#Cats London 1998

[pinkieclown]

girls when they’re keen to be seen smelling a rat :3

[beepbeepbirdie]

John Partridge played ELECTRA in STARLIGHT EXPRESS????. FUCKING ELECTRAAAAA?????????

[broccolidevourer]

Some mistoffelees actors without makeup. Who's your favorite?

Try to guess who's who!!

sorry some pics are so hard to find that they are blurry

I appreciate everyone's act and that's only a few of them, sorry if anyone was left out. I got a few pics from the fandom. Thank you whoever uploaded them.

[lmaster37]

the pain of having different cast recordings of the same musical where you prefer some songs in the one version, and some songs in the other :'(

[jellicle-brawl]

Jellicle cats, come out tonight, Jellicle cats, come one, come all, the Jellicle moon is shining bright, Jellicles come to the Jellicle Brawl!

Are you a fan of Cats the Musical? Do you have very strong opinions about which performer in which show was the BEST, most QUINTESSENTIAL performance for that character across the board? Would you like the chance to put that opinion against someone else's?

Welcome to the Jellicle Brawl! This will be a bracket for Cats performers across its many shows and performances, so submit your favorite and we'll pit them against each other. (ex, "Michael Gruber as Munkustrap from the 1998 film" vs "John Partridge as The Rum Tum Tugger from the 1998 film"). Note that even though this is a competition, our aim is to celebrate these performers who worked to bring these characters to life with their own flair! This is ultimately just a chance to hold these performers up and go "hey! look how cool they are!"

Before we get started, a few submission rules (I know it's long, most of it is just clarifying information, the rules are actually fairly lax)

1. You can make as many submissions as you like but only one submission per performer and only one performer per submission.

2. When submitting, in the character name slot use only the cat's full name (ex The Rum Tum Tugger instead of just Tugger), with correct spelling and capitalization. If the character was officially credited under multiple names, put them in alphabetical order separated by a / (ex, Admetus/Plato, rather than Plato and Admetus). This is for sorting purposes for the form, to make things easier on me later. (This is the only one I'm coming down hard on since I'm depending on it for sorting the form. For the rest formatting is far more relaxed.)

3. Please include a video or still of the performer in costume, alone if possible.

4. Propaganda during the submission period is not only allowed but encouraged. We're celebrating these performers and their portrayals; I WANT you to gush about them and tell me and everyone else why it's so good. Anti-propaganda, however, will not be tolerated.

5. The following cats can be submitted EITHER as individual characters OR with the pair as a single unit

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer (if submitting them together, please use "Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer" for the submission name.)

The Psychic Twins/Coricopat and Tantomile (if submitting them together, please use "The Psychic Twins" for the submission name. If they use alternative names, list those in extra info.)

Gus/Growltiger (in shows where Growltiger was used for Gus' performance)

The Rumpus Cat/{whichever chorus cat portrayed him} (If submitting them together, please use "The Rumpus Cat/Counterpart" for the submission name and list the name in extra info)

For all other instances of performers doubling up on their characters, please submit each character individually (ex, Brian Blessed as Old Deuteronomy as a separate submission from Brian Blessed as Bustopher Jones)

6. Michael Gruber's portrayal of Munkustrap is banned because I cannot and refuse to be impartial about him, which is why he'll instead emcee the tournament with me. The 2o19 film Cats is also banned, for similar but distinctly opposite reasons. Any submissions for them will be thrown out.

There are two portrayals that are getting in automatically but I won't be revealing those because I don't want to affect submissions.

I'll decide how many submissions to use once I know how many submissions I have. We'll see how this goes then.

Submissions will remain open indefinitely as I'm not really ready to go live with the tournament yet but want to give you guys time to get in.

Obligatory tagging of other polls: @crossovershipstournament @bugcrimesbracket@orangecharactersmackdown @blue-character-brawl @grim-reaper-bracket

[statisticalcats2]

Everyone who does an analysis of Cats should be required to learn as much as they can about the Shiki production before they do anything else

[sevenkittensinatrenchcoat]

This post has gotten a bit more attention lately, so I thought I'd do a bit of an update, having seen a few more versions of the number.

