#tibor kovats

[gaylittlewizardcat]

Liam Mower - Ibn Snell - Tibor Kovats

Pierpaolo Scida - Sam Bateson - Zachary Downer

Marvin Engran - Julius Sermonia - Jonathan Mercer

Revised version of this :]

[sevenkittensinatrenchcoat]

Misto Categories 2: Meta History

So, we most likely started with Munk’s Assistant Misto. OLC had Misto sing Gumbie Cat, along with a lot of other exposition that was later given to Munkustrap. Munk and Misto appeared to pass the leadership role back and forth.

Problem: Misto is such a prominent figure in the tribe that no one should be surprised by his powers. He uses them to be the center of attention all the time.

Munk’s Assistant evolves into Showman Misto. When OBC Misto carries a musical number, it’s either him showing off or him putting on a show. Munkustrap gets the important exposition. Misto isn’t a high-ranking member of the group and is generally strange, so some of the tribe might only know him as a sort of stage persona.

Problem: Okay, his magical skill is still a bit too obvious. After bringing those puppets to life, the idea that he could teleport Old Deut back to the tribe isn’t that much of a stretch. Also, when Misto describes himself as “vague and aloof” while showing off with everything he’s got, it gets a bit too ridiculous.

Showman Misto evolves into Vague and Aloof Misto. This starts in Vienna. They take a character that had been doing a lot of singing and make him completely mute. They use a similar character design to what was used on Broadway, giving him a strange appearance. When he’s completely silent and cryptid-looking, he comes across as genuinely mysterious.

Now, for the next few years, this is what we’ve got. London Misto is Munk’s Assistant, Broadway Misto is Showman, and Vienna Misto is Vague and Aloof. Even as the casts of different productions begin to change, the characterization has been decided on. The prominence of the Broadway show means that Showman Misto is quite popular internationally. US Tours sometimes used it and Japan fully embraced it. On the continent of Europe, outside of the UK, productions based on Vienna begin to pop up, and they start out with Vague and Aloof Misto. But then, something weird happens.

I could go on a long tangent about the Coming of Age Arcs of Cats, but I’ll keep it to brief notes here:

Victoria was the original Coming of Age cat, going through puberty. She has a solo dance where she begins to explore her own body. Later, at the Jellicle Ball, she has a sort of sexual experience with a tom around her age. Which tom it is literally does not matter because this scene is about her. The reason why London eventually went with Admetus is because the Admetus actor also played Macavity, and therefore had to be ripped and able to lift equally-ripped Munkustrap, so lifting little Victoria would be easy for him.

When the show moved to Broadway, they decided that the boy in the dance should have an arc to parallel the girl, because a physical coming of age arc focused entirely on a girl happened so rarely that no one knew how to react. They took the character of Bill Bailey, one of the Two Tom Kittens of the show, and rewrote him as Tumblebrutus, a boy with an arc about wanting to appear tough to impress his friends and the adults. Because he isn’t played by the same actor who plays Macavity, he can participate in the Macavity fight, coming of age that way.

The Vienna production did the same thing the Broadway Production did, as did most productions made between 1982 and 2002.

But, in 1989, the Paris production shifted the coming of age arc from Tumblebrutus to Mistoffelees. Misto had his own song. He was already a prominent character. This takes us even further away from the point that, in the mating dance, the tom doesn’t actually matter. But, the Macavity Fight came right before Misto’s number, so they couldn’t just give him the Tumblebrutus arc. Instead, his number becomes the moment when he comes of age.

So, this change is made, but Misto is still somewhat Vienna based and mute. He’s now being played a bit younger and less secure to match the coming of age arc. He might actually come across as shy, or at least a bit awkward, if you combine this immaturity with the fact that he never speaks. When you age down Vague and Aloof Misto, you get Shy Misto.

Technically, Shy Misto is a form of Character Arc Misto, because he has a character arc, but the Mistos I consider Shy feel different from the ones I’ve called Character Arc. Shy Misto is either Vague and Aloof aged down or Character Arc but mute.

