They live on in the hearts of the million who watched the show. the recorded show or numbers from it live on to be eternally enjoyed. Good art never dies.
Just hearing this passable audio of Betty Buckley's "Memory" give me chills. Imagine being in the theater when she performed. She'd suck the oxygen out of your lungs. Powerful!
I got to watch the entire original Broadway show at the New York Public Library's archives. It was awesome finally putting faces to the voices I'd heard all these years. :D
I saw in the NYPL online catalogue that (if I remember the wording) "approved researchers" can view it. And I was sad 😞. How did you manage to view it? Any special approval needed?
yeah, the wig variety was nice but i like the more feline, and less oddly-human shapes of the modern ones. they just don't feel as varied on the fur...
Look up “A Cat’s Diary” by Stephen Hanan (Gus/Growltiger), about the rehearsal and staging process of the broadway production. Incredible portrait of this group of people.
The cat who sings "Can you say of your bite that it's worse than your bark" is Terrence Mann, the original Broadway Javert in 1987 and lately Charlemagne in "Pippin."
Great musical.I was so fortunate to see it at the old Shubert WinterGarden in late fall of '1982. It was quite demanding.You had to be good dancers with stamina and have much better than average singing voices. The person in the cast with the absolutely stunning soprano was the incomparable Betty Buckley. That voice was so resonant it could 'rattle the rafters'.. It was like no other voice I've heard on Broadway.The best,IMO. By the way,there was another soprano in the cast with a beautiful voice,Bonnie Simmons. I wonder what happened to her. She had a wonderful and ringing soprano tone.
i totally agree! I saw this in a smaller theatre, with a smaller company (probably only 15 actors/actresses) yet they all sang amazingly well, and still moved really fast. It was incredible!
I'm kind of sad that their performance medley has been shortened in later years. Compare this to the 2016 revival performance on GMA or at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. It's shortened a LOT. It's not bad, I just miss this version.
@tppipersa I am a huge Brent fan, but don't knock Timothy until you understand him. Did you know he hated his Mistoffelees vest (because it weighed like 15 pounds,) but her wore it anyway? It even caused him to faint under the hot stage lights, during a performance, and he still acted in it afterward. That's a devotion most of us will never understand. Without people like Timothy Scott, you wouldn't even know who Jacob Brent was! Mr. Scott died before I was born, and I am still a grateful fan!
I loved this show for years, I saw original tours and on broadway, but I could never figure out why they kept on bringing on grizabella over and over and make her sing the same song over and over, different words, but the same song, for a time I couldnt figure out if this was memory or the next time she came out or the other times she came out in act 2 and sang it again and again. tee heee. I still love it though, lots of darkness and mystery.
@daytonville Not to mention a lot of the voices on the DVD version were overdubs. Some were cast for their looks and dancing, and someone else sang. You're right, there is no comparison at all.
@KennethStalsworth I think Webber Agreed with you. Speilberg wanted to do an animated version of this musical and while it was in planning stages he consulted with Webber who decided not to grant rights saying he was making it too cutesy which is why webber did the video version.
The character is Demeter and the actress playing her is Marlene Danielle who later (a little bit after this performance, starting sometime in 1983) played Bombalurina for 18 years straight. She also played Bombalurina at the last Broadway performance ever in 2000/2001.
Which one is demeter and bombalurina. I know bombalurina has the colors of red, black and white, right?? Or is it red, black and orange? And Demeter has Gold, black & white?
Austin Pearce in the original Sillabub does the parts indeed from the film cat Jemima, but in more recent versions of the musical Sillabub and Jemima have merged into one cat
+TheaterPup very true, the tempos of the songs have changed for the best in my opinion. But the new 'modernized' rum tum tugger in the british version can go be roadkill for all I care, wheres my john partaridge!!!
Finn Cunningham Tickel Yeah John Partridge was great! Have you read A Cat's Diary, it was written by the original Broadway's Gus, Stephen Hanan. This cast had a lot of guts, I mean this show could have easily bombed on Broadway and they're really putting themselves out there, hehe. They didn't have the safety net of "longest running show ever!" And even as the first American cast, they already have the attitude and manner down so well. :)
yep, I have read a cats diary, its great everyone in the cast were putting they're careers on the line, no one had confidence in it. That's what makes cats a great musical, it showed theatre that a storyline didn't have to be dramatic, didn't have to be gutrenching, it could be full on entertainment and that's what cats is.
Finn Cunningham Tickel Good point, and I also like that dancers are really showcased in Cats, as opposed to their usual role in musicals as the back up ensemble. As someone who doesn't have the gift for dancing, I do admire the skill. ;) Actually I'm going to be seeing the New York Public Library's copy of the 1983 Cast of Cats soon. I'll have to find some way to share the experience with fans online. :)
hello i was the first to see this but forgot to comment. Not that it matters. Any way i just wanted to thatnk you. I have been looking for this video ever since i heard about cats so thanks a million. P.S. If you dont mind telling where did you get this vid?