We're lucky when it comes to Vienna footage. I found multiple recordings of Gumbie Cat from that production. One of them is from around 1984, fairly early on, and it doesn't include the gag. Misto looks bored, like he's waiting for the bit where he can show off his magic opening the car, but he doesn't really draw attention to himself. By around 1988, in a later recording, the gag is there. I can't find any live Broadway recordings of Gumbie cat from specifically between 1984 and 1988, so I can't say whether the gag was there or not, but we do have a Broadway recording of the very beginning of Gumbie Cat in 1994, with Lindsay Chambers as Misto, and the gag is there.

Looking at the sort of family tree of productions, in 1981, you get London, where Misto sings Gumbie Cat. In 1982, you get Broadway, which gives Misto's Gumbie Cat lines to Munkustrap. In 1983, you get Vienna, the first replica production outside of the Big Two of London and Broadway. It mostly follows the Broadway version with a few innovations of its own. Vienna was the inspiration for Amsterdam, Paris, and Zurich. I've seen a 1987 Amsterdam recording of Gumbie Cat and the gag is there. That's the earliest recording of the gag I've found. Meanwhile, Broadway also inspirited the Sydney production in 1985, with inspired the Hamburg production in 1986, which was another major production that ran for a long time. This means we've got multiple Hamburg bootlegs. Neither one include this gag. This implies to me that by 1985, the Broadway production wasn't using the gag.

My current guess is that some time between 1984 and 1987, the Vienna production added the gag. They started out without it, but as the show ran for years, with the same actor playing Mistoffelees the whole way through, I'm guessing people started having new ideas to freshen things up. By 1987, the gag started appearing in the Vienna production, inspiring Amsterdam to include it. It spread to every production inspired by Vienna in the late 80s and early 90s, while London, Broadway, and Hamburg were just doing their own thing. A lot of international shows, those in Asia and South Africa, took after Sydney. So the Sydney/Hamburg version could be considered the International Version. US Tours and productions in the Americas, such as in Canada and Mexico, followed Broadway. Similarities between Mexico 1991, Buenos Aires 1993, and the US tour from after the Broadway production closed, make me think that US Tours made a fear changes from Broadway and that was the version, the one that traveled around, getting closer to Mexico than New York is, was the one Mexico took inspiration from.

Then, in 1993, the Zurich production evolved into a European tour, but Lindsay Chambers, who'd started playing Misto in Zurich in 1992, went over to Broadway. His previous experiences with the character were sort of brought over and combined with what Broadway was doing. In the original Broadway production, Misto sang a verse of his own number, but I think this stopped happening before Chambers showed up there. There's a sort of charity thing from 1991, I think, where the Broadway cast of Cats performed some popular numbers, Mistoffelees included, with Tugger singing the whole number. Misto's singing role was most likely trimmed down because it made casting the role easier. By this point, some of the Broadway Mistos were being played by actors from other countries. This happened with several characters. The reason with have our 1994 Broadway footage is because of a Japanese actress playing Victoria. I believe 1991 Misto was was also Japanese. People might've been worried about how different accents could affect the singing, so they cut some of it.

Though Zurich Misto was completely mute, 1994 Broadway Misto does sing. We don't have his number, so I don't know if he sings it, but we have The Invitation to the Jellicle Ball, and he sings that. So Chambers didn't alter the role to resemble Zurich enough for singing to be removed, but I'm guessing there was some influence. This one gag from Gumbie Cat was funny and Broadway decided they liked it. So it was added to Broadway in 1993. It was definitely there by 1994, but I believe it started in 1993, because it's also in the Buenos Aires production.

US Tours copied Broadway and they might've updated over time to match it, so when the gag was added to Broadway, the US Tours going at the time might've picked it up. If Mexico was based on US Tours, Buenos Aires might've been as well. So the gag ended up there too.

In the mid-90s Jacob Brent became Broadway Misto, learning the role from Chambers. So, the gag continued. It was now a Thing with Broadway. The Vienna-based productions had all ended by this point, so it was American productions keeping it alive now.

