Haleyisrad
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Jennyanydots Help...Hola. I just got cast in my school production of "Cats" as Jennyanydots. I was wondering if someone could tell me about her--like character wise...and what she sings. I heard she sings in Bustopher Jones...but I'm not exactly sure what. So if you could help, that'd be great! Thanks! = ]
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abbeycat
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Traditionally The Old Gumbie Cat (Jennyanydots) is seen as an older cat, possibly mother or nanny to most of the younger tribe.
She is often seen with the older Queens, Jellylorum and Bombalurina, she also has a soft spot for Skimbleshanks (whether he is her mate or not is differing in each production) I see them more as Nanny and Uncle to many of the tribe. She also has a soft spot for some of the younger Tom cats, Munkustrap, Tugger and Mungojerrie spring to mind, again it may be because she is mother to them or she can see a little of herself in their characters is again open to opinion.She certainly looks after the kittens when Grizabella interrupts the evening, mostly looking out for Victoria and Jemima (Sillabub).
She is described in the professional UK productions as an 'Edwardian Do-Gooder, a Mother Hen who likes things Just So, Good tap dancer with a very melodic voice,an older cat, she may be a little plump'
Basically she looks after everyone, makes sure they all know what they should be doingand when,she is respected by all of the tribe and she is quite a loveable and restless soul (despite sleeping all day!), she always has to be doing something, whether it's cleaning the kittens or creating a tap dance for the noisy cockroaches who live in her owners house.
she sings in the 'Gumbie Cat', 'Bustopher Jones' and has solo lines in a few other numbers. She is a very fun and bubbly character to play.
Hope this helps, I'm sure a lot of other board members will have something to add to this but these are my first reactions!
xx
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mistocopat
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Jennyanydots is a very motherly and sweet, adult cat. She is protective when danger comes near. Bustopher Jones is her crush. 
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Nemi
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Abbeycat summed her up pretty nicely! Jennyanydots is a great role, and should be a lot of fun to play... she's definitely one of my favorite characters.
She definitely seems to have a great fondness for Skimbleshanks and Bustopher Jones both, though the relation might vary... She definitely thinks very highly though, of Bustopher, and is eager to sing his praises when he comes along.
Have fun with her! ...And be sure to post pictures!
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Haleyisrad
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Thank you all SOOOOOOOOOO much! = ]
It's really helpful!
I'm so scared I'm going to make an idiot of myself! hahaa
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Lady Jemima
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Ditto to what Abbeycat said! Your best bet is to rent the CATS dvd and watch it through, paying attention to how Jennyanydots is part of the tribe.
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Alonza0
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| Quote: | | I'm so scared I'm going to make an idiot of myself! hahaa |
Sweety, you'll be on stage in a unitard and tail singing about a fat cat and nuzzling all of the others. You'll look like an idiot. You're supposed to! But to lessen the blow, everyone else will look like an idiot as well, and the audience will expect that. On the plus side though, if you do something stupid on stage, most of the audience probably will have never seen Cats before. If you just pretend like it was supposed to happen, most people won't have recognized your mistake.
But yes, more to add to everyone else's summaries. Jenny doesn't like Rum Tum Tugger at all. She tries to keep the Tugger fans (mainly Etcetera, Electra, Victoria, Jemima, Sillabub, Carbucketty, Pouncival, Bill Bailey, George, Tumblebrutus, Victor, Plato and Admetus) away from Tugger because she sees Tugger as a bad influence.
And yeah, pretty much Jenny loves everyone except Tugger and Macavity, and everyone loves her. She shows affection towards every single cat at some point or another in the show. And when nobody's looking, she even shows affection towards Tugger, probably because she knew him when he was a kitten.
Hope that helped.
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crluvalotbear
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| abbeycat wrote: |
She is often seen with the older Queens, Jellylorum and Bombalurina,
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i never thought of bombalurina as one of the older cats...i thought it was jellylorum and jennyanydots and then like demeter and bombalurina and then the kittens.
in additions to the songs everyone discussed, Jenny also dances quite a bit, with a solo step out in "the old gumbie cat"
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Alonza0
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| crluvalotbear wrote: | | i never thought of bombalurina as one of the older cats...i thought it was jellylorum and jennyanydots and then like demeter and bombalurina and then the kittens. |
Bombalurina is probably at least as old if not older than Demeter. She acts like an older sister figure to Demeter, and I don't think a younger sister would do that. Plus, in Bustopher Jones, Bombalurina remains to sing with Jellylorum and Jennyanydots while Demeter takes a seat, possibly because she's younger. True Bomba's probably not anywhere near as old as Jellylorum and Jennyanydots, but I don't think she's as young as Demeter.
