Growltiger

Growltiger is a semi-main character in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats. He first appears in the poem Growltiger's Last Stand.

Appearance
He is portrayed as a shabby tabby with pirate-like attire. He is short an eye and had a "somewhat missing" ear.

Personality
Growltiger was a "bravo cat who lived upon a barge", one who scoured the Thames from Gravesend to Oxford, terrorizing the inhabitants along the river, including "cottagers", canaries, geese, hens, "pampered Pekinese", and the "bristly Bandicoot that lurks on foreign ships". Growltiger is usually envisioned as a pirate, although he is never explicitly described as such.

Role
His character is only featured in the song "Growltiger's Last Stand". "Growltiger's Last Stand" describes how he meets his fate when he least expects it.

Song
"Growltiger's Last Stand" is a poem from T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, as well as a song from the musical derived from that book.



Besides the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical setting in Cats the English composer Humphrey Searle composed a musical setting of "Growltiger's Last Stand" as the second of his Two Practical Cats for speaker, flute, cello and guitar.