# I'm watching Cats for the first time and....wow, this is strange. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 4, 2018, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-cats-for-the-first-time-and-wow-this-is-strange/820726 "2018-09-04T03:34:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-cats-for-the-first-time-and-wow-this-is-strange/820726/41 "2018-09-04T22:42:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’ve seen shows with cats acting and dancing like cats. _Cats_ wasn’t one of them. In the two productions I saw, and in all of the clips I’ve seen of other productions, the cats are all dancing in unison, and in the fragments of script Weber added to tie the poems together, they’re all paralyzed with indecision awaiting the arrival of their great leader. That’s not cat behavior. Of course, if you wanted a production where the performers accurately depicted cat behavior, half of them would spend the entire show hiding under the furniture.😃 And then there’s the obligatory “hairball” scene… ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-cats-for-the-first-time-and-wow-this-is-strange/820726/42 "2018-09-04T22:47:40Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > So… People who read the collection of poems are uneducated idiots? 😕 That’s obviously not what I meant. I meant it has appeal to a wide range of audiences that would normally not like snooty, high brow musicals/operas/plays. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-cats-for-the-first-time-and-wow-this-is-strange/820726/43 "2018-09-04T23:17:32Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > It’s based on a whimsical book of poems by T.S. Eliot, “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.” > [https://www.catsthemusical.com/now-and-forever/spotlight-on-ts-eliot](https://www.catsthemusical.com/now-and-forever/spotlight-on-ts-eliot) Oh, yes, I knew that. I’m not a huge fan of T.S. Elliot, but I have not read his cat poems. > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > T.S. Eliot was talking with a child about his angelical cat, and the child asked “What’s a jellicle cat?” Huh, is that true? Neat. I had no idea. I’m finishing the musical now. I’m 1 hour and 16 minutes in and I have to admit, there is a charm to it. The people are quite talented and it is a pretty good production. I think I was under the impression it was a regular musical with a clear narrative story, a normal plot. I am realizing it is mainly songs about different kinds of cats. I guess that’s cool. I do think my daughter would squee watching this. I may show her. [This is not the kind of musical I would expect to bring out a fan like this. I remember this from 2000 when it first aired. Dude _loved_ Cats.](http://www.cc.com/video-clips/xww1kl/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-memories) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-cats-for-the-first-time-and-wow-this-is-strange/820726/44 "2018-09-05T01:55:52Z")
It’s just a showcase for the songs of Eliot set to music. There is a slight plot, but mostly it’s spectacle and flash. As a side note, T.S. Eliot was not just a poet, but an accomplished playwright. He’d probably be noplused to discover his most successful theatrical work was from a book of poems he wrote almost as a throwaway. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-cats-for-the-first-time-and-wow-this-is-strange/820726/45 "2018-09-05T02:06:35Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I’ve always assumed that “jellicle” was a child’s way of saying “angelic.” Has the intended definition ever been given? Yes. It was an overheard phrase by an old woman saying “dear little cats” to some strays. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2018, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-cats-for-the-first-time-and-wow-this-is-strange/820726/46 "2018-09-06T02:37:43Z")
Saw it in Louisville and Terre Haute. Loved it both times. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2018, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-cats-for-the-first-time-and-wow-this-is-strange/820726/47 "2018-09-06T11:12:46Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Here’s how I sum up cats… > > People dressed like cats sing about cats. > > That’s it. Dont look for anything else it was so popular because uneducated idiots didn’t have to hurt themselves thinking about plots. I’d argue that the paper thin “plot” is that all the cats come together one night a year at the Jellicle Ball and tell their stories to Old Deuteronomy (the priest-king of the cats). When they’re all done, Old Deut. picks one (apparently the saddest) to go to the “Heaviside Layer” (either kitty heaven or a section of the atmosphere right below the troposphere. And the amount of time it took to write the previous paragraph is probably 10 times longer than the amount of attention that the show pays to the “plot” I enjoyed the spectacle and much of the music and dancing, but it doesn’t hold up to any sort of thought. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2018, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-cats-for-the-first-time-and-wow-this-is-strange/820726/48 "2018-09-06T11:53:55Z")
A trusted friend who’d seen it about 25 years ago said “_Cats_ sucked.” Good enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2018, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-cats-for-the-first-time-and-wow-this-is-strange/820726/49 "2018-09-06T13:53:25Z")