Now, Shy Misto moves from Paris to Zurich and Amsterdam. More Vienna-based productions. Actors who played Misto in these productions went on to play the same role in non-Vienna-based productions. This included Broadway. This led to Shy Misto and Showman Misto being combined. Misto sings, though not as much as before, and he has that flashy Showman energy, but he still has Shy Misto’s character arc and younger age. This creates Character Arc Misto.

The 1998 VHS uses Character Arc Misto and it’s the most accessible version. A generation of future Mistos will base their own characterizations on this one.

Then something happened with the Broadway Revival and Misto lost his arc. The actors playing Misto and Tugger played up their dynamic to compensate, but with only their dynamic making Misto stand out, this is how we get Tugger’s BF Misto.

So, people built off of each other’s ideas to create new characters, providing several options on how to portray Mistoffelees. The changes mainly occurred between 1981 and 1996. 

Now, to give credit where credit is due, here’s who I believe to be the first actors to perform each Misto type:

Munk’s Assistant: Wayne Sleep, 1981

Showman: Timothy Scott, 1982

Vague and Aloof: Valentin Baraian, 1983

Shy: Tibor Kovats, 1989 (He was the first Paris Misto and the first Zurich Misto. The actors to take the role after him in both productions were Shy Mistos, so it probably began with him. The oldest known recording of a show with Shy Misto was from Paris in 1990, when the role was played by Guy-Paul de St. Germain)

Character Arc: Jacob Brent, 1996 (This actually could’ve been Lindsay Chambers shifting from a Zurich Shy Misto to something that matched what was already being done on Broadway, but I’m not sure of that, having only seen Chambers in a Zurich bootleg. Character Arc Misto was definitely inspired by him though.)

Tugger’s BF Misto: Ricky Ubeda, 2016

[junkyard-gifs]

Skimble and Tugger: judgey judgey faces.

Mistoffelees and Munkustrap: enthusiastic carol-singing.

Paris 1989: Tim Robin as Growltiger, Thierry Gondet as Skimbleshanks, Gilles Vajou as Tugger, Tibor Kovats as Mistoffelees, ?Matthew Jessner as Munkustrap.

[cryptidmistoffelees]

[twobit-the-frustrated]

Since Ya’ll are sleeping on Cursed Misto Content

Let me present a select few:

Timothy Scott from the first Broadway run, 1982

This right here is a blursed Misto. His big floppy wig makes him look so Soft, but the seemingly random lines on his face and his wide, staring eyes make him look like he’ll creep into your house at night and steal your dreams.

Valentin Baraian, Vienna, 1983

I’m not gonna lie, I Love This Boy and his big curly hair, but the discord has assured me that he is in fact cursed, and looks like a Super-villain from a show made for toddlers.

Tibor Kovats, Paris, 1989

Look. There is just. So much going on here. Misto, sweetie, comb your whiskers, trim your beard, and get those eyebrows in order ASAP. PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!

Chris Mackenthun, US tour 5, 2008?

This is not a Cat, this is a confused mime that wandered out of a high concept French Circus. 

Alexander Babenko, Moscow, 2005

THIS IS MY SLEEP PARALYSIS DEMON

And these are just a few of them. We Love a Cursed Musical. Go forth and find the Cursed Misto of your nightmares at the Cats the Musical wiki, the source of all these feral images!

[gaylittlewizardcat]

Sadly there’s a limit of 10 options otherwise there would be way more, so if your favorite Misto isn’t here sorry :(

[sevenkittensinatrenchcoat]

Vienna-Based Mistos and Grizabella: Misto Becomes the Misto You Know

Once again, I find myself fascinated with the Vienna production and it’s descendants, especially when it comes to Mistoffelees. There are bits with Misto in these productions that are sometimes very similar to the 1998 VHS, but other productions don’t have them.