Then, in 1997, Cats broke a record for the longest running show on Broadway (Phantom of the Opera later broke its record, but that's not important now). This made for a big damn thing, causing a lot of the people who worked on Cats originally to go and see what Broadway was doing. At the same time, an animated adaptation of Cats wasn't happening and it was decided to record a version of it instead. The original team including Andrew Lloyd Webber and GIllian Lynne were working on it and they were based in London. So, most of the cast for the VHS came from London, past or present, and UK Tours. There were a handful of exceptions. There had been a Dutch language production in Antwerp, Belgium in 1996 and they liked the face of their Jemima, so she ended up in the VHS. Having at least one actor from the original Broadway cast was cool, so they got Ken Page as Old Deuteronomy. And they brought in two actors who were on Broadway at the time, members of the Record Breaking Cast. On of these two was Jacob Brent.

So, you have a mostly London-based cast, which meant a mostly London-based show. But, it was only mostly London-based. Old Deuteronomy and Munkustrap are characterized pretty much the same in London and Broadway, so you mostly get London choreography and staging there. But, Misto had evolved in wildly different directions in different parts of the world. They decided they wanted the 90s Broadway version of Misto in a mostly 90s London-based show. The led to changes in the choreography. This led to a different pacing of Misto's number. And, it led to the inclusion of several gags and character bits, one of them being that one bit at the beginning of Gumbie Cat.

The 1998 VHS version is the easiest to access by design, so the most well-known version of the show includes this gag. This means that more people are going to see it and more productions are going to include it. The US Tour kept doing it after Broadway closed. The Brazilian production in 2010 was a sort of London/Broadway mix and they included it. But, outside of that, it didn't really catch on in stage productions. As far as I can tell, the gag was never used in London, and after London closed, international shows became gradually more and more London-based, so they didn't use it either. The Post-Broadway US Tour ended before the revival and the Broadway Revival and its following tour didn't use the gag, so it's now functionally gone extinct.

So there's the history of around five seconds in one musical number of Cats.

Cats Historical Hypothesis

So, who wants to hear about the potential history of a few seconds of the 1998 version?

Too bad. This is my channel and I can do what I want.

So, I’m gonna talk about a brief moment that occurs in the 1998 version, as well as a few others and guess about its origins. Why do some productions have it and some don’t? Where did it come from? This is speculation based on comparing 14 different versions (Broadway Revival, Buenos Aires, 1998, German Tent Tour, Hamburg, London circa 2002, Madrid, Mexico 1991, Moscow, Paris, UK Tour 2013, US Tour V, Vienna, and Zurich), and whatever historical trivia I can find on the wiki. This is called a hypothesis for a reason. It’s not proven fact. It’s an educated guess.

Anyway, here’s a screenshot of the thing this essay/tangent will be about:

I’m too lazy to get a version I didn’t type on.

I’m adding a cut for people who don’t care to more easily scroll by this thing.

Keep reading

[jellyfuljellicle]

Jellicle Cat January!

-

Hello everyone!! I’ve been a bit inactive on the cats front because… I’ve created a prompt list for myself to do this January!! Now I don’t have the best track record with prompts but even if I miss a day im planning to completely finish this list. I’m posting this prompt early if anyone would like to join me, the whole month or just to pop in for a day or two using the #jelliclecatjanuary / #jelliclejanuary . I’m also going off the London Film 1998 cast so I apologize if I miss any of your faves. Get ready for Munkustrap this new year!

[sad-boys-book-club]

"&" Ampersand - A Literary Companion

Selected stories with the themes of Bastille's upcoming project "&" Ampersand. And, of course, a love letter to my favourite band.

