Gus: The Theatre Cat

''This article is about the musical number Gus, the Theatre Cat. For the character, see Gus.''

"Gus: The Theatre Cat" is the second musical number in Act 2. It sees Jellylorum introduce Gus, the elderly and frail "Theatre Cat". Gus interrupts Jellylorum as she tells his story, before spinning off into a reverie, which then leads to the dream sequence "Growltiger's Last Stand".

The music itself is a minor reworking of the early Lloyd Webber pop song "I Could Have Given You More" recorded by Petula Clark.

Context
Old Gus has been sitting quietly with Jellylorum throughout "The Moments of Happiness". Jellylorum encourages Gus to speak, but when he won't, she introduces him instead. As the song progresses, Gus becomes more animated and has more to say for himself. In typical grumpy old man style, he doesn't care if he upsets the kittens or cuts across Jellylorum.

After his final refrain of "Fireforefiddle", Gus takes a bow, and is often startled, overwhelmed, and encouraged by the real audience's applause, breaking the 4th wall. This encourages him to continue his reminiscing, despite Jellylorum's subtle attempts to lead him offstage.

The poem contains a lot of references to 19th century London theatre.
 * Irving - Henry Irving, stage actor, theatre manager.
 * Tree - Herbert Beerbohm Tree, actor, theatre manager, founder of RADA.
 * Success on the Halls - Music Halls provided mixed entertainment for all classes in the Victorian era. The performance of "Growltiger's Last Stand" is styled as a Music Hall performance. The Story of the Music Hall
 * Little Nell - the main character in Charles Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop. Gus is presumably referring to playing a character in an adaption of the novel.
 * Dick Whittington - the story of Dick Whittington and His Cat is a very traditional subject for a christmas Pantomime. It is still often performed, such as at the restored Wilton's Music Hall in 2015. Modern adaptions often cast The Cat in a familiar black and white costume.
 * East Lynne - a melodrama often performed in the mid-late 19th century
 * Fiend of the Fell - a reference to a legendary creature, in the lines of the Hound of the Baskervilles legend. The Fell refers to barren, mountainous terrains, in this context probably the north of England, the Pennines and lake district.

Lyrics
Jellylorum:

Gus is the cat at the theatre door His name, as I ought to have told you before Is really Asparagus, but that's such a fuss to pronounce That we usually call him just Gus His coat's very shabby, he's thin as a rake And he suffers from palsy that makes his paw shake For he was in his youth quite the smartest of cats

But no longer a terror to mice or to rats

For he isn't the cat that he was in his prime Though his name was quite famous, he says, in his time And whenever he joins his friends at their club Which takes place at the back of the neighbouring pub He loves to regale them, if someone else pays With anecdotes drawn from his palmiest days For he once was a star of the highest degree He has acted with Irving, he's acted with Tree And he likes to relate his success on the halls Where the gallery once gave him seven cat calls But his greatest creation as he loves to tell

Was Firefrorefiddle, the fiend of the fell Gus:

I have played in my time every possible part And I used to know seventy speeches by heart I'd extemporize back chat, I knew how to gag And I knew how to let the cat out of the bag I knew how to act with my back and my tail With an hour of rehearsal, I never could fail I'd a voice that would soften the hardest of hearts

Whether I took love lead or in character parts I have sat by the bedside of poor little Nell When the curfew was rung then I swung on the bell In the pantomime season, I never fell flat And I once understudied Dick Whittington's cat But my grandest creation, as history will tell

Was Firefrorefiddle, the fiend of the fell Jellylorum:

Then, if someone will give him a toothful of gin He will tell how he once played a part in East Lynne At a Shakespeare performance he once walked on pat

When some actor suggested the need for a cat Gus:

And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained As we did in the days when Victoria reigned They never get drilled in a regular troupe

And they think, they are smart just to jump through a hoop Jellylorum:

"And he says as he scratches himself with his claws" Gus:

Well the theatre is certainly not what is was These modern productions are all very well But there's nothing to equal from what I hear tell That moment of mystery when I made history

As Firefrorefiddle, the fiend of the fell - I once crossed the stage on the telegraph wire To rescue a child when a house was on fire And I think that I still can much better than most Produce blood curdling noises to bring on the ghost And I once played Growltiger could do it again

Could do it again, could do it again