A Blog, For Blog Things

Munkustrap (Act 1, Act 2) • Tugger (Act 1, Act 2) • Mistoffelees (Act 1, Act 2) • Demeter (Act 1, Act 2) • Bombalurina (Act 1, Act 2) • Old Deuteronomy (Act 1, Act 2) • Grizabella • Macavity • Bustopher

Man I know it's supposed to be sad but dang John Mills really got me okay? ).: You can go crazy on the implications of the different poem and actor references Gus makes in his song for real! Such a lovely and interesting number. I do think the revival did right by Gus by making him part of Pekes and Pollicles but there's something about the ghost in the 1998 version that I find really compelling. Anyways, here are my observations (and extrapolating on early 20th century English cultural references) on Asparagus "Gus" The Theatre Cat!

Gus first emerges very gingerly walking on stage with help from Jellylorum and Skimbleshanks, he looks about, interested in all the activity but not participating in it. Jenny and Jelly help him sit down on a large paint can before Moments of Happiness begins.

He looks down at both Jelly and Munkustrap after they very gently nuzzle him. As Jemima sings Moonlight, Jellylorum has her paw on Gus’s leg, he turns to look at her briefly as everyone sings the Moonlight chorus together.

He stands up with everyone else at attention with Jelly’s arm on his shoulder. He meanders off away from her, not looking at anyone or anything in particular until Deuteronomy passes in fromt of him, he looks up as Deut takes his paw in his paw and turns him back towards Jellylorum.

Jellylorum takes his paw and carefully ushers him back to the paint cat he was sat down on earlier. Jelly nuzzles him again and he becomes noticeably more alert when she begins to sing about him. His full name is Asparagus, he is the Theater Cat. He’s very old, very thin, his paws shake from Palsy, and his coat has gone shabby as he is too frail to groom himself.

When he was younger, he was an intellectual and a cunning mouser, he claims to have been quite famous at the time, the cats seem to honor him but his time in the spotlight has long passed. He licks his chops a little when Jellylorum brings up “the neighboring pub”.

He nods in confirmation when Jelly sings about him having acted with Irving (probably Henry Irving) and Tree (probably Herbert Beerbohm Tree, same era as Henry Irving or one of his early 20th century descendants like his daughter Viola or grandson David).

He sort of postures bashfully a little as Jelly boasts of the time he received “seven cat calls” for humans, that is a criticism/jeering equivalent of getting booed. However either cat call means encore in a cat frame of mind or they misinterpreted human distaste for delight and encouragement.

When Jellylorum brings up Firefrorefiddle his eyes light up. He begins to sing his frail and sentimental solo. Boasting of his acting career. He says he’d “extemporize backchat” which means he would improvise (extempore) cheeky and rude remarks/jokes at individuals in authority.

He knew how to gag, as in the theatrical context of comedy like a pratfall, funny prop work or a catchphrase. While “let the cat out of the bag” is a joke on the idiom letting a secret out, but it could also mean delivering the twist/big reveal in a performance.

He picks up and waves his bushy tail when he talks about acting with his back and tail (tails are crucial to cats conveying emotion). Reminiscing about his beautiful singing voice (past tense suggesting he no longer finds his own singing beautiful). He does fun little voices for “whether I took the lead or in character parts.”

He describes sitting by “the bedside of poor little Nell” which is most likely a reference to the Louisa May Alcott poem “Little Nell” which is a very sad poem involving child death, change, grief, joy and memory.

He says when the curfew was wrung that he swung on the bell. There are a number of poems and stories from a similar era featuring the swinging of a curfew bell like “Curfew” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow & “Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight” by Rose Hartwick Thorpe. Both of which have themes of time, fate and death.

He also claims to have understudied Dick Whittington’s Cat. Dick Whittington’s Cat being a folk story (bordering on propaganda) about Whittington being born into poverty and starting his fortune by selling his excellent mouser of a cat. This story is mentioned by Bombalurina in the opening number as she asks “Were you Whittington’s friend?”

Once again he returns to the memory of Firefrorefiddle as the ghost of Gus’s legacy enters the stage (largely a 1998 pro-shot exclusive to replace Growltiger’s Last Stand). It walks away from him and Jelly when Jellylorum begins to sing again. Boasting that Gus once performed Shakespeare in East Lynne.

Gus goes on to say that kittens are not trained as they were when he was young, which was when Queen Victoria still ruled England (1901 at the absolute latest, making Gus at least 38 if he’s telling the truth. Which is the age of the world’s oldest known domestic cat).

He believes they think too highly of themselves for just doing one trick, no regular troupe drills either. He’s amused and agitated by his own anecdote and begins scratching himself and sighs. Believing theatre not to be as good as it used to be.

His voice grows sentimental as he mentions Firefrorefiddle again. He looks away from everyone unfocused into the audience/vague direction of the camera as he remembers his prime.

The ghost of Gus’s past re-emerges again, dancing around Gus and Jellylorum. Gus can se the ghost but none of the other cats seem to be able to. He turns to face it and it bows to him, and reaches out a confident paw as his shakey paw reaches back. Then it disappears into nothingness.

Gus laments the decline of quality in theatre and begins to weep as he tries to sing the Firefrorefiddle chorus again, beginning to sob before he can finish the line. Jemima, Old Deuteronomy and Jellylorum go to him. Gus totters over to Jellylorum and takes her paw.