In the majority of productions I’ve seen, when Grizabella first appears, the first cats to respond are Coricopat and Tantomile, who hiss at her. Some productions have Mistoffelees sense her first, which all the Vienna-based ones do. But, they all do it slightly differently, with a noticeable difference between the first two (Vienna and Amsterdam) and the later two (Paris and Zurich)

Vienna:

This production started in 1983, but the recording is from 1990, near the end of the show’s run. Mistoffelees was played by the same actor, Valentin Baraian, playing him for most of the run. Occasionally, covers would step in, but he was the official Vienna Misto the whole time. So, despite the film being from 1990, it’s a characterization developed in 1983. I’m sure it evolved over time, but not in the same way as productions where the role changed hands.

I know it’s very hard to see here, but those are Misto’s hands behind Grizabella. When he first approaches her, he briefly tries to block her path, but when she insists on going forward, he walks behind her.

A cat, I’m not sure which one, runs up to Grizabella and hisses at her. Misto signals the cat to stand back. Throughout the scene, several cats approach Grizabella, some attempting to reach out to her, and others just to hiss at her or scratch her. With the former, one of the older cats will rush to stop them. Misto himself only stops the ones approaching threateningly. This means that he’s following her around to make sure that the others don’t hurt her.

After Grizabella starts singing, he tries to fend off the cats who approach her, but only the ones that do something to upset her, since she turns on them for the “you see the border of her coat is torn” line.

Conclusion: Vienna Misto is one of the adult cats, allowed to approach Grizabella and take charge while she’s there, since Munkustrap seems reluctant to do anything one way or another. But, even though he knows who she is and what she did, he personally has nothing against her and shadows her to keep her from getting hurt. Since one of the kittens succeeds in scratching her, he doesn’t seem to be very at it, but he cares enough to feel like he needs to try.

Amsterdam:

NOTE: Due to not having access to a full recording of this production, if one even exists at all, the following screenshots are taken from the clip @junkyard-gifs uploaded. As far as I can tell, the clip is from 1987. 

When Misto notices Grizabella, he runs up to her and holds his arms out, blocking her path. Once again, it seems like Misto is old enough to know who she is and that she’s not welcome.

However, Grizabella will not be stopped. She just shoves him out of the way. He’s not Munkustrap. He’s not the protector. He can’t tell her what to do.

However, this shove is technically an act of violence, so Misto warns the others to stay back. She attacked him! I’m guessing this Misto is not often shoved out of the way. Some Mistos are, but not this one.

The other cats scatter and Munkustrap steps up to handle the situation. Misto is still mad about it.

Conclusion: Amsterdam Misto (Dr. Diavolo, which is an amazing name) is one of the adult cats, since he seemed to know right away that Grizabella wasn’t welcome. But, unlike Vienna Misto, who seemed to have some sort of connection to Grizabella, this Misto doesn’t like her and likes her even less after she pushes him. He seems less mature and more prideful than Vienna Misto, with his dramatic reaction to being shoved, but I get the feeling that most of the other cats would’ve behaved the same way in this situation.

Now, both of these Mistos knew who Grizabella was. In general, full adults know Griz, while the kittens and sorta-adults don’t. This is the most clear generation gap in the show. In both these productions, Misto was put on the side of the adults. This matches up with most earlier portrayals of the character. By the time Jacob Brent played him, he was a younger character, only just starting to become an adult, who comes up age by the end of the show. I’ve always been curious as to when exactly this change took place. How did we get from here:

to here:

I don’t have any pictures of Timothy Scott’s Misto and Grizabella, so this comparsion doesn’t work quite as well, but you get the idea. In the above picture, Misto is just sort of waiting to see what Grizabella does. He doesn’t know her.

Well, I think the next two entries in the Vienna Line show some of the journey from point A to point B

Paris

The recording of the Paris version is from 1990, during the last month of the show’s run. It was uploaded to YouTube by Guy-Paul de St. Germain, who played Misto in the recording, and in London shortly after, as well as in a later UK Tour.

Misto approaches Grizabella, and the film quality makes it hard to see what’s going, but what I think is going on is that Munkustrap and Misto are equally quick to react to Grizabella, but Munkustrap keeps his distance, while Misto approaches her. From what I can tell, he does so neutrally, just trying to figure out who she is.

