Seven Cat Calls 2024
Week 6: Jellylorum
Sara Jean Ford Kayli Jamison
(CW: Talk of character death)
Sara Jean Ford!Jellylorum goes with Christopher Gurr!Gus. They can be a tough watch because they bring so much sincerity and weight to the roles in regards to Gus's story. I talked a bit about this in my Gus post too, while Gus is always an elderly character, it's very clear in how they play it that Jellicle Choice or not, Gus is in his last days (in fact I'm pretty sure Christopher Gurr has said he thinks Gus died even right after the Jellicle Ball shown in the play) and they bring so much of that emotion to the scene. Jellylorum's keeping a smile on through Gus's song but her complex emotions are still so clear and she even seems close to tears at times. I adore this way of playing this storyline and it's a top-tier example of the deeper parts of Cats (it is a fun, feel-good musical about singing and dancing cats but it also has serious themes and it's always wonderful to see such sincerity brought to these parts of the story.)
(CW: talk of divorce (no, really))
On a lighter note (for a given definition of lighter) is Kayli Jamison, who is a Jellylorum I saw personally. She was a very sweetheart Jellylorum and deserves a mention because of that and because of her part in the little drama storyline that could be picked up on between Grizabella, Skimbleshanks, and Jennyanydots. This was the cast/run I've semi-jokingly referred to as "Skimbleshanks and Jennyanydots Get a Divorce: the Musical" and Jellylorum's in that story too, as she and Skimble gravitated towards each other a lot and had some very cute moments and I ended up with the perception of Skimbleshanks having growing feelings for her as his relationship with Jennyanydots breaks down for better or worse.