PART 1

Intros & Narrators: Wallace, David Foster. Oblivion: Stories. Little, Brown and Company, 2004./ Nancherla, Aparna. Unreliable Narrator: Me, Myself, and Impostor Syndrome. Penguin Publishing Group, 2023.// Eve & Paradise Lost: Bohannon, Cat. Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2023. / Milton, John. Paradise Lost. Alma Classics, 2019.// Emily & Her Penthouse In The Sky: Dickinson, Emily. Emily Dickinson’s Poems: As She Preserved Them. Harvard University Press, 2016. /Dickinson, Emily. Emily Dickinson: Letters. Edited by Emily Fragos, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2011.// Blue Sky & The Painter: Prideaux, Sue. Edvard Munch: Behind the Scream. Yale University Press, 2019. / Knausgaard, Karl Ove. So Much Longing in So Little Space: The Art of Edvard Munch. Random House, 2019.//

PART 2

Leonard & Marianne: Hesthamar, Kari. So Long, Marianne: A Love Story - Includes Rare Material by Leonard Cohen. Ecw Press, 2014./ Cohen, Leonard. Book of Longing. Penguin Books Limited, 2007.// Marie & Polonium: Curie, Eve. Madame Curie. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2013./Sobel, Dava. The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science. Atlantic Monthly Press, 2024.// Red Wine & Wilde: Wilde, Oscar, et al. De Profundis. Harry N. Abrams, 1998./ Sturgis, Matthew. Oscar: A Life. Head of Zeus, 2018.// Seasons & Narcissus: Ovid. Metamorphoses: A New Verse Translation. Penguin, 2004./ Morales, Helen. Antigone Rising: The Subversive Power of the Ancient Myths. PublicAffairs, 2020.//

PART 3

Drawbridge & The Baroness: Rothschild, Hannah. The Baroness: The Search for Nica, the Rebellious Rothschild. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2013./ Katz, Judy H. White Awareness: Handbook for Anti-racism Training. University of Oklahoma Press, 1978.// The Soprano & Her Midnight Wonderings: Ardoin, John, and Gerald Fitzgerald. Callas: The Art and the Life. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1974./ Abramovic, Marina. 7 Deaths of Maria Callas. Damiani, 2020.// Essie & Paul: Ransby, Barbara. Eslanda: The Large and Unconventional Life of Mrs. Paul Robeson. Haymarket Books, 2022./ Robeson, Paul. Here I Stand. Beacon Press, 1998.//

PART 4

Mademoiselle & The Nunnery Blaze: Gautier, Theophile. Mademoiselle de Maupin. Penguin Classics, n.d./ Gardiner, Kelly. Goddess. HarperCollins, 2014.// Zheng Yi Sao & Questions For Her: Chang-Eppig, Rita. Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023./ Borges, Jorge Luis. A Universal History of Infamy. Penguin Books, 1975. // Telegraph Road 1977 & 2024: Kaufman, Bob. Golden Sardine. City Lights Books, 1976./ Wolfe, Tom. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Pan Macmillan Australia Pty, Limited, 2008.

Original artwork created by Theo Hersey & Dan Smith. Printed letterpress at The Typography Workshop, South London.

[pixiedustjellicle]

I have such a difficult time connecting with the Cats community now. Part of me feels like maybe I'm too old for the current fandom(I don't feel old, but I'm certainly not 19 anymore). Or that perhaps it's because I don't much care about ships. Sometimes I worry that I intimidate people, and I'd hate that. Let me introduce myself and how Cats has shaped my life, and maybe I can find my people?

I first saw Cats at a tiny local theatre when I was eight. I fell in love with it, and even though I didn't have the movie yet, I spent months afterwards with just the poem book and highlights album. Eventually I got the 98 VHS too- and then another local theatre put it on when I was ten! I got to see it twice there. And afterwards, I made up my own attempt at a costume, turned our spare room into my attempt at the set, and put some chairs in there to put on the highlights show for some friends of my mother. The CD was worn out, I went on with the show, and they even gave me a card and a new CD afterwards- the London 2 disc set! Looking back, I think how embarrassing it probably was, but I was so happy and proud of myself in the moment. Two more years later, US Tour 5 came through Nashville, and I got to go and stagedoor for the first time. I wore a tail I made and one of the actresses told me I had a perfect Bombalurina tail twirl. For all those years, I worked Cats into school projects, I drew nothing else. My mom put up with it for so long, and I still thank her to this day.

And then I went into middle school. New school, new students, and I started getting bullied for it. I found other musicals I didn't get bullied for- Phantom, Wicked, and Sweeney- to latch onto, and I kinda put Cats in the back of my head. I still loved it, but my hyperfixation had waned thanks to mean kids, and other than occasionally watching the 1998 movie, I didn't think much of it for years.

