined as a puppet show and etcetera doubled as teazer, etcetera is a puppeteer. she’s interested in theatre and she loves to show her puppet shows to jellylorum because of jelly’s theatre background. she even tried to recreate “growltiger’s last stand” once (jelly was super impressed).

now, i know there’s a headcanon where electra is a magic cat like misto, cori and tanto, but consider: etcetera is also a magic cat! her magic is more subtle though, as her only main power is flying, which is inspired by her trapeze role in the opening number. this makes her even harder to look after because she gets so hyperactive that she ends up getting zoomies in the AIR.

she learnt to craft puppets and dolls by herself using her magic, and she’s trying to learn how to conjure them out of thin air. she can also use her powers to manipulate her puppets and do ventriloquy, which allows her to do a wide range of eccentric voices and movements.

electra :

electra is a playwright who helps etcetera write her puppet shows. this is inspired by her line in the opening number “familiar with candle, with book and with bell?” because “bell, book and candle” is an actual play. (also i realised that they say “familiar” bc the cat was the witch’s familiar! love a good wordplay)

electra idolises pyewacket from “bell, book and candle” and she has probably watched that play/movie as many times as i’ve watched cats. sometimes she tries to emulate him.

i also like the idea that electra is a magic cat, but she has yet to discover her powers or find a witch or wizard to attend to. if we had to guess, she could have song or voice magic (like sirens for example), and that’s why she doesn’t sing much in the show, cuz her magic voice hasn’t fully developed yet. this is inspired by the fact that electra was originally meant to have a much more prominent singing role, i.e. in the gumbie trio and in bustopher jones.

both :

they are besties OF COURSE, that goes without saying.

they’re both close friends of coricopat and tantomile because of their connections to magic (and also partly inspired by the broadway puppet show, where cori doubled as mungo just like cettie doubled as teazer).

etcetera’s favourite thing to do with the twins is to go flying with them on their broomstick, while electra is very studious and loves it when they teach her about brewing potions and casting spells.

they’re really living out every girl’s magical powers fantasy </3

the two adorable princesses!! 💖💖

(also why is munkustrap a pencil in this 😭)

hello everyone!! happy feburary and welcome to my “jellicle ball appreciation posts” series where i discuss my favourite part of the whole musical! specifically about the 1998 version because, oh boy, my love for this recording of a 10 minute dance break knows no bounds. refer to this video for the names of the different sections of the jellicle ball aaaand let’s begin!!!

jellicle ball appreciation posts :

perfect timing

anyone who’s danced before knows that doing all those moves, especially for more fast paced dances, takes exceptional strength and control to execute them well. in order to have that control, and of course because moving your limbs and getting from one place to another takes time, you sometimes have to sacrifice one extra second to perform the last move before moving on to the next one. for example, watch bombalurina after “arabesque” as she’s getting into place for “warsaw (ecstasy)”. unlike most others, she raises her arms a little late because she has to run into position from the back. although it’s a pretty minor issue, when this happens your performance can appear delayed and you often end up rushing the following move.

so one of the most satisfying things for me to watch as an ex-dancer (besides straight up satisfying dancing which we will talk about in the future) is someone hitting their mark on a dance move perfectly or even a little early. one example of this is, during “slow paws” jemima’s arm movements are completely in time with the music, and she raises her arms perfectly on cue during “arabesque”.

but absolutely nothing scratches this itch more than watching tumblebrutus, or fergus logan, dance. seriously, who gave this man the right to be THAT graceful???? i cannot even express how euphoric it is to watch him during the jellicle ball and i sometimes open the film just to watch him. i genuinely love the “boys ballet” section so much because of him and fergus logan has become one of my favourite dancers in the show, or ever, if not my favourite. and for the same reason (but not the only one) tumblebrutus is also one of my top favourite cats.