It is whimsy. As Dr. Sheldon Cooper said: “What’s life without whimsy?” And the music is very good. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2018, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-cats-for-the-first-time-and-wow-this-is-strange/820726/50 "2018-09-06T14:10:24Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > That’s obviously not what I meant. I meant it has appeal to a wide range of audiences that would normally not like snooty, high brow musicals/operas/plays. That’s true of many of the most popular musicals, though. People don’t go for the plot, they go for the music. _Phantom of the Opera_ is a cheesy melodrama, _Mama Mia_ has a plot concocted to string together Abba hits, _A Chorus Line_ has virtually no plot, and _The Lion King_ is based on a cartoon (although maybe Hamlet too;)). While an interesting plot can enhance a musical (_Les Miserables, Rent_) it’s hardly a requisite for an entertaining musical. Musicals in general are not high-brow entertainment. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2018, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-cats-for-the-first-time-and-wow-this-is-strange/820726/51 "2018-09-06T14:47:17Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > You should have watched [“The Amazing Alexander”](https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/amazing-alexander/n9457) instead. I loved it. It was much better than “Cats”. I went to go see it again and again. > > Stranger THANK YOU, Thank You, thank you! This episode of SNL, and this particular skit/sketch, was one of the first bonding moments with my gf/now-wife back in 1986/87 and I’ve been looking for it ever since. The line “It was much better than ‘Cats’, I will see it again and again” is _still_ a touchphrase with us, one we have to explain whenever we let loose with the quote in polite(r) company. Again, thanks for the link! ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-cats-for-the-first-time-and-wow-this-is-strange/820726/52 "2018-09-06T14:50:59Z")
As Colibri said, plot is not required. There is the musical [Revue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revue). And the [Jukebox musical](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jukebox_musical) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2018, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-cats-for-the-first-time-and-wow-this-is-strange/820726/53 "2018-09-06T20:43:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Also “The Heaviside Layer”. And it seems to me that there was another one, too, but I can’t remember which one it would be. Must be “Grizabella: the Glamour Cat” - considered “too sad for children” and left out of _Old Possum’s Book,_ like you said. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-cats-for-the-first-time-and-wow-this-is-strange/820726/54 "2019-07-19T23:44:25Z")
My sister, mother, and I went to see it a few years ago, in between my sister’s birthday in January and mine in February. It was kind of a last-minute thing and we ended up in the balcony, but it was extraordinary. Unfortunately, this was before Mom got her cataracts out, so she wasn’t able to enjoy it as much as my sister and I. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2019, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-cats-for-the-first-time-and-wow-this-is-strange/820726/55 "2019-07-20T11:45:58Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > T.S. Eliot was talking with a child about his angelical cat, and the child asked “What’s a jellicle cat?” No, it’s a child’s corruption of “dear little cat”. And pollicle dogs are “poor little dogs”. [Cite](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1382102/Now-Lloyd-Webber-puts-Eliots-dogs-to-music.html) ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2019, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-cats-for-the-first-time-and-wow-this-is-strange/820726/56 "2019-07-20T12:15:01Z")
I will be seeing it next month. My main Cats reference is David Letterman occasionally singing _“Midnight, and the kitties are sleeping…”_ on Late Night with David Letterman. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2019, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-cats-for-the-first-time-and-wow-this-is-strange/820726/57 "2019-07-20T19:20:09Z")
Sure, you can make a good spectacle without any plot, but why not have both? Compare, say, _Les Miserables_. The original book by Victor Hugo is great, yes, in that he really makes you feel what the characters are feeling, and live the story they’re living, but yes, it’s a lot of work. One might thus reasonably criticize it for being too “highbrow”. But the musical, by making the music work with the story, makes all of that more accessible. You don’t need to go to a lot of work to reach Victor Hugo’s masterpiece. Even if you go in not hoping or expecting to get the meat of the work and just want to appreciate the music (which is also great on its own merits), a lot of it will stick anyway. By contrast, T. S. Eliot can certainly be inaccessible at times, but _Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats_ is not at all: Anyone who’s had cats will recognize at least some of the characters. And Weber, when he turned it into a musical, made it _less_ accessible. Yeah, there’s spectacle, but that’s all there is. And even just by that narrow measure, there are plenty of Broadway shows with more spectacle, while still being more substantial (even several by Weber himself). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-cats-for-the-first-time-and-wow-this-is-strange/820726.md?page=2)