But the US Tour 6 announced a date in Nashville. I hadn't seen the show in eight years, and I wasn't about to miss it. I had already started taking an interest in cosplay, but I'd never made a costume like that. I remembered admiring the CCDB as a kid though, and I told myself I was totally capable of making my own, just to go see the show in costume. And I did.

And the cast were SO sweet, and I started finding Cats fans on Instagram. I thought I could do better on the costume, so when the show stopped in Chattanooga a couple months later... I did it again.

The pandemic hit and I lost my job. Immediately I started getting work making Cats cosplays for others, and I haven't stopped since. And when the show resumed, I made an overnight trip to Memphis to dress up again!

And then, I saved until I could finally go see the Royal Caribbean production (front row all three performances), and got to cosplay on the cruise and get a picture on stage with the cast! This was absolutely everything to me, especially seeing the original choreography as opposed to the revival. I definitely cried. (I'm in the middle bottom row!)

I've gotten to make some costume pieces for three regional productions of Cats, in the Dominican Republic, Atlanta Georgia, and most recently Georgetown Texas. I've won some local cosplay contest with my costumes, too! And I'm lucky enough to own a few original pieces- though I've had to part with some too.

My love for this show has spanned just over 17 years now. I adore the story, the costumes, the choreography, the sets, and the characters. It's part of how I learned I am autistic. It's given me confidence I didn't know I could find. And every time I get to see it live, I feel like I'm where I belong. The fandom has felt quiet. And I'm not sure if that's just because I don't know where I fit in? So here's hoping I can find my tribe.

Favorite productions: Original Broadway, Moscow, and Mexico 2013/2018

Favorite Cats: Jemima/Sillabub, Bombalurina, Demeter, Munkustrap, Tumblebrutus, Jellylorum

Favorite songs: Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats, The Song of the Jellicles and the Jellicle Ball, Macavity

Favorite cats to cosplay: Etcetera and Victoria

[milfjagger]

horror recs 2024

categories are a little broad but take from it what you will. personal favs are in bold and a * next to the name means this movie genuinely scared me

serial killers/stalkers/home invasion the black phone (2021) the invisible man (2020) hannibal (series; 2013-2015) maniac (2012) american psycho (2000) the silence of the lambs (1991) opera (1987) tourist trap (1979) halloween (1978) deep red (1975) black christmas (1974) the texas chain saw massacre (1974) peeping tom (1960)

ghosts/hauntings talk to me (2022) the haunting of hill house (series; 2018) i am the pretty thing that lives in the house (2016) under the shadow (2016) crimson peak (2015) mama (2013) the orphanage (2007) lake mungo (2008)* dark water (2005) the ring (2002) the others (2001) the devil's backbone (2001) ring (1998)* candyman (1992) poltergeist (1982) the haunting (1963) the innocents (1961)

vampires interview with the vampire (series; 2022- ) midnight mass (series; 2021) let the right one in (2008) bram stoker's dracula (1992) near dark (1987) the lost boys (1987) fright night (1985) dracula (1958) nosferatu (1922)

werewolves dog soldiers (2002) ginger snaps (2000) & ginger snaps 2 (2004) the howling (1981) an american werewolf in london (1981)

demons/witches longlegs (2024)* smile (2022)* incantation (2022)* hereditary (2018)* suspiria (2018) veronica (2017)* terrified (2017)* pyewacket (2017)* the autopsy of jane doe (2016) the exorcist (series; 2016-2018) the blackcoat's daughter (2015) the witch (2015)* evil dead (2013) the exorcism of emily rose (2005) the blair witch project (1999) the craft (1996) hellraiser (1987) suspiria (1977) the exorcist (1973) the devil rides out (1968) rosemary's baby (1968) black sunday (1960)

survival horror yellowjackets (series; 2021 - ) the terror (series; 2017) rogue (2007) the descent (2005)* open water (2003)

sci-fi horror crimes of the future (2022) annihilation (2018)* the fly (1986) the thing (1982) alien (1979) & aliens (1986)

