singogl.blogg.se - Musical intermission crossword

provided excellent material for musicalization, as Eliot's style in this collection is reminiscent of a popular lyricist. John Snelson, a musicologist, wrote of the poems: Due to the rhythmic nature of Eliot's work, there had been previous attempts before Cats at setting his poems to music, though none of these attempts had been met with much critical or commercial success. Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats is a collection of light poetry about cats that Eliot had originally written for his godchildren in the 1930s. Eliot's poetry provided most of the lyrics for Cats The bulk of the musical consists of the different contenders being introduced, either by themselves or by other cats. The plot centres on a tribe of cats called the Jellicles, as they come together at the annual Jellicle Ball to decide which one of them will ascend to the Heaviside layer (their version of heaven) and be reborn into a new life. Musicologists William Everett and Paul Laird described Cats as "combining elements of the revue and concept musical".

The musical is unusual in its construction along with Eliot's poems, music and dance are the main focus of the show at the expense of a traditional narrative structure. Eliot's 1939 poetry book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, the songs in the musical consisting of Eliot's verse set to music by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

3.2 Act II – Why Will the Summer Day Delay – When Will Time Flow Away?Ĭats is based on T.

3.1 Act I – When Cats Are Maddened by the Midnight Dance.

Cats was adapted into a direct-to-video film in 1998, and a feature film directed by Tom Hooper in 2019. The musical's profound but polarising influence also reshaped the aesthetic, technology, and marketing of the medium. Long-running foreign productions include a 15-year run at the Operettenhaus in Hamburg that played over 6,100 performances, as well as an ongoing run in a purpose-built theatre in Japan that has played over 10,000 performances since it opened in 1983.Ĭats started the megamusical phenomenon, establishing a global market for musical theatre and directing the industry's focus to big-budget blockbusters, as well as family- and tourist-friendly shows. It has also been translated into multiple languages and performed around the world many times. Cats has since been revived in the West End twice and on Broadway once. The London production ran for 21 years and 8,949 performances, while the Broadway production ran for 18 years and 7,485 performances, making Cats the longest-running musical in both theatre districts for a number of years. Despite its unusual premise that deterred investors initially, the musical turned out to be an unprecedented commercial success, with a worldwide gross of US$3.5 billion by 2012. It won numerous awards including Best Musical at both the Laurence Olivier and Tony Awards. Cats opened to positive reviews at the New London Theatre in the West End in 1981 and then to mixed reviews at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway in 1982.

Producer Cameron Mackintosh then recruited director Trevor Nunn and choreographer Gillian Lynne to turn the songs into a complete musical. Lloyd Webber began setting Eliot's poems to music in 1977, and the compositions were first presented as a song cycle in 1980. As of 2022, Cats remains the fourth-longest-running Broadway show and the sixth-longest-running West End show. It tells the story of a tribe of cats called the Jellicles and the night they make the "Jellicle choice" by deciding which cat will ascend to the Heaviside layer and come back to a new life. Laurence Olivier Award for Best New MusicalĬats is a sung-through musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the 1939 poetry collection Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.