Archive for Musicals.Net Musicals.Net |
| Alonza0 |
Those Random, Confusing CharactersOk, so over time, I've seen a whole bunch of random, little things regarding Cats characters that have made me say to myself, "I'll have to post a question about that at some point." Well, I've finally decided to just put all my questions in one massive post and hope somebody will help me out. So, please bear with me, here they are, numbered for your convinience.1. Who is Porpentine? I've heard the name before, but I haven't read any information about him(?). What production does he(?) come from and does anyone have any pictures? 2. Spike. From one of the UK tours? If I'm not mistaken, we only know of him because a backstage person saw a costume clearly labeled Spike. I'm guessing he's a swing for some of the male kittens. Anybody have pictures? 3. Godnattakatt, Kvesesta, Potefar and Mamrotka from Norway? Swings, apparently, but does anyone know what they look like or what their personalities are? Again, pictures would be nice. 4. Lilli, Aprilli, Marina, Meijuli, Rokkonen, Ruusu, and Sibylla from Finland? More swings, I'm guessing, but does anyone know their personalities or appearances? And are there pictures of these elusive swings? And, while I'm at it, why did they add so many swings anyway? 5. I had a picture of Olivia from the World Tour, but I lost it when my computer crashed and can't seem to find it again. Anybody have a picture of her, even if it's with a group? If not, anybody have a physical description or know her personality? 6. I know Noily Prat is the elegant cat from our friend Mr. Eliot, but was she ever in any proffesional productions? If so, how about a physical description or a personality or a picture? 7. Anybody know why the Budapest Cats site (http://www.madachszinhaz.hu/Ea_Madach/Macskak/Macskak_e.php) calls Tugger Mistoffelees I and Misto himself Mistoffelees II? Or why Mungojerrie is a woman and Rumpleteazer is a man? 8. Macavity... the chorus cat? Anybody have a picture/know his personality/know how to describe his appearance for me? And why'd they call him Macavity, of all things? 9. Does anybody know the personality of Gilbert the chorus cat in the Shiki Theatre production? 10. Also involving the Shiki theatre, I'm curious as to their having both a Jemima and a Sillabub. What's the difference between the two, besides the obvious appearance differences. Which one sings Jemima/Sillabub's normal solo lines? What's the purpose of having both? 11. Grumbuskin? Is he in any productions? If so, what does he look like and what's his personality like? And, I bet you know what I'm going to say next, does anyone have a picture of him? 12. I heard tell on one website (I wish I could remember which one) of a swing kitten that looked like a male Jemima. Anybody know anything about him? I know all this might seem excessive, but I'm hoping to have a detailed section about swings on the website that I'm currently building. And I also realize that a good portion of these questions are probably unanswerable, but I figured I'd put them out their anyway. *deep breath* Ok, I think I'm finished for now. I'll probably think of more question, and when that happens, I'll put them up again. And thanks in advance for answering! |
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| Carbucketty |
Re: Those Random, Confusing Characters1. Who is Porpentine? I've never heard of the character being used in a professional production. It may have been a swing.
The name comes fom the poem "Lines for Cuscuscaraway and Mirza Murad Ali Beg" by TSE Now... Murad has been used as a Swing (Ranjeet Star, IIRC) in either the World Tour or Korea tour of 2003. (It's nearing 3 am and I'm being a lazy Carb and only answering from memory.) 2. Spike. From one of the UK tours? If I'm not mistaken, we only know of him because a backstage person saw a costume clearly labeled Spike. I'm guessing he's a swing for some of the male kittens. Anybody have pictures? B'way AND US Tours, IIRC. Basically.. Someone took a tour of the Pearson's (Sp?) costume shop and saw a costume of a male brown swing. The costume was generic and they could take the role of one of several male cats if someone was injured without the need to fit a costume for each character for one swing. Kinda the UK equivalent of "Storge" (when played by Stori James) or "George Bailey" (when played by others) after Steven Wayne left and the role of George went away.
3. Godnattakatt, Kvesesta, Potefar and Mamrotka from Norway? Swings, apparently, but does anyone know what they look like or what their personalities are? Again, pictures would be nice. Godnattakatt, Kvesesta, & Potefar : The photos floated away.. Umm. I'll look up more info. I may have some tiny pics around somewhere. I have role equivalents for some.
Mamrotka is a Polish chorus cat. Fantazja, Fraszka, Sierściuch, Turbo Ptyś, and Menello Bianco are the other chorus Polski Kitties...
4. Lilli, Aprilli, Marina, Meijuli, Rokkonen, Ruusu, and Sibylla from Finland? More swings, I'm guessing, but does anyone know their personalities or appearances? And are there pictures of these elusive swings? And, while I'm at it, why did they add so many swings anyway? The 1986 Helsinki production is mysterious. There is really no more information on these than presented on Lasseter's cats fansite.
5. I had a picture of Olivia from the World Tour, but I lost it when my computer crashed and can't seem to find it again. Anybody have a picture of her, even if it's with a group? If not, anybody have a physical description or know her personality? Female swing cat from South Africa / World Tour / Korea Tour. I have a pic.
6. I know Noily Prat is the elegant cat from our friend Mr. Eliot, but was she ever in any proffesional productions? If so, how about a physical description or a personality or a picture? I think she was in the South Africa/ World Tour or 2003 Korea tour as a female swing.