monster movies willow creek (2013)* troll hunter (2010) the host (2006) pumpkinhead (1988)

folk horror the ritual (2017)* wake wood (2009)* the hallow (2015) pet sematary (1989) the wicker man (1973) the blood on satan's claw (1971) night of the demon (1957)

fantasy/fairytale horror gretel and hansel (2020) red riding hood (2011) the juniper tree (1990) the company of wolves (1984) psychological horror (that doesn't fit better into another category) candyman (2021) the lighthouse (2019) us (2019) get out (2017) gerald's game (2017) a cure for wellness (2016) the invitation (2015) it follows (2014)* excision (2012) may (2002) frailty (2001) dead ringers (1988) gothic (1986) carrie (1976) cat people (1942)

indie/experimental (mileage may vary) enys men (2022) skinamarink (2022) bones and all (2022) men (2022) the house (2022) relic (2020)* saint maud (2019) mandy (2018) the wind (2018) raw (2016)

balls to the wall crazy/fun as hell evil dead rise (2023) fall of the house of usher (series; 2023) late night with the devil (2023) saw movies (2004-2023) the menu (2022) nope (2022) malignant (2021) escape room (2019) & escape room: tournament of champions (2021) run (2020) the chilling adventures of sabrina (series; 2018-2020) 31 (2016) the boy (2016) american mary (2012) repo! the genetic opera (2007) trick 'r' treat (2007) sweeney todd (2007) dead silence (2007) house of wax (2005) house of 1000 corpses (2003) final destination (2000) ravenous (1999) lair of the white worm (1988) brain damage (1988) the texas chainsaw massacre 2 (1986) re-animator (1985) & bride of re-animator (1990) evil dead movies (1981-1992) phantom of the paradise (1974)

[beepbeepbirdie]

Pumping Iron but it's Tugger × The Rum Tum Tugger but it's Greaseball works too well I fear

[white-cat-of-doom]

how many versions of cats were released on cd? I have the obc and olc versions so I was wondering if you knew what other versions there were, and if possible where to find them :D many thanks!

Hello Anon,

There are eighteen cast recordings:

Original London 1981 (both 2CD full recording and 1CD highlights)

Original Broadway 1982 (both 2CD full recording and 1CD highlights)

Vienna 1983 (1CD highlights)

Budapest 1984 (1CD highlights)*

Australia (Sydney) 1985 (2CD full recording)

Japan (Osaka) 1985 (2CD full recording)

Hamburg 1986 (2CD full recording)

Amsterdam 1987 (1CD highlights)

Paris 1989 (2CD full recording)

Japan (Nagoya) 1989 (2CD full recording)

Mexico 1991 (1CD highlights)

Warsaw 2004 (1CD highlights)*

Prague 2004 (1CD highlights)*

Dutch Tour 2006 (1CD highlights)

Italian Tour 2009 (1CD highlights)*

Japan (Tokyo) 2019 (2CD full recording)

2019 Movie (1CD highlights)

Vienna Revival 2021 (2CD full recording)

*Non-replica production, if that matters

In addition, there are a number of promo CDs that include a handful of tracks from the casts at the time of release:

Hamburg 1996 (3 track promo, assuming audio taken from 1986 cast recording)

Japan (Tokyo) 1996 (3 track promo)

CATS 1998 Elaine Paige (3 track promo; 'Memory' included, and two other non-CATS songs)

Japan (Osaka) 2001 (4 track promo)

Madrid 2003 (1 track 'Memory' promo)

Moscow 2005 (8 track promo?, two versions; both have 4 instrumental tracks)

Dutch Tour 2006 (3 track promo, audio from 2006 cast recording)

German Tent Tour 2011 (3 track promo)

Of everything listed above, the only ones I do not own are the Madrid 2003 'Memory' promo, Prague 2004 cast recording (a very rare CD that was scrapped before moving to production, only test/promo copies exist), and Moscow 2005 (another very rare promo release, only found with the press packages). Who knows if I can ever get my hands on them.

