Grizabella the Glamour Cat (song)

"Grizabella the Glamour Cat" is a musical number that introduces Grizabella and demonstrates how she is not welcomed by the Jellicle tribe.

Context
As the cats are revelling in a reprise of "The Rum Tum Tugger", Grizabella appears onstage for the first time. Immediately the mood turns hostile - she is not welcomed by the tribe. Undaunted, Grizabella holds her head high and addresses them.

The younger kittens do not understand, but the adults make it clear that she is not to be touched or accepted. To explain, Demeter and Bombalurina relate Grizabella's story.

History
The main bulk of the song is taken from an unpublished T S Eliot poem of the same name. Eliot did not include the poem in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (1939) because he considered it too sad for children. However his widow, Valerie, showed it to the Cats creative team in 1980. The discovery of this poem, and thus the character of Grizabella, inspired the key narrative framework of the musical, that of Grizabella's acceptance and redemption.

The poem is open to interpretation, one theory involving allusions to World War II in mentioning "The Rising Sun", "No Man's Land", and "The Friend At Hand". However the more literal interpretation is that these are references to pub names, often used as geographic markers in London. Tottenham Court Road is well known as a location, "The Rising Sun" and "The Friend At Hand" both being pubs in the area.

The opening four lines, which are sung by Grizabella herself, are lifted from another Eliot poem "Rhapsody on a Windy Night" from Prufrock and Other Observations (1917), and concerns a prostitute walking the streets in the early hours of the morning.

Originally in the 1981 London production, Demeter's verse accompanied Grizabella's second entrance after the "Jellicle Ball", and led straight into "Memory (Act 1)". When the show transferred to Broadway in 1982, Demeter's verse was moved up to its current spot at Grizabella's first entrance. In return, a reprise of "Grizabella the Glamour Cat" was added to the start of "Memory (Act 1)".

Music
As Grizabella enters for the first time, we are introduced to her cello ground bass motif, setting the dark and gloomy mood that surrounds her. An English horn soon joins in with a forlorn tune, a very loose interpretation of the melody of "Memory", and finally Grizabella herself joins in, singing about herself in the third person. The ground bass line dissolves as Grizabella is overcome with intensity and the music turns harsh. This introduction is set to a 4/4 meter and composed in the key of A minor. Grizabella's vocals span from A3 to C5.



Grizabella's opening gives way to a poignant yet sultry bluesy segment sung mainly by Demeter. This part is set to a tempo of 68 beats per minute, with the 4/4 meter occasionally flitting to 6/4. Demeter's vocals span from G3 to C5.

Lyrics
 Grizabella: Remark the cat who hesitates toward you In the light of the door which opens on her like a grin. You see the border of her coat is torn and stained with sand, And you see the corner of her eye twist like a crooked pin.

Demeter: She haunted many a low resort Near the grimy road of Tottenham Court; She flitted about the No Man's Land From The Rising Sun to The Friend at Hand. And the postman sighed, as he scratched his head: "You'd really have thought she ought to be dead And who would ever suppose that THAT Was Grizabella, the Glamour Cat!"

Bombalurina: Grizabella, the Glamour Cat! Grizabella, the Glamour Cat! Who'd have ever supposed that THAT Was Grizabella, the Glamour Cat!

International Versions

 * Chinese
 * Czech
 * Dutch
 * French
 * German
 * Japanese
 * Norwegian
 * Russian
 * Spanish

Audio

 * "Grizabella the Glamour Cat" from the 1981 London cast recording


 * "Grizabella the Glamour Cat" from the 1983 Broadway cast recording