7. Anybody know why the Budapest Cats site (http://www.madachszinhaz.hu/Ea_Madach/Macskak/Macskak_e.php) calls Tugger Mistoffelees I and Misto himself Mistoffelees II? Or why Mungojerrie is a woman and Rumpleteazer is a man? uhh.. no. Check with the Hungarian girl who posts on macavity.org/forums
8. Macavity... the chorus cat? Anybody have a picture/know his personality/know how to describe his appearance for me? And why'd they call him Macavity, of all things? In Japan? I have pics. He's appeared once in London. I don't know why they didn't change the name or perhaps it's a mistake int he programme.
9. Does anybody know the personality of Gilbert the chorus cat in the Shiki Theatre production? I will have to translate.
10. Also involving the Shiki theatre, I'm curious as to their having both a Jemima and a Sillabub. What's the difference between the two, besides the obvious appearance differences. Which one sings Jemima/Sillabub's normal solo lines? What's the purpose of having both? Lines... very difficult. Reasons.. Dunno.
11. Grumbuskin? Is he in any productions? If so, what does he look like and what's his personality like? And, I bet you know what I'm going to say next, does anyone have a picture of him? Original London as the pirate played by Munkustrap. I think he was also in Finland (check Lasseter's site) and maybe mentioned in one or two of the non-english productions that used the full Growltiger's Last Stand. But I don't think the character was developed much in these.
12. I heard tell on one website (I wish I could remember which one) of a swing kitten that looked like a male Jemima. Anybody know anything about him? Dunno
I know all this might seem excessive, but I'm hoping to have a detailed section about swings on the website that I'm currently building. And I also realize that a good portion of these questions are probably unanswerable, but I figured I'd put them out their anyway. |
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| Bombateazer |
ok, i *think* i can help a little on number 4 - Finnish is a very similar language to English so "Sibylla" is probably the Finnish spelling of Sillabub. | ||||||||
| Vice |
Re: Those Random, Confusing Characters
As far as I know, it is normally sung by Sillabub. Jemima is the understudy. |
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| Carbucketty |
Re: Those Random, Confusing Characters
There are not really any understudies in the Japanese casts. They use the company method with several actors trained for a role and they will cycle through the actors at various time periods. Sometimes, for example, an actor will be in cats for a month and then go off to Phantom, Lion King, or Yume kara sameta yume for a week. Sillabub sings: 闇の中に which is in the same position as "can you see in the dark" Jemima sings: 目を閉じても 迷わないで which is in the same position as "can you find your way blind when you're lost in the street" Jemima sings "Grizabella, the Glamour Cat" with Jellylorum instead of Demeter and Bombalurina. There are no futher solo lines listed for Jemima in the libretto. Sillabub's got two solo lines in Bustopher Jones and she sings "I believe it's Old Deuteronomy" to open up that song.. She's got two solo lines in Jellicle songs and she sings two lines preceeding Memory at the end of act i. In act II, she sings in "Moments" and in the final memory. |
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| Alonza0 |
Oh. Hmmm. The website I've been using obviously is mistaken then; they told me Momrotka was from Oslo.
Think you could give me a link to the picture? Please?
Ok. Could you direct me to her e-mail address or somewhere where I could get in contact with her?
I heard about him from two sources on here: 1. The Jan. 2006 final casting. Roxanne gave the four lead swings names. The Lead Male swing was named Porpentine. 2. There was some thread about a year ago about confusion amongst characters. Not much was said about Porpentine but he was mentioned, I think by abbeycat and Nemi, though I may be mistaken. Well, thank you all for answering, and by all means, keep the answers coming if you know them. In the mean time, I shall have to add another question, which Carbucketty may be able to answer, since I believe you've got pictures of the following characters. 13. Gothenburg's Augustus, Slim, Garbos, Isis, Moses, Profetikus, Ramses, Sam, Savanna, Shakespeare and Tintomara - are they swings? Does anyone know what their personalities are like? |
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| Moongewl |
http://www.solearabiantree.net/reedinglessons/4/2006
How unpleasant to meet Mr. Eliot! With a bobtail cur In a coat of fur And a porpentine cat And a wopsical hat: How unpleasant to meet Mr. Eliot! --from "Lines for Cuscuscaraway and Mirza Murad Ali Beg" "Porpentine" means "porcupine"--I think that in the poem above, it's used in apposition, so it's saying "the porcupine-cat." Roxanne may have made a mistake, or this may be one of those names that was floating around at some point because of regional productions adding characters, but I don't think there's ever been a character named Porpentine in a professional production. |
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| Mixu |
A little bit off topic, but still. I looked up a little (checked the Wikipedia  ), and it seems that the woman oracles in ancient Greek and Rome we're called sibyllas. I don't know if that's an international word or not. Apparently used as a girls name in Sweden too..
If you only meant that it's probably the same character, you're probably right 
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| Vice |
As far as I know the character is Cassandra/Slim. |
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| Alonza0 |
Yes, but that still leaves me wondering who Slim is. For example, they also have Quaxo/Macavity, and that's two seperate characters. So who's Slim then?
Hmm... interesting point. I wonder if that had anything to do with her name. Good find. |
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| Carbucketty |
oops. Wrote this 4 hours ago and I forgot to his post.
It's a dual role. Cassandra and Slim Slagsmålskatt aka Rumpus Cat. The others, I don't have anything but photos of... Garbo is also slated to appear in the Malmö show. (She's the only new cat on that list.) |