I actually love the brighter color palette and emphasized makeup. Very 80s, very clowny. Charming in its own ways. The original London production from 1981 is also incredibly intriguing in design. Much scruffier, bare, scrappier and darker than any following production. I really appreciate the early productions, however, the 1998 video is the pinnacle of Cats in my opinion. It found the sweet spot between too dark and too bright, while also being extremely polished. After that, I have not seen a production I liked...
@ugly dog it is so interesting and beautiful in its own way. I was very obsessed with it for a solid year, trying to find any media I could from that production lol.
For anyone criticizing the dance, Dame Gillian Lynne (choreographer) wanted this show to not be a jazz show or a balletic show, she wanted this to be something different, which they achieved. You have to open your eyes and look at it. I've loved this show for most of my life and have been in it and watched the movie hundreds of times and saw it live three times. It's a metaphor for being accepted where you came from because Grizabella left the tribe to go find success as the "glamour cat" but she didn't succeed, so she came back to the tribe, and they didn't accept her because she left. Then, Victoria the White Cat sees the good in her and accepts her back.
January 14 2024. It doesn't get better than this. I've seen so many Broadway shows growing up in the NYC area & we were blessed to get house seats in first row orchestra. I was an embarrassing wreck at "Memory", thinking of all the strays I fed; this show will never be "cheesy", "kitschy", or anything derogatory. It is one of the most magnificent productions in theatre. Thank you Trevor Nunn and Sir Andrew. Love from the great city of New York. 🐾❤️
Why compare this version with the dvd version? Obviously the DVD version is better to watch online or on tv because it was made for that purpose. The chosen actors, the costumes and the make-up on the DVD was all specifically done to look amazing on DVD. This youtube clip was a taping of a live performance when they didn't even have a concept of DVD or HD. It's an unfair comparison. Plus, things progress and get better over time - the DVD cast could watch this clip and study this cast 1st.
I kinda love this. This is the raw form of Cats, and even through the blurry lens of the camera, it's amazing to see the original show and compare it from here to now. The makeup itself is amazing in it's own way. The scariness in it's own way is beautiful... I wish I could watch the whole show throughout the different generations.
Videos of then are the treasures for now and the future! The show has developed so much in the course of the last 30 years, that it's just wonderful to see how the originals did it. And Betty Buckley is simply phenomenal!
The best performance of this Broadway musical ever! It is perfect! The very Pretty and extremely talented actress singer, dance and entertainer Betty Buckley is the best and one and only Grizabella, the Glamour Cat and received the Tony for best actress in a Broadway Musical for Cats in 1983! The song Memory truly belongs only to Betty Buckley! The original entire Broadway Cats cast are excellent and the best ever! They are perfect! Everything is perfect! I was born in the late fall of 1978. I remember watching this! Thank you so much for posting and sharing this!
i was lucky enough to see the original cast when i was 14. they were much better singers and WAY better dancers! They should have made the movie version; today's generation (and i speak as a mom) was robbed!
come on like you guys know how to dance this????????? Well I actually do, and I can tell you that to do this eight times a week, is amazing, I apllaud this fantastic performance! Not everyone can be brits! STOP WITH THE CRITIC OF THE DANCING, UNTIL YOU ACTUALLY HAVE IT DOESN'T COUNT!
This is the first time seeing or hearing a Cats performance except for the commercials as a kid in the 90's and I must say I like it. I was missing out.
+Din din I'm right there with you. I will always regret I never got to see this cast live. One of those "I would have liked to have known you, but I was just a kid" moments. :)
@@TheaterPup Go see the touring show! The National Companies are top notch! These people eat, sleep, drink, live and breathe together!! Many go on to lead roles on Broadway! Just because you can't get to Broadway doesn't mean you can't see the show! Go for it!!! 🎭😎
honestly I think the makeup and outfits is as fine as the 1998 one just the video quality is not the best. I wish they can publish this musical in higher quality. always love and appreciate the original cast (I kinda feel bad 1998 is getting so much more attention, even tho it's the first of this musical I watched and love it too )
Am I the only or who doesn’t think it sucks and thinks it looks kinda good? It doesn’t look amazing or perfect, but I don’t think it looks nearly as bad as everyone says.
First off I want to say that I adore cats! one of my favorite musicals. That being said, I think I prefer the DVD to this one. I know they were just starting and all but the tempo is sooooooo fast, I know all the words and I could barley keep up singing in my head! And I just like the cast better, the man who plays munkustrap voice gives me the tingles.
