Macavity

Macavity is the main antagonist of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats.

Personality
"Hypnotic, Jealous, Dangerous"

- Three Words

Macavity is a malevolent criminal mastermind with a blatant disregard for the law or any Jellicle cat.

He has a past relationship with Demeter, which has resulted in her paranoia about him. Gillian Lynne described their relationship through her choreography as "wonderful when he made love to me, but I hated him" and "your hands to feel your own body, as he once did." She also described both Demeter and Bombalurina as having "known him intimately."

Macavity has supposedly "broken every human law" and is a notorious escape artist who always manages to elude the police. He possesses magical powers, including the ability to appear and disappear such that he is never seen at the scene of the crime. In the musical, this teleporting effect is achieved through the use of decoys spaced throughout the theatre. He is also a skilled fighter and appears to have a psychic ability that allows him to hypnotise/control the Jellicles to some extent. Demeter also mentions that he has "powers of levitation", though this ability is never shown.

Macavity is based on James Moriarty from Arthur Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes", in both the physical description and being named "the Napoleon of crime".

Role
"Tall, very strong dancer with classical ballet training, ensemble Baritone (Plato / Macavity should be able to do lifts)"

- Casting Calls We first hear about Macavity from Demeter, as every time she is startled she fears it is his approach. After several false alarms, Macavity finally appears. He captures Old Deuteronomy (who is later brought back by Mistoffelees.) He fights with Munkustrap, Alonzo and the other cats as he tries to steal Demeter from them. Bombalurina and Demeter sing about him in Macavity the Mystery Cat (Song).

Macavity is usually played by Admetus or Plato, although in the Japanese Production he is played by a nameless ensemble character.

Appearance
Macavity is described as a ginger tabby. His costume is usually brilliant white, black and red, which combined with the stage lighting makes him a very threatening presence. He is usually dirty or unkempt, with wild, knotted hair created by the costume being covered in fibres rather than brush stroke painting and soft fluffies.

In the Japanese production, he has a cape and top hat, and is red, white and black. His black markings give him the appearance of having a tuxedo vest.

In 2014, John Napier amended his original design for the London Palladium revival, simply removing the white bib and flashes from the costume. This resulted in a much darker and less cohesive costume under the dramatic lighting used for the fight scene.

The 2016 Broadway Revival of Cats gave Macavity an entirely new design, primarily black and resembling the classic Rumpus Cat design (not used in this production) but with a gingery wig and tufts of fur scattered across his body. This design is also used in the Broadway Revival First National Tour.

Fandom
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