| Cats | |
|---|---|
| Cast recording by | |
| Released | January 26, 1983 |
| Genre | Show tunes |
| Length | 1:41:07[1] |
| Label | Geffen Records[2] |
For the first time ever, an Andrew Lloyd Webber show has been filmed and made available on video. With a star cast including Elaine Paige and Sir John Mills, Cats will no doubt set a new standard. Hear classic music from Cats, 1998, directed by David Mallet, with John Mills, Elaine Paige, Ken Page, at TCM.
Michael Gruber, Actor: Cats. Michael Thomas Gruber was born on November 1, 1964 to loving parents, two sisters, and a brother. He was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio where he grew up wanting to be a springboard and platform diver. Throughout his school years, Michael had a love for not only diving, but acting as he was constantly surrounded by acting and music. Cats Soundtrack music CD album at CD Universe, Now and Forever, This is the show which launched the blockbuster musical movement and played 18 years on Broadway. Cats (1998) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | [1] |
Cats 1998 Youtube
A cast recording by the original Broadway cast of the musical Cats was released on January 26, 1983, by Geffen Records. The recording won Best Cast Show Album at the 26th Annual Grammy Awards.
Track listing[edit]
All tracks written by T. S. Eliot and Andrew Lloyd Webber, with any additional writers noted.[1]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 'The Overture' | 2:52 | |
| 2. | 'Prologue: Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats' | 5:17 | |
| 3. | 'The Naming of Cats' | 3:02 | |
| 4. | 'The Invitation to the Jellicle Ball' | 2:10 | |
| 5. | 'The Old Gumbie Cat' | 3:49 | |
| 6. | 'The Rum Tum Tugger' | 3:42 | |
| 7. | 'Grizabella, The Glamour Cat' | 3:06 | |
| 8. | 'Bustopher Jones' | 3:08 | |
| 9. | 'Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer' | 4:28 | |
| 10. | 'Old Deuteronomy' | 4:03 | |
| 11. | 'The Jellicle Ball' | 9:34 | |
| 12. | 'Grizabella, The Glamour Cat/Memory' | Nunn | 4:22 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 'The Moments of Happiness' | 3:14 | |
| 2. | 'Gus: The Theatre Cat' | 6:32 | |
| 3. | 'Growltiger's Last Stand/The Ballad of Billy McCaw' | 11:41 | |
| 4. | 'Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat' | 4:52 | |
| 5. | 'Macavity: The Mystery Cat' | 8:23 | |
| 6. | 'Mr. Mistoffelees' | 4:25 | |
| 7. | 'Memory' | Nunn | 5:21 |
| 8. | 'The Journey to the Heaviside Layer' | 2:44 | |
| 9. | 'The Ad-Dressing of Cats' | 4:22 |
Development and release[edit]
The original Broadway cast of Cats, including the understudies, recorded the album in October 1982. Lloyd Webber flew in from London to oversee the recording, which was estimated to cost as much as $400,000.[3]
The recording was released on January 26, 1983,[4] in two versions: a two-record/disc/cassette complete set, and a one-record/disc/cassette highlights version.[5][6]
Reception[edit]
Critical reception[edit]
Matthew Murray gave the recording four out of five stars, praising the orchestration and the cast's performance, particularly Betty Buckley's rendition of 'Memory'. However, he was wary of 'the unconvincing Brit[ish] accents and American vocal mannerisms.'[7] The recording also received favorable reviews from the Star Tribune[6] and the Times Colonist.[8]
Commercial performance[edit]
The album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on December 5, 1988.[4][2] According to Playbill, it has sold over 2 million copies[9] and is the 16th-best-selling cast recording in the United States of all time.[4]
Accolades[edit]
The recording won Best Cast Show Album at the 26th Annual Grammy Awards.[10]
Weekly charts[edit]
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [11] | 5 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[12] | 17 |
| US Billboard 200[13] | 131 |
References[edit]
- ^ abc'Cats (Complete Original Broadway Cast Recording)'. AllMusic. Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
- ^ ab'Cats (Original Cast)'. Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on March 24, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