The lines actually help the add depth to the make up from all the way in the back. Close up it does look strange which is why in the video they changed the make up.
It is definitely Betty Buckley singing here. There is a vid here on the Tube where she sings "Memory" on Johnny Carson. She validates it was herself in this production. Btw, Dame Judi Dentch" (sp?) was ALW's first choice for the original Grizabella but suffered a torn Achilles tendon and Elaine Page agreed to step in...
Judi Dench did not have the voice of Elaine Paige or Betty Buckley. Dame Judi is a phenomenal actress, but Elaine Paige is a better singer. Buckley is a great singer too, but I cannot get past her being the replacement mom on Eight Is Enough. Elaine Paige went on to do several shoes with ALW.
Judi Dench was the original Sally Bowles in Cabaret on the West End. When the movie was made, the producers were afraid of Liza Minelli playing Sally Bowles, because they thought her singing voice was too good to be Sally Bowles.
Judi Dench's first starring role on West End was Lady Macbeth, opposite Ian McKellen. When I heard Dench and McKellen were both going to be in the CATS 2019 Movie, I had such high hopes.
Of course not. Objectively, this cast sounded really bad. Obviously they have to have some amount of talent to be in a musical, but with a new show you take who auditions. I think that the movie is the best version put out so far.
The movie cast is great too also cos they were chosen specifically for screen and their makeup and costumes changed for the small screen. After years of the musical they chose the best around the world for the roles it has to be better. Yes i love the movie ones too!
I so wish there was a good quality footage of Harry Groener and Terrence Mann in this show. I love them both to pieces from their other works, only recently I found out that they were the original members of Cats. I so wish that Harry and Terrence had choose to work in movies instead, that way I could watch them, but most of all bc they were incredible actors and deserved much better. Musical theatre is very antiWhite men.
This was a pretty raw form. They hadn't quite figured out the make-up to the perfection that we have it now. I'm playing Munkustrap in Central Illinois' first high school rendition of this show ever this weekend. We are blessed to have the funding to make the costumes amazing. I agree with Elphie31 though; you have no idea how difficult this show is. I'm glad they learned from this first experience.
I think it is just his wif...but you have a point. I loved timothy scott as misto and he was in the movie annie. It is a shame he died so young from HIV. I don't think anyone can play a better misto than him.
My lucky daughter got to have as her Musical Theater instructor at her Drama Workshop and voice coach an actual original Broadway cast member of this Cats. He was really great and wildly talented and I'm jealous as when I was a Theater major in college I had no instructor that even came close.
would anyone happen to know the name of the woman playing the cat who sings "when you're walking alone"? it's definitely not betty buckley, she appears from offstage before memory, and this cat never leaves the stage before then.
Do keep in mind that this is the ORIGINAL Broadway cast. CATS originally opened in London in NINETEEN-EIGHTY-ONE. The makeup and costuming are bound to be "primitive". At least we can identify certain cats. Especially Victoria, Mr. Mistoffolees, Munkustrap, Old Deuteronomy, Sillabub, and Grizabella.
This is theatre. It is experimental and adventurous. It's raw, un-refined beauty; the beginnings of what would be a great and popular show. If it wasn't for this version, we wouldn't have the cute, fun video we all know and love. I am grateful that these people were all brave enough to try something new and set the trend that made it what it is today. You know, the reason T. S. Elliot turned down Disney? It is because they wanted to turn his beloved creations into pussycats. He DIDN'T want that!
The thing is, this was BEFORE the film was in production at all, and this production is the raw talent and coppery sound that it was originally, and some people, like thyself, like the other stuff better. I like both, but am open to any production. =^.^=
@tppipersa Not to mention that since there is no public recording of Timothy in anything else but this number, you can't really get the full effect. He doesn't even have his Mistoffelees vest on in this, so you can't get the full effect of how great he was as an actor and a dancer, so you don't have the right to belittle him! You a fan of Jacob brent? Express it by talking about how great he was, not by bringing Mr. Scott down!
Makes me sad watching this. I feel like none of the recent productions could ever measure up to this. The current US national tour is pathetic in comparison. I wish I was alive at the time this came out. Now.....the magic is just gone.
Not sure,...but try to remember this was the original Broadway cast and no one had really done this sort of make up before. PS. Who are you playing? Upload your production if you can!
@SruthiRhena101 It seems weird because this was theater..if you were watching it from say the back row, it helps with effect. When they made the video they used shorter wigs because obviously, they would doing more close ups, etc. and the costume needs were different.
Nobody is going to invest in a Broadway musical based on a poetry collection and nobody will ever buy a ticket to see one with virtually no plotline, and nothing but actors dancing and singing in cat costumes. This ridiculous concept has zero chance of lasting longer than two weeks.