when tumble and misto stand up and do their windmill thing during “spikey”, fergus is completely focused on dancing. you can see it on his face. as a result, tumble is eager and ready to do the next move, and it shows because he hits the mark perfectly and my gosh, i hope you guys know how much i wish i could absorb that moment into my soul. and the way he “windmills” is just like, he swings his arms so freely and effortlessly and elegantly and so in time with the music, it’s just so pleasing to watch. compared to jacob brent, who’s more focused on staying in character, which i absolutely don’t blame him for since he has a very important role, but as a result he ends up windmilling a little bit late and rushes the next one. mistoffelees’ dancing has more of his flavour and spark, but tumblebrutus’s movements are just so freaking refined and graceful and everything, and i highly doubt this will be the last time i talk about fergus logan in these posts.

as much as i love these “perfect timing” moments though, i also happen to care a lot about the moments like i mentioned in the first paragraph, because there’s something beautiful about seeing the humanity behind a piece of art, especially in the case of dance and professional dancers. it shows that no matter how fantastical this world is or how impressive the cats’ feats are, these are still actors, human beings, and they make mistakes on stage sometimes too and that’s ok. it just shows how much effort is needed to pull this off and put on a successful show. cats the musical is one of the only pieces of media that i know of, where it can break the immersion in a serious manner (or even unintentionally) and have it make the experience even more magical.

part 2~~

cats 2019 alternative ideas

i know some of you guys on here genuinely enjoyed the 2019 cats movie, and i’m afraid i can’t say the same, but the reason why is not what i’m here to discuss.

i think cats 2019 was a huge missed opportunity.

i can’t help feeling like we were robbed of an original, creative story, all for the sake of making another blockbuster. instead of repeating the same formula to squeeze a few more dollars in, maybe they could’ve done something different, more cats specific? movie or show, animated or live action, i wouldn’t mind. (k now that i think abt it animation would be better.) they wouldn’t even have had to put in dancing or singing, in fact, a story focused on just the relationships between the cats would’ve been amazing.

like, a spinoff!

disney’s hercules has a spinoff series and i think it’s absolutely genius. i love it, probably more than the actual movie! it’s especially fun for me because i’m interested in greek mythology too. something like that for our dear little cats would be a dream come true.

they had the money for CGI fur and an A-list cast so i don’t think a spinoff made with love, passion and respect for the musical would’ve been a super tall order. the important thing to remember would be to include and focus mainly on the cats’ relationships and interactions with each other (and not butcher their personalities ofc).

just gonna start rattling off ideas here :

coricopat and tantomile witch cat anecdotes series

rumpus cat superhero action movie with george in disguise. he faces challenges when trying to balance his secret life and maintaining his friendships. (maybe make him and plato best friends?)

sitcom series with main characters electra and etcetera as besties, and the main cast being all the kittens, kinda like victorious. (episode titles be like “electra & etcetera : jenny’s crochet workshop!”)

a coming of age (mayybe romance) movie ft. victoria and tumblebrutus

“jemima’s dreams”, a fantasy series taking place in jemima’s mind where each episode features a different flower to teach her a lesson. kinda like aesop’s fables but more with plants

a drama movie about alonzo, from being a distrustful stray to meeting munkustrap and learning to accept others into his life, facing uncertainties about himself along the way and ending with him finding the courage to protect the ones who accepted him as family

heck, make that a duology where the other movie explores demeter’s past trauma surrounding macavity or even grizabella, and her path to healing with the jellicles, especially bombalurina

pouncival the invention cat series where he invents a new thing out of trash every episode to solve a problem (my “pouncival ideas” post has more context). could make for a very cheesy finale

now tell me, fellow cats fan, that you wouldn’t watch any of these.

it seems like fan service or fanfiction (actually most fanfictions are way better than the 2019 movie), and it definitely wouldn’t be as mainstream, but there’s some real creative potential here, i think. it would’ve been the perfect chance to spend more time with the cats who don’t have many big moments in the show, or just explore their characters even further! not that this musical needs a spinoff, of course, but since they decided to make a movie on it anyway, why not have created something worthwhile?