In terms of where to find them, the OLC, OBC, and Vienna 1983 are still being produced today and can be easily found new online, through Amazon or eBay (or better yet, in-person at your local music store!), and so is the Budapest 1984 CD as well (at least from what I can tell, it is always readily available brand new from Hungary). The 1989 and 2019 Japanese cast recordings are also still readily available brand new from Japan through the Shiki webstore. The 2019 movie highlights is also very easy to find, considering it just was released. The Vienna 2021 recording is still available from the label's website (at 45% right now!), but they only ship within Europe.

All the others can be found second-hand to varying degrees of ease online (i.e., eBay). The 1980s cast recordings are not too difficult, with Hamburg being fairly easily found, but as you start moving into lesser known (and shorter running) productions, it becomes more difficult to find them. Some are extremely uncommon, and I purchased the only copy I have even seen go for sale throughout the years, and I am still waiting for the chance to get the few I do not have.

Happy hunting to you, Anon!

[real-reulbbr-band]

Honest question to those who have seen CATS live, specifically London replicas but does it really feel different or "better" then just watching a recorded version (1998 or boot) of the same replica ?

[verdicloud]

tumbletoria

ok guys i NEED to talk about tumbletoria, the ship between tumblebrutus and victoria, because it’s one of my favourite ships ever?? like yk when ur thinking about them and all of a sudden ur heart feels kinda heavy like they were written in the stars?? and you listen to every romantic one direction song ever and think about them??

i ship alonzostrap a TON as well but tumbletoria is on a different level in terms of complexity. it also happens to be one of the only hetero ships i care deeply about. yet it’s constantly being overshadowed in favour of other victoria ships, especially platoria, and tumblebrutus is seen as his little sister or just an immature kitten trying to act tough. and it kinda annoys me.

this time i’ll largely base my reasoning on canon evidence rather than things i thought up of, cuz this isn’t just me trying to justify a rarepair with no canon basis. so if you will not entertain the idea of this ship, feel free to skip this post. if you already ship them like me, read on. and, if this ship has never really crossed your mind, or if you have a different perspective, but are willing to hear me out, get ready for a long rant.

(it has been very nerve-wracking posting this bc i know a lot of you guys will disagree, but i really wanted to talk about them cuz i think they’re a super adorable ship, and i also wanted to know if any of you guys ship them.)

(remember that this is in no way trying to disprove or invalidate other ships or personal interpretations. i’m just sharing my thoughts as usual and putting in my two cents on a topic i feel quite strongly about.)

victoria is an adolescent who was sheltered and pampered her whole life, so she’s very well-mannered and poised (she’s the principal ballerina in the show), but she’s still inexperienced and exploring herself. she dances sensually by herself after “the naming of cats”, and during the pas de deux with plato, showing us that she’s growing into womanhood. but because of her inexperience and sheltered upbringing, she’s inhibited, unsure of herself and held back. victoria is a coming-of-age character, this is obvious and a given.

tumblebrutus is an adolescent who’s actively trying to grow out of his “kitten” stage. he’s a spirited and buoyant cat. he’s adventurous, daring and playful (being the main tumbler of the show, his role requires more gymnastic skill than any other). yet, he has an insecure and unconfident side. he feels the need to try and be cool like older cats such as alonzo or tugger. he’s even paired with mistoffelees, an older cat, during the jellicle ball, instead of someone like pouncival who’s more his age and would also have the ability to do misto’s choreography (pounce is the first understudy for misto). he wants to be a part of them, but he’s not quite there, he’s still seen scheming pranks on grizabella with plato and pouncival. tumblebrutus also happens to be, you guessed it, a coming-of-age character!

now, i know i said i would mostly refer to the 1998 version, but i need to talk about the pas de deux in other productions as well. in a lot of productions, especially recent ones, the 1998 film and older versions (like original london) where the character is named admetus, victoria is paired with plato (i refer to plato/admetus as the same character). out of universe, this is probably because plato doubles as macavity and the role requires him to be able to lift well, so he’d naturally be the first choice to lift victoria. though this made everyone and their pollicle ship them.

