Selections From Cats (1982 Original Broadway Cast)

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Music reviews of Selections From Cats (1982 Original Broadway Cast)

Music Review: Highlights from this score are all you really need!
Rating: 2 Stars

and I thought... ok...what's the point?

I admired the dancing and the spectacle. But when all was said and sung, I could see no compelling reason for this show to exist. Some of the songs are quite catchy (I prefer the American version of "Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer", I rather like "Bustopher Jones" and "The Old Gumbie cat") but, after a half hour it starts to get boring because it's not about anything. (Story: Hal Prince was asked to direct the show and wondered what it was about. Was Lloyd Webber was trying to make some sort of political statement? "Hal, it's about cats!" the composer explained. Exit Hal Prince!) By the time we get to the show's big aria "Memory" so much tedium had set in, that as beautiful as the song is and as well sung as it was, I dreaded the endless applause fearing an encore would only keep us in the theatre longer. Happily the finale arrived and we are told (finally) what the point of this show is: "A cat is not a dog." I lost three hours of my life to learn that???

Neither the original London cast nor the Broadway cast album include "The Awful Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles" (though the number really has to be seen to be fully appreciated.) The London cast has Elaine Paige as Grizabella while the American Cd offers Betty Buckley. The best bet is to go for the single CD of highlights from the U.S. production: you get all the best songs and none of the filler.

Description of Selections From Cats (1982 Original Broadway Cast)

Broadway & Vocalists CDs

• Music > Styles
• Pop
• Soundtracks