encouraging everyone to think of and/or add their own ideas for a cats spinoff!

i’ve been thinking a lot more about george (the cat who plays rumpus cat) lately, and there’s a really adorable shot during gus’s song where george looks up at old deuteronomy like this

like he’s saying “are you hearing this old deuteronomy?? he actually understudied whittington’s cat??!!”

i have thoughts about this

so george is normally a pretty shy kitten. he’s in the background a lot and hangs around older cats like old deuteronomy and jellylorum, he even flinches when gus looks at him.

but when he’s playing rumpus cat, all of a sudden he’s goofing around and enjoying the spotlight. i like to think acting helps him get out of his shell, and he loves being on stage and performing.

so obviously he admires gus a lot, but after hearing his story he realises that he wants to take acting more seriously, to create a persona that would be worthy of firefrorefiddle, and most of all, make gus proud.

“george the theatre cat”. has a nice ring to it!

p.s. george is literally one of the most underrated cats. like he’s so adorable!! and he has the biggest smile in the world!!

i actually find it really funny that tommi sliiden (coricopat) is now a registered osteopath. so here’s “costeopat” :

POV : you are a performer who couldn’t make it to your show because you got sick. now your back has been hurting but no doctor has been able to help. desperate, you resort to paying a visit to the mysterious witch in the woods, hoping she (or her psychic cats) has the answer.

i also recently found out in his website that he specialises in performers and their specific problems and it’s so poetic 😭 it genuinely makes me feel some kinda way

thank you, tommi.

alonzostrap ideas

what!!! am i finally making an alonzostrap post for once??? no freakin way…

this is my first post about them so it seems like i don’t ship them a lot, but ohohhh, i ship them a lot.

the fact that alonzo is meant to be an unsure cat, who hides his insecurities by putting up a front and acting vain and overconfident, is part of what made him my all-time favourite cat in the show. and munkustrap, especially gruberstrap, just has this really safe and soothing aura to him. like whenever michael gruber sings, it just feels like a big brother comforting you. their complimentary personalities combined with their close relationship and BOOM it’s one of my (two) favourite ships.

i have this idea that alonzo is actually really, like really terrified of lightning and thunderstorms and electricity and stuff (it’s why mistoffelees only uses lightning powers subtly around alonzo). no one is really sure why…. maybe he witnessed his mom get electrocuted or something and that’s how he was orphaned? maybe it’s just an irrational fear? either way, he obviously hates his phobia and doesn’t want anyone to know.

and he’s even more scared of macavity because… yk.

the whole ⚡️⚡️ thing. (and that’s why he was hesitant to hands-on fight macavity only until munkustrap was badly hurt. alonzo my man you are so brave for standing up to him like that <3 even tho u got ur ass kicked)

a little story-time based on this idea: when alonzo was still a stray who wasn’t part of the tribe yet, he took shelter under a trashed bench in the junkyard during a heavy thunderstorm. munkustrap, who had met alonzo but never managed to gain his trust, was worried about him. he knew where alonzo would be, so he led his owners there (much to their confusion at first), and they found him curled up and terrified out of his wits. they gladly took him in and dried him up.

although quite startled and angry at first, alonzo eventually calmed down and warmed up to them with munkustrap’s insistent comfort. they cuddled all night long in a peaceful slumber, with munk’s long fluffy fur as alonzo’s blanket. munkustrap slept quite well that night in satisfaction that he finally got alonzo to let his guard down. and for once in his life, alonzo didn’t flinch or shudder every time he heard the sound of booming thunder.

after that, munkustrap’s owners helped repurpose the old bench to turn it into a comfortable den for the two cats.

URRRHHHHH THEY’RE IN LOVE 😩😩💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗

GUYS THE FACT THAT BEFORE “THE OLD GUMBIE CAT”, ALL THE CATS ARE THE ONES TO GO UP TO MUNK AND GREET HIM, BUT ALONZO IS THE ONLY ONE THAT MUNK GOES TO INSTEAD.

beautiful. just beautiful.