[Pounce]

Interesting comment I saw in the Social Club forum concerning CATS

[Rumblepurr]

I, too, have heard that comment... at least about the "show being dated...

To begin with, the lyrics are from the early 1900s. Eliot's poems used in CATS are from 1910 through 1939, I believe. Even the song, Memory, was built from poems written during 1910-17 period (Prufrock and Other Observations).

The choreography, set design, and direction are basically patterned after the original Broadway and New London shows circa 1981-82. Note that Junkyard sets primarily use a junked car that looks to be from the 1950s.

However... Costumes and wig designs have evolved and have become more cat-like. Intelligent lighting has improved some of the staging.

The only thing I have to say against the statement is that the "average audience member" seeing for the first time is probably not aware that the show is 25 years old. I think those who call the show "dated" are probably theatre veterans...

Rumblepurr
The Writer Cat.

[Spikesters Munk]

[Tigress]

To be honest, yes, I think it is a bit dated in some places. The music will be timeless of course but I think the set and costumes / makeup could use a bit of refreshing.

[jcstar]

^
...Why are you shouting at us?

Cats is not dated. The poems are timeless. The music is very strong and it sounds like it was written yesterday.

The set (from what I've heard) is astonishing. If/When it comes back to Broadway, I may get the chance to see it.

Andy.

[Belle]

Well... it's not a jukebox musical, so I guess it IS dated stylistically!

[Rumpleteazer4760]

I see absolutely nothing dated about the show. Lyrics to songs are timeless. T.S. Eliot is still very much a popular poet today, so I don't see why his cat poems should be considered any more dated than his other works. The music is inspiring and doesn't sound like 80's music, in my opinion. If it did, the music would be dated, but it doesn't, so it isn't. The costumes are such an original concept to begin with that I don't really see how they could be dated; besides, they're constantly being updated. The choreography is steps I could learn at my studio, so it doesn't seem dated to me.

And all that is just my opinion, so please take it as such.

[rock_musicals]

Some people think for something to be "cool" it has to be up to date.

[Gwen]

My older sister upon seeing it on tape, immediately recognized moves from the jellicle ball to be from the 80s. (since that was when it was made,) but she was on a danceline team at her highschool.
However, for those who are not in dancing (or obsessed enough to notice the difference,) nothing's really noticable. Personally, I wouldn't care anyway, since it's lasted this long already, you know? I love the dancing, I have no complaints!
And I think the costumes have gone as far as they can get!
I mean, look at an original london compared to today.
For the designs to be so different from each other and for it to do as well as it did, to me means that it did really well despite that some might consider the original costuming to be in way lower standards as compared to today. (Since it lasted that long for the costumes to change as they did.)

A survey question: black or white? My answer: Jellicle Cats!!

[Drumdraper]

Well like Rumblepurr said the poems were written in the early twentieth century, so some of the references in the lyrics require a trip to Wikipedia.

Some pieces in the junkyard could be "updated," but this is a junkyard we're talking about, so many of the trash props are really trash. We talked about things that could be added to the junkyard to make it more from the high tech generation.

The costumes...change them too much you can't recognize the characters.
Vary the patterns, keep the same color schemes, etc. you can make me new costumes, but how many ways are there to make a cat costume?

[Matthew]

Some of the greatest musicals are dated...so i don't see why it's such a bad thing.

[Pounce]

[Matthew]

[Rumblepurr]

The concept of "dating" CATS really depends on a person's views, really. Pounce ^-- mentioned the "I Love Lucy" show as an example of period dating... the 50s vs. the 60s...

CATS uses some references found in the early 1900s because the "writer" was TS Eliot - whose poetry was written betwee 1910 to 1939.

Grizabella - the location of Tottenham Court Road. Although a pleasant place today, and full of shops, this road had a reputation for some social misbehavior in the early 1900s.

Bustopher Jones - "The Brummel of Cats" - George Bryan "Beau" Brummel lived 1778-1840, but was still viewed as the fashion yardstick in the early 1900s. Non-UK audiences might have to read Eliot and then look up Brummel to understand the reference...

Gus the Theatre Cat - Irving and Tree - John Henry Irving (1838-1905) and Herbert B. Tree (1853-1917) were actors of the British stage prior to the 1900s...

Other than this, you still might liken the appeal of this era to the appeal of Sherlock Holmes - the stories of which also took place in the late 1800s/early 1900s...

Otherwise, the time issue does not come into play anywhere else. The issue of whether CATS is dated still lies in its history of 25 years old - but then, it is still running...

Just things to think about...
Regards,
Rumblepurr
The Writer Cat.

[Pounce]

I suppose a case could be made that CATS might be indeed timeless because it is working with material (poetry) from the early half of the 1900s and succeeds in entertaining an audience of the latter half of the 1900s and into the beginning of the 21st century.

But the post I listed at the beginning questions CATS's choreography and music as being "dated". I'll skip the "repetitive or completely unmemorable tunes" comment, that was just plain ridiculous. CATS haters' comments are almost always so asinine that they are not worth the time to respond.

[JellicleCatMew]

I don't think CATS is dated at all.It's a good musical with great music and great dancing.Regarding the commments of that social club,it's just the same redundant repetitve babble that the anti-CATS people seem to enjoy recycling over and over and over again .How boring....

[MsJellicle]

I'd probably say that CATS was dated in the sense that it became quite popular in the 80's, and thus would forever be associated with the 80's. As for the choreography being dated....I don't think so. The choreography was made to be at least representative of CATS antics and such. Plus I think that most dance is timeless with exceptions such as breakdancing (80's) and the twist (50's/60's), etc...

~MsJ

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