Munkustrap doesn’t physically intervene, but he warns Misto to get away with a sharp hiss. Misto backs away and stands in the corner, where he remains for the rest of the number.

After one of the kittens (I’m pretty sure it’s Tumblebrutus) scratches Grizabella, Misto sort of leans toward her, almost taking a step in her direction. But, he looks back over his shoulder before doing anything, and whatever he sees keeps him in place. I’m guessing he was looking to Munkustrap for permission to see if she’s alright after being scratched, and was denied permission.

Conclusion: Paris Misto most likely doesn’t know who Grizabella is. He obeys Munkustrap’s instructions regarding her, but he doesn’t seem to know what to think of her. He’s concerned for her when she gets hurt, but he prioritizes Munkustrap’s orders over that concern. The general tone is very similar to the VHS, though 1998 Misto started glaring at Grizabella, copying Munkustrap, instead of just following his instructions.

Zurich

The Zurich footage is from a 1992 bootleg. In 1992, Misto was being played by Lindsay Chambers, who’d go on to play him on Broadway for a few years. He was playing Misto on Broadway when Jacob Brent was cast as Pouncival, so this is where Brent’s Misto starts to connect to Vienna-based Mistos.

When Misto starts dancing to the reprise of Tugger’s song, he gets really into it and Grizabella shows up right behind him, making it seem like he nearly crashes into her. When he sees her, he just stops and stares. He doesn’t react at all. He just waits to see what she’ll do.

Even though he’s not doing anything, Grizabella treats him like Amsterdam Misto, pushing him out of her way. Since Amsterdam Misto was actually blocking her path, it made sense for her to do that, but here it’s just rude! He doesn’t know who she is and made no move against her. If she wants a cat to welcome her back into the tribe, he probably would’ve done it. But it seems like Zurich Grizabella is focused on getting to Munkustrap. She wants to talk to the one who’s in charge.

Like in the Paris version, when Grizabella is scratched, Misto steps towards her. But, Zurich Misto is quick to stop himself. He doesn’t need Munkustrap to tell him to stay away, though Munkustrap is right there. I can’t tell if he’s glaring at Misto or glaring at Grizabella, because of Bootleg Quality. But, if Munkustrap isn’t glaring at Misto, Misto just decided to stop by himself, probably remembering getting pushed out of the way. Grizabella really lost herself an ally here. From other scenes in this version, I’ve noticed that Zurich Misto often doesn’t seem to understand the social rules of the tribe and gets in trouble frequently. In the very next scene, Skimble will stop him from pulling Bustopher’s tail, but he’ll insist on doing it anyway, so even if the rules are explained to him, he still might break them if he really wants to. He’d go against the tribe to support Grizabella if he felt like he had a reason to. But, because she pushed him, his first impression of her is negative, so if the rest of the tribe says she’s bad, he’ll go along with it.

Zurich Grizabella confuses me, basically.

Conclusion: Like in Paris, Zurich Misto is not a full adult. He doesn’t know who Grizabella is and reacts to her neutrally at first. The key difference is that he doesn’t go against Grizabella because that’s what the adults are doing, but in direct response to her actions. Compared to both Paris and the VHS, Zurich Misto isn’t quite as invested in pleasing authority figures. He wants the Important Cats to like him, but he’s more willing to go against them.

So, my theory about How Misto Became 1998 Misto is:

1. In different ways, both the London and Broadway productions originally characterized Misto as a full grown adult, somewhat established as a magician due to a love of showing off.

2. Most early productions had a similar characterization for Misto, including the Vienna production.

3. The Paris production seemed to be where things began to change. One of the actors who played Misto, either Tibor Kovats or Guy-Paul de St. Germain started playing the character differently. This might’ve been because of the decision to have Mistoffelees dance with Victoria. London’s Admetus and Broadway’s Tumblebrutus were established as kittens around Victoria’s age. If Misto was out of her age range, it would be kind of weird. This wouldn’t stop the London production from pairing her with Alonzo in its later years, but whatever. So, Misto was aged down to be only as old as they could get away with if they wanted to pair him with Victoria, even if it was just for one dance, since a lot of productions don’t have Victoria interact with her dance partner much outside of the dance itself. Mistoria shippers can make a thing out of it and everyone else can not make a thing out of it, because it works either way.