however, in a bunch of other productions, and important point here, victoria is paired with tumblebrutus, and this is tied to the fact that they are both coming-of-age characters. they both want to explore more about themselves and be more grown up, but are a bit unsure. tumblebrutus’s fearlessness and optimism helps victoria feel braver and let go of her inihibtions, and victoria’s poise and prudence helps tumblebrutus learn to be more mature and therefore confident. they are each other’s comfort and balance. see the dynamic?

victoria’s “mates” were mainly either plato or tumblebrutus, so i don’t understand how platoria is so much more popular while tumbletoria gets kicked under the couch. heck, ships that have less canon basis like victeazer or jemtoria get more attention than this ship. (no offence btw i think these ships are cute too.)

even though it’s not obvious in the ‘98 version, tumble and vic do have a certain dynamic during their parts in the jellicle ball. when misto and tumble do their ballet part after bombalurina’s section, victoria’s at the back with some other girls, and the camera cuts to her doing a little head tilt at the two boys. she’s also between them when they all do the lean and the music swells and stuff. this is super vague but, we know that victoria’s sexuality is a big part of her character, so maybe it represents her considering her relationships with the toms as she’s growing up, struggling to figure out who she sees as a brother, i.e. misto, and who she’s attracted to or wants something more with, i.e. tumble. she is literally and figuratively caught between them. (also i love the little moments where tumble looks at her during this sequence IT’S SO CUTE.)

just imagine all the adorable possibilities for tumbletoria scenarios. secretly admiring each other from afar while they perform ballet/tumbling moves? trying to impress each other with their skill? getting caught in a compromising position by an adult (like alonzo)? reassuring each other when they feel insecure? secretly dancing together? their friend groups teasing them or shipping them? or even trying to set them up?? affectionate moments becoming a little bit awkward because of their feelings???

i think “juvenile delinquent” is a bit unfair for tumblebrutus, and the depth of victoria’s character shouldn’t be forgotten either. i think vic and tumble are good friends who might have something more going on underneath that they’re figuring out together. i think there’s something really special about complex coming-of-age characters and romances that i really really love. (and i think the principal ballerina x main tumbler thing is noteworthy as well.)

i’ve been working on this post for a while. again, not trying to invalidate anyone’s ships. hopefully now some of you can understand my perspective, and if you disagree, that’s ok. if you do like this ship, please respond and tell me your thoughts or headcanons so i know i’m not alone in this 😭.

tumbletoria is a terribly underrated, beautiful ship, and it truly deserves more attention. thank you for listening to my ted talk.

[the-elvenprince]

Orlando Bloom attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. It was there, in 1998, that he fell three stories from a rooftop terrace and broke his back. Despite fears that he would be permanently paralyzed, he quickly recovered and returned to the stage.

As fate would have it, seated in the audience one night in 1999 was a director named Peter Jackson. After the show, he met with Orlando and asked him to audition for his new set of movies. Two days before graduating from Guildhall, Orlando was cast in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, spending 18 months in New Zealand bringing to life the character of Legolas, a part which made him a household name.

"Legolas doesn't speak a lot - he prefers to let his actions speak for him. Legolas' moves are smooth and elegant, like a cat. You know how cats can jump and land steadily on their paws? That's what I'm trying to do. There's a strength in that, but it's very balletic. It's also bloody hard to do without falling over!"

Bloom made archery a very popular sport in the United Kingdom. Many youngsters saw him with a bow in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and decided to join archery schools. Bloom spent two months learning how to fire a bow. However, Legolas' arrows in the final battle in "Fellowship of the Ring" (2001) are computer generated. It would have been physically impossible for even the most gifted archer to fire off so many arrows so quickly.

"(Viggo Mortensen) used to call me 'elf boy,' and I'd call him 'filthy human.' As an elf, I never got a scratch on me, never got dirty. And Vig would come out with blood and sweat all over him. And he'd say to me, 'Oh, go manicure your nails.'"

"We have these digs at each other. Viggo will go on about elves and how they're always doing their nails and brushing their long, blonde hair, and being all prissy. And I just say,'Well, at least I'm going to live forever! Got that? LIVE FOREVER!'" (IMDb)

Happy Birthday Landy 🥳