- ^Nelsen, Don (October 24, 1982). ''Cats' on wax: Will it break any records?'. New York Daily News. p. 260 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ abcCulwell-Block, Logan. 'The Definitive List of the 42 Best-Selling Cast Recordings of All Time'. Playbill. Archived from the original on March 24, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
- ^'The sound of Cats is unforgettable (ad)'. The Boston Globe. May 12, 1983. p. 102 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ abAnthony, Michael (February 13, 1983). 'Records: Cat-chy music creeps along'. Star Tribune. p. 87 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^Murray, Matthew. 'Cats: Original Broadway Cast, 1983 (Geffen)'. Cast Album Reviews. Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
- ^Hogbin, John (April 9, 1983). 'Cats'. Times Colonist. p. 32 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^Nassour, Ellis (June 17, 1997). 'Cats Trivia Encyclopedia'. Playbill. Archived from the original on March 24, 2019. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
- ^'Winners: 26th Annual GRAMMY Awards (1983)'. The Recording Academy. Archived from the original on March 24, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
- ^'austriancharts.at – Suche nach: cats' (in German). Austriancharts.at. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
- ^'charts.nz – Search for: cats'. New Zealand charts portal. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
- ^'Original Broadway Cast Recording: Chart History: Billboard 200'. Billboard. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
15 May 2020, 10:15
As the world’s theatres remain closed, Andrew Lloyd Webber has been serving up a free musical stream on YouTube every week. Tonight, it’s the 1998 stage production of ‘Cats’ starring Elaine Paige...
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats is the latest musical to stream on YouTube for free, tonight on Friday 15 May.
Cats became an instant hit with audiences following its premiere at the New London Theatre in 1981. Running for a spectacular 21 years, it’s the sixth-longest running West End show in musical theatre history.
Alongside tonight’s live stream, Lloyd Webber will be providing a free live commentary, inviting fans to submit questions which he will be answering throughout. Find out below how to watch the musical on YouTube tonight!
Cats 1998 Soundtrack Cast
How can I watch Cats online for free?
Cats will be streamed on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s YouTube channel, The Shows Must Go On, tonight at 7pm BST.
It will be available to watch for 24 hours in the UK and 48 hours elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the successful series, which has so far seen millions of weekly viewers, is expected to continue every Friday.
What is Cats about – and who is in the cast?
Cats is a mysterious tale following the Jellicles, a tribe of kooky cats who must decide which feline in the group will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life.
The iconic 1999 cast includes English singer and actress Elaine Paige (Evita, Chess, Sunset Boulevard) who plays the ‘Memory’-singing glamour cat, Grizabella.
She’s joined by actor and TV presenter John Partridge, who stars as Rum Tum Tugger; veteran Broadway performer, Jacob Brent, as Mr. Mistoffelees; Jason Gardiner as Alonzo; and Sir John Mills as Gus – along with the show’s mighty eighty-piece orchestra.
What are the songs from Cats?
The most famous song in Cats is undoubtedly the power ballad ‘Memory’, which is sung in Act I by Grizabella.
Cats 1998 Soundtrack Film
Other hits in Lloyd Webber’s soundtrack include ‘The Jellicle Ball’ and ‘Old Deuteronomy’, while upbeat tune ‘Mr. Mistoffelees’ (written for the black-and-white tuxedo tom of the same name) appears in Act II.
1998 Cats Cast
In 2019, many of the songs featured in Tom Hooper’s twisted 2019 movie adaptation of Cats, along with pop icon Taylor Swift’s ‘Beautiful Ghosts’, which received a nomination for Best Original Song at the 77th Golden Globe Awards.
Cats 1998 Soundtrack
Watch Cats tonight via YouTube channel The Shows Must Go On at 7pm BST.