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Moongewl
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| Alonza0 wrote: | | Bombalurina is probably at least as old if not older than Demeter. She acts like an older sister figure to Demeter, and I don't think a younger sister would do that. |
Actually, I sometimes act like an older sister to my older sister. Some people are more fragile than others, and some people are just elder-sister types. Bombalurina strikes me as being used to taking care of others.
Personally, I think Bombalurina is about Demeter's or Cassandra's age: early to mid twenties or so.
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crluvalotbear
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| Moongewl wrote: | | Alonza0 wrote: | | Bombalurina is probably at least as old if not older than Demeter. She acts like an older sister figure to Demeter, and I don't think a younger sister would do that. |
Actually, I sometimes act like an older sister to my older sister. Some people are more fragile than others, and some people are just elder-sister types. Bombalurina strikes me as being used to taking care of others.
Personally, I think Bombalurina is about Demeter's or Cassandra's age: early to mid twenties or so. |
i agree
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Alonza0
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| Moongewl wrote: | | Actually, I sometimes act like an older sister to my older sister. Some people are more fragile than others, and some people are just elder-sister types. Bombalurina strikes me as being used to taking care of others. |
That's a good theory. But still though, why does Bombalurina sing Bustopher Jones with the elder queens if she was younger than Demeter? Their voices are pratically the same...
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Pawzxx
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I kind of imagine bomba in her early thirties....demeter a couple of years behind her and jellylorum and jennyanydots early forties onwards.
Lol, thought i'd just put in my two cents.
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Pawzxx
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In the spirit of this thread (and partly bcos I've got nothing 2do) I thought I'd see what wikipedia.com has to say about Jennyanydots...
| Quote: | | In the musical play Cats, Jennyanydots is the old Gumbie cat who teaches the mice music, crocheting and tatting. She even thinks the cockroaches need employment so she created a Beetles Tattoo teaching them how to tap dance. She would seem to be Munkustrap's love interest, and seems to like Bustopher Jones, and is also viewed with elderly respect by Skimbleshanks. |
Lol, Munkustrap's love interest?? Now somebody totally misinterpreted the Gumbie cat song....XD
Or maybe Jennyanydots is just a sly old dog...sorry....cat.
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mistocopat
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| Alonza0 wrote: | | Moongewl wrote: | | Actually, I sometimes act like an older sister to my older sister. Some people are more fragile than others, and some people are just elder-sister types. Bombalurina strikes me as being used to taking care of others. |
That's a good theory. But still though, why does Bombalurina sing Bustopher Jones with the elder queens if she was younger than Demeter? Their voices are pratically the same... |
Maybe Bombalurina knows more about Bustopher than Demeter. Bustopher is a playful song that I think suits Bombalurina better.
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crluvalotbear
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| mistocopat wrote: | | Alonza0 wrote: | | Moongewl wrote: | | Actually, I sometimes act like an older sister to my older sister. Some people are more fragile than others, and some people are just elder-sister types. Bombalurina strikes me as being used to taking care of others. |
That's a good theory. But still though, why does Bombalurina sing Bustopher Jones with the elder queens if she was younger than Demeter? Their voices are pratically the same... |
Maybe Bombalurina knows more about Bustopher than Demeter. Bustopher is a playful song that I think suits Bombalurina better. |
yah demeter seems a bit skittish to lead such a funny song
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Moongewl
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| mistocopat wrote: | | Bustopher is a playful song that I think suits Bombalurina better. |
I agree. I also think Bombalurina is angling for a bit of recognition from a classy cat like Bustopher. She and Jelly and Jenny are usually all bunched up at the end of the song, and they all get excited when he comes over to them.
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Alonza0
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| Quote: | | Maybe Bombalurina knows more about Bustopher than Demeter. Bustopher is a playful song that I think suits Bombalurina better. |
Maybe, but I always thought that, since the title of Cat About Town is so prestigious, the oldest queens were given the honor of singing about him.
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