IT’S TIME TO WATCH CATS 🌝

hellooo i’m verdi and i’m a big fan of cats the musical. i’m starting this blog so i can talk about cats and share my ideas.

i love this musical with a PASSION because it’s fun and always manages to bring a smile to my face, even when i’m feeling down. i love the characters, especially the kittens, and i like making up a ton of ideas about all of them. i also love it because i used to do dance and when they dance it resonates with me on such a spiritual level that i can’t explain (i’ve watched the jellicle ball an ungodly amount of times).

my main ships are alonzostrap and tumbletoria, but i also ship demelurina and tuggoffelees. my favourite characters are alonzo, tumblebrutus, george, cassandra, victoria and jemima, but really i love all of them. i consider the 1998 film the definitive version so i’ll mostly be referring to that. i’m also an artist and all of the drawings you see are mine unless i credit others.

i hope you guys like my ideas! :D

house cat ideas

cassandra :

she’s a model cat who was adopted by one of the models at her company, and it’s why she knows such elegant poses and also why she has a haughty personality.* the two often do photoshoots together and are pretty popular. cassandra is quite the icon in beauty magazines as well as cosmetics and fashion advertisements. she is beloved by many fashionable people for her elegant coat and her moonlit eyes.

she loves her owner very much and is constantly pampered by her. they absolutely see each other as best friends and cassandra’s favourite pasttime is their “girl’s nights” together. she gets to be bathed (unlike other cats she loves it) and brushed, relax and listen to gossip about her owner’s coworkers. this woman is the reason cassandra is in no rush to find a mate and is perfectly happy with her lavish life.

*(also why she stands up and glares at grizabella a bit during “grizabella the glamour cat”. it’s like to say “im better than u. look at what u could’ve been.” (and munk gives her a reprimanding look like “don’t push it”))

cuz… kitten heels. it was too perfect.

I LOVE CASSANDRA SHE IS MY QUEEN I LOVE HER SO MUCH every time she does her pose (she does it like 3.75 times in the whole show) i get a surge of dopamine. like yes feed me

she’s just so cool

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.

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~~

pouncival ideas

before, i never really paid close attention to the ending of the show “the ad-dressing of cats”, there wasn’t much dancing or plot, and i just listened to ken page’s legendary singing. but i recently noticed something. pouncival. he’s front and centre of all the cats, and he even does slightly different poses/choreo than the rest of them. pouncival is also one of those cats that i never paid too much attention to, but he’s been nagging me ever since this discovery.

the more i thought about it, the more i realised that he doesn’t really have a proper “role” in the tribe other than being a troublemaker, which doesn’t help anyone. when i searched for inspiration on tumblr, there were hardly any pouncival hcs that were exclusively him. and even then, it was just things we already know about him.

i NEEDED to know him better. he would not let go of my brain for the past three days. but i’d like to thank him for giving me something to think real hard about. here’s my ideas for him!

this next part is a review of pouncival. feel free to skip to “finally, my ideas” below the screenshot of pounce —

what we know :

- pouncival is the youngest tom cat in the tribe

- he’s a mischievous and childish kitten with a knack for troublemaking

- he’s carefree and playful, just a happy kitten, sometimes callously so

- his alternate is carbucketty, a name invented by t.s. eliot for a “knockabout” cat

what we can infer :

- he loves his friends! (he pranks grizabella at tumble and plato’s idea, and he lets victoria snuggle up to him at the start of “mister mistoffelees”)

- he’s a comedic kitten who loves making people laugh, even at his own expense

- he’s the type of kid to roll in the mud and eat dirt (affectionate)

- he’s the class clown who’s lowkey an icon

• in my personal list of the cats and their three words (or more specifically “three adjectives describing their personality”), i gave him childish, blithe, and puckish.

his main character moments :

- causing trouble, and being the first “cockroach” to appear, during “the old gumbie cat”

- pranking grizabella twice

- getting reprimanded by jellylorum and electra during the jellicle ball “chant”

- being the pollicle who leads the march (it goes wrong, naturally)

- falling over a bunch, the little rascal (he’s very good at it too. top job, karl morgan /srs)

finally, my ideas :

other than the “boys group”, pouncival is also close friends with electra (and therefore etcetera). electra is something of a fussy and uptight kitten, like the type of girl who always wants to be the “boss” of the friend group and twist the story so she wins during roleplays. pouncival gives her the perfect excuse for someone to yell at as a frustration outlet. his carefree and playful attitude means that, not only does he not mind, he plays along and sometimes does cheeky things on purpose to rile her up or lift her spirits (electra is secretly very grateful).

pouncival’s childishness also means that he has a vivid imagination, and this lead to him being very inventive. also, as previously established, he has no qualms with being unhygienic, so he is very resourceful in digging through the trash, no matter for food, supplies or props for electra’s roleplays. as such, he was actually the one to make the costumes and props during jennyanydots’s number and for munkustrap’s play…

once, electra got really upset during a group roleplay, so as an apology and also to cheer her up, pouncival made mice and cockroach costumes, and along with the rest of the kittens, they performed a hilarious, modified to comedic version of the nutcracker for her. the costumes ended up being reused for jenny’s number.

another version of this could be: once, electra was scolded by jenny, and being especially sensitive to the disapproval of the older cats, especially one she admired, she got really upset. so pouncival and etcetera “took revenge” for her by sneakily asking demeter and bombalurina to help them write a musical number about jenny. pouncival made the costumes and they secretly performed it for electra, twisting the meaning to make fun of the old gumbie cat instead. normally electra wouldn’t be too happy about this, but she was still upset at jenny at the time and it gave her the catharsis she needed.

both were more than successful.

pouncival also made the notorious candy cane bagpipes. plato, being tugger’s other biggest fan, begged pounce to help him create a special birthday gift for him to give to tugger. pounce isn’t sure what tugger’s response was, but it left plato smiling for days.

during the production of “the pekes and the pollicles”, an extremely stressed out munkustrap gave pouncival the job of costume design, collaborating with mungojerrie and rumpleteazer. with the help of their smart looting skills, the three made exceptional costumes for all four breeds of dog as well as rumpus cat, earning them lead roles (though munkustrap might have regretted that) and a pat on the head.

pouncival the knockabout cat lives!!! or maybe pouncival the invention cat?

