I've noticed that "Gus" hasn't been getting a lot of love on this site, so I thought I'd start a thread to remedy that. So anyway, I'm admittedly not a big fan of Cats, but I've recently fallen in love with this song! I'm not sure why it's so appealing to me, but I think it's one of Webber's finest melodies and I see it as an allegory for how the true legends of theater are almost unheard of now. So, who else loves this wonderful song?

Personally, I love the Gus number in the show. It's a quiet song, a nice break from the jazzy uptempo songs in the first act. I also like Old Deuteronomy as well.

Gus is also my favorite as I love the character of Jellylorum as well. Her caretaking of Gus just warms my heart. I like to think of Jelly as one of Gus' nieces and she is taking care of her older "Uncle." Also the fact that Jelly sings about the life of Gus she must have seen him perform as a young kitten, LOL! If you like to make up stories that way.

Gus, is definitely older and frailer but he still has some spunk in him left. I also love how different actors take on the role and how they portray his character. Sometimes he's played as a rough, old geezer reminiscing about "the good old days," and at other times he's played as a much quieter, more thoughtful, lonesome character who is happy with his retirement but still feels quite proud of his accomplishments in his life.

Purrs,
VTWC

As someone who has been voted in as Gus on the CATS Forum Casting several times, I like the "Old Codger". He is at his best, in my opinion, when he is played as a somewhat comedic storyteller. He has things to tell of his "Glory Days" where he was (or was not) someone of importance, where his reminiscing saddens him, recalling of the many roles and experiences gladdens him, and the great memory of Growltiger is so vivid so as to bring it to life... I especially enjoy the role when he interacts with Jellylorum and the audience.

His character reminds me of another role in another musical - the part of "Henry" in the Fantasticks. An old actor trying to continue in his role, and fails, but does remember one important thing... "Remember Me... in Light!" Gus does not forget the importance of the Spotlight either... for he did, indeed, "made History"...

Rumblepurr
The Writer Cat.

I like to see Gus as the main candidate for the choice if Grizabella didnt steal the show from him at the last moment since he is the obvious candidate untill Memory.

I love the part, mainly cause its so many actors/actress and other stars that has experienced the same during the years, they started as young and famous and ended up as tragic reminder off they past who, as gus says, could do it again... Its said that we tend to remember thoose as they are rather than as they were.

And that he reprises in old part Growltiger, with Jellylorum as growltigers Siren, Lady Griddleborne, is also a perfect part off that character. Its the comic relief that the second act need to be more balanced.

And talking about Jellylorum, I am still not sure off what her relationship with Gus is, its clearly she has a strong connection, almost a bit off love, to the old man and she is clearly a caretaker/patron off him. I guess there isnt any retirement livings for old cats? Id like to think as her as a daughter or granddaughter to the old man.

In the universe that I created for my website/fiction, Jellylorum was the best friend of his daughter, who she was partially responsible for the disappearence of when they were young. I won't go into too much detail because I don't want to spoil it for anyone in case they want to read it later. But it basically started off as guilt and then she became more like a daughter of his herself.

I think that it seems to be better at making us feel lumps in our throat. I can't exactly say why, but there is something so sincere about this song. It just unfolds naturally as Gus speaks of his long-vanished past, and I think watching it on stage makes you believe in his character...

One thing I wondered since I saw this at age twelve...

Gus is an old, broken-down cat looking back on his days of glory, and the rest of the tribe is sympathetic to him.

Grizabella is an old, broken-down cat looking back on her days of glory...and the rest of the tribe treats her like dirt until the end!

Double standard much?

(Then again, when I first saw the show I was so young that I didn't pick up on the "fallen woman/whore" connotations of Griz's character. I just thought she was a beauty who'd gotten old and lost her looks.)

Although this posting could be looked upon as bringing up a long quiet post, I will allow it since it stays within the original thread.

@Jennifer - the difference between Gus and Grizabella is that Gus stayed with the Tribe whereas Griz left to seek her fortune elsewhere. The show's lyrics do not tell us what she did to earn the shunning that greets her every time she appears until the end. However, if one is aware of the background of Grizabella's character, we get the impression that whatever swept her off to the Big Time, she eventually fell into bad times and street-walking. TS Eliot drew "Grizabella" (an unpublished poem that did not get included in "Practical Cats") from a French poem that looked sadly upon the prostitutes of Paris. However, he was afraid the poem was not suitable for his godchildren, and he never published it.

When Gus completes Growltiger, he bows to the Genghis memory to acknowledge the honor all his years of applause and roles gave him. Jellylorum shows us that he is like a "beloved uncle" to Tribal members (even if some of them fall asleep during his soliloquy). In a way, he already has his award, and he will probably pass away in his dreams of the past. In short, he does not need the Choice.

Grizabella shows us through MEMORY that she knows what she had and what she threw away. At the end, she does not appeal to the Tribe, but mostly Old Deuteronomy. Even Sillabub/Jemima can feel the bitterness in what Grizabella lost - a series of failures and bad times that Griz went through that Gus did not. You will notice that Victoria is the one to convey Old Deuteronomy's Choice to Griz. The White Cat... A picture of innocence forgiving the wayward member... Here, honor is being returned to someone who needs it more than everyone else... I believe that this is one interpretation of this scene... and why Grizabella went the Heavyside...

Regards,
Rumblepurr
The Old Writer Cat.