4. The Zurich production also paired Mistoffelees with Victoria for the dance, so they might’ve aged him down for similar reasons. Like in Paris, Tibor Kovats played Misto in this version early on. I don’t have any footage of him in the role, but he’s what really connects Paris and Zurich, so this Misto characterization might’ve come from him. If not, Guy-Paul de St Germain and Lindsay Chambers had very similar ideas for what to do with the character, with just enough difference that it could just be a coincidence. 

5. Guy-Paul de St Germain played Misto in London, bringing this new characterization into that production.

6. Lindsay Chambers played Misto on Broadway, bringing this new characterization into that production. Future Mistos of both London and Broadway would be more likely to base their portrayals on these Vienna-based Mistos.

7. When Jacob Brent was cast as Pouncival on Broadway, Lindsay Chambers was playing Misto. Jacob learned the part while Chambers was playing it, and when it was his turn to play Misto, he also played him as a young tom coming of age.

And he was very good at it.

8. Jacob Brent played Mistoffelees in the 1998 VHS. When the show closed in London and on Broadway, the 1998 version became the version that most people saw first, so a generation of future Mistos learned his characterization, so it became the one that remained popular into the present day.

And that’s probably where Baby Misto comes from.

[junkyard-gifs]

Tibor Kovats as Mistoffelees in Paris 1989 (top row) and Zurich 1991.

David Kent as Alonzo, Jan Polak as Deuteronomy, and probably Brian Carmack as Tugger.

[junkyard-gifs]

Yes! Paris is the only production I can think of that had a wig change for Misto as well as the rest of the costume change! Here's the before and after:

(Tibor Kovats)

(Guy-Paul again, with Gilles Vajou as Tugger.)

The Paris production was based on the 1987 Amsterdam production and was the same in most things, but Amsterdam Misto didn't get a sparkle wig!

(Guy-Paul yet again, but not sparkly because he is not in Paris.)

Munkustrap (Matthew Jessner), chorus Tugger (Frédéric Norbert), Mistoffelees (Guy-Paul de St Germain), and Alonzo (Hubert Helleu des Haubois) in the 1989 Paris production.

👀 Tuggerstrap? Altugger? Alonzoffelees? Munkoffelees? Alonzostrap? Tuggoffelees? Any polycule including the above? All the choices are good.

[sevenkittensinatrenchcoat]

Pas De Deux Analysis: How Are Victoria’s Boyfriends Different?

So, having access to an amazing compilation of pas de deux, which I have already reblogged, so I’m not going to link it here unless someone directly asks me to, I decided it’d be fun to look for patterns. All the toms that dance with Victoria dance with Victoria, but they’re different characters, so how does characterization affect the pas de deux?

I mostly compared Plato/Admetus, Tumblebrutus, and Mistoffelees, because they’re the most common. Plato/Admetus is so common that it was difficult to decide which versions to focus on! I was mostly curious about if Misto was different from other toms in this scene in any significant way, because of course I was.

1. Plato/Admetus (based on London, 1998, and Madrid)

Plato/Admetus tends to be confident in his flirting, but still polite. He headbutts Victoria (headbutting is how cats say “hello”) and startles her. She steps back and he waits for her decide what she wants to do. She goes back to him and they flirt for a bit before The Lift. Since Plato/Admetus doubles as Macavity, who lifts and throws Munkustrap around, Plato/Admetus actors have to be really strong, so the lift usually looks effortless. This is especially amazing in 1998, where Bryn Walters had a taped-up, injured hand and Phyllida Crowley Smith was pregnant. 