(also why are his eyes lowkey so beautiful)

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♾️

jellicle ball appreciation posts —

(bonus detail✨) :

if anyone ever feels worried about trying something new, just remember that george was hesitant to join bombalurina’s section in the jellicle ball, even though he wanted to. but with a bit of encouragement from tugger he went for it and ended up having a good time.

george, i hope you know you are an inspiration.

it’s such a little detail and george is such a minor character but they cared enough to put it in. and it makes sense because george is a shy kitten and bomba’s section is full of energy and the centre of attention, so naturally he’d be nervous about stepping out of his comfort zone. AND it shows that tugger cares so much about the little ones that he’d understand how george was feeling, and sling his arm around him like “you got this”.

it’s so adorable!!!!!! 😩😩💖💖💖

(emojis credit to @astrelle)

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!! 💖 🐈🎶🎤🩰🪩🐈‍⬛

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

more serious aspects of rum tum tugger

admittedly, i watch act 1 of cats wayyyyyy more than act 2. i’m not sure why, but it means i listen to “mr mistoffelees” a lot less, so it kinda slipped my mind that… rum tum tugger sings “mr mistoffelees”… 😬 but seriously watching and listening to it after a while of detox made me, weirdly, appreciate tugger’s character so much more than before.

if you don’t think tugger is a very complex character or someone worth delving into, let me offer this: we talk about john partridge being THE tugger, that he’s yet to have been surpassed or lived up to, and it’s true, but from what i’ve seen, i don’t think us fans get him quite right either. (not anyone specifically, just in a general sense.) and from what i’ve heard, other productions are great, but there’s just nothing quite like his 1998 film portrayal. i don’t just mean the swagger, but also the gravitas that he gives off. it was really lightning in a bottle. that’s how difficult it is to get his character truly right. (such is the case for a lot of cats in my opinion, but i’m being picky.)

(p.s. i meant this as in “it’s insanely difficult to capture john partridge’s essence”.)

…… yes, i know tugger is meant to be vain and rebellious and a sexy, indecisive flirt, and i do realise that the three words are just “in general” to help actors perform better, BUT, you cannot tell me that this description doesn’t water him down to a puddle :

his three words are apparently “vain, perverse, inconsequent”. “vain”? you mean the one whose first instinct was to call upon someone else more competent to help when old deut was in danger? the one who pleaded for the jellicles to listen to him, and gladly gave reasoning while hyping up misto, instead of just saying trust me bro? the one who is clearly extremely grateful and proud to be old deut’s son? and “perverse” is only true if they mean “contrary”. otherwise, his whole song shows him rejecting all the hot girls who all want him. “inconsequent”? firstly, i’m pretty sure that they’re using this word wrong. second, if they mean “not caring about consequences”, then tell that to the cat who stopped his entire party instantly just to alert the tribe of grizabella’s appearance. (and he clearly looks very disappointed when nobody liked his bagpipes gag!)

tugger is attractive, admired by many, influential, high-status and charismatic. yet, he only ever uses his prominence to do what’s best for the jellicles or what would make them happy, both individually and as a whole. in misto’s number, he steps up completely soberly when the jellicles need him the most. he hypes up misto because he knows his influence will make the cats believe in him. he gives the cats some much needed levity during times of crisis. he entertains etcetera, his biggest fan, like a singer inviting a child on stage and it shows that he cares.

i wanna talk about tugger’s design as well in terms of his character. tugger’s presence is the perfect balance of cool and warm. he is stylish and impressive, a self-assured and level-headed cat with an assertive aura, who easily keeps his composure, but at the same time, he’s inviting and open, a dutiful and shrewd cat with an incredible sense of humour, who is able to lift the hearts of those around him. this is reflected in his design, as his top half has a huge fluffy mane, but the rest of him is sleek black, yet done in a way that’s complimentary and not conflicting.

beneath the show-off, the swagger, and the sex appeal, he’s a mellow and mature tom cat who just loves to put on a good show and give the crowd exactly what they want. he’s just as serious and responsible and caring and full of love for his tribe as munkustrap is, while still being able to retain his thrilling and unruly side (which somehow makes him seem even more responsible, since he has the capacity to balance levity and soberness to the fullest extent).

people try to give him sad backstories or make him seem softer and that’s fine, but it’s a rare thing that we get such an ineffably complex and nuanced character without needing things like a drastic arc or sympathetic traits. through tugger, i’ve gained a newfound admiration for this sort of adamantine character, and this qualia of his shines through, however subtly, in every number he’s in.

i did my best, but my words probably don’t do him justice either. maybe during your next watch of cats, try to search for this feeling!

(and i think, in this way, he really embodies rock music so well. so fun and exciting and rebellious, but still able to sound so classic, solemn and heavy.)