2. Tumblebrutus (based on Broadway, Buenos Aires, and Hamburg)

There was less of a clear pattern in these versions, but I think the pacing of the pre-lift stuff was slightly faster. Tumblebrutus kind of charges right into things. Victoria either immediately turns around for the lift or they both take a startled step back before coming together for the lift. The lift itself is a bit more awkward, but I think that’s deliberate. In these versions, both characters involved are supposed to be inexperienced teenagers. They’re both still figuring stuff out and both are still sometimes surprised by Strange, New Feelings. Plato/Admetus is slightly older than Tumblebrutus, so he gets to be a bit more confident.

I’d like to give credit to Broadway 1994 Tumblebrutus for making the headbutt extremely literal.

3. Mistoffelees (based on Paris, Zurich, and Amsterdam)

As I’d previously suspected, the dynamic here is a bit different. Mistoffelees is probably around the same age as Plato in these productions: They’re both allowed to stand with the adult toms during Bustopher Jones, but they’re young enough to have coming-of-age moments. But, Misto was aged down into this role to be similar to Tumblebrutus: a male counterpart to Victoria. However, his dynamic with Victoria isn’t like either one of them.

Misto isn’t as confident in approaching Victoria as the other toms are. Paris Misto (in 1990. We’ve got two versions now!) looks like he’s expecting to be stopped. Amsterdam Misto is a bit more confident. It’s played like he and Victoria are kind of already a thing (and a surprisingly cute couple, considering how much I usually don’t like Mistoria). Paris 1990 and Amsterdam 1992 are both played by Guy-Paul de St. Germain, so the difference between Shy Paris Misto and Already Dating Amsterdam Misto is a little odd, especially since these are both Vienna-based productions, so it’s not like Zurich Misto vs. Broadway Misto for Lindsay Chambers, playing the character differently to fit two very different productions. Maybe it was a few years of experience that led to the change idk.

Anyway, I think the Paris 1989 clip might actually be Tibor Kovats. Bootleg Quality makes it hard to tell, but during the rare split seconds you can see his face, Paris 1989 doesn’t look like Paris 1990. Meanwhile, even if I didn’t look up the casting, Paris 1990 and Amsterdam 1992 are very clearly the same person.

And, of course, I gotta say something about Zurich Misto My Beloved. He’s the most nervous and awkward out of all pas de deux Mistos. He doesn’t headbutt Victoria as much as firmly nuzzle her. She’s slightly startled and that startles him halfway across the stage. From there, Victoria takes the lead, coaxing him back out to do The Lift.

In general, Victoria paired with Misto initiates more than she does with other toms. In Platoria, Plato takes the lead. In Tumbletoria, they’re equally awkward and equally eager. In Mistoria, Victoria is often the one encouraging Misto to not be so nervous.

4. But Wait. Is It Misto or Is It Vienna?

All productions that have Misto in the pas de deux are Vienna-based, but not all Vienna-based productions have Misto in the pas de deux. I’d originally assumed that Vienna paired Victoria with Tumblebrutus like Broadway did, but, we have evidence somewhere that it’s actually Carbucketty she’s with. I’ve long since given up on identifying most of the characters in Vienna, so I wouldn’t know. I didn’t think he looked like Tumblebrutus, but I also had no idea who he did look like.

Vienna had both a Carbucketty and a Pouncival. Amsterdam only had a Pouncival, so he took Vienna Carbucketty’s role during the early years of Amsterdam. The few other productions that pair Carbucketty/Pouncival with Victoria vary. China 2012 doesn’t have much relation to the Vienna-based productions.

So, I watched three Vienna pas de deux with all the Bootleg Quality, Dark Voids, and Editing Choices that entailed. The results: ???

I personally think these versions most closely resemble the Tumblebrutus versions, though Carbucketty seems a bit more nervous and Victoria sometimes behaves more like she does with Misto. It feels like the Misto versions played up certain qualities of the Pouncebucketty versions, which were inspired by Broadway Tumblebrutus.

So, no, I don’t think it’s a Vienna In General thing. Guy-Paul de St. Germain’s Misto seems genuinely shy and very sweet, though the shyness was downplayed in Amsterdam. Zurich Misto is Baby and as startled by his own actions as Victoria is. He’s not used to Just Doing Things and not getting in any trouble for it.