Gus: The Theatre Cat

"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".

Context
Old Gus has been sitting quietly with Jellylorum throughout "The Moments of Happiness". A seat is brought centre stage for him, though he is initially reluctant to take it. Jellylorum then encourages Gus to speak but when he refuses, she goes ahead and 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 cuts off Jellylorum or upsets the kittens with his careless remarks.

After his final refrain of "Fireforefiddle", Gus takes a bow and is often startled and overwhelmed by the audience's applause. This encourages him to continue his reminiscing, despite Jellylorum's attempts to lead him offstage. This is usually played up for comedic effect, with false stops in which Gus is led away as the other cats prepare for the next number, only for him to return to centre stage as he recalls yet another role that he played.

The scene eventually fades away to Gus' echoes that he could play Growltiger again, transitioning seamlessly to his Growltiger reverie.

History
The music for this number is a minor reworking of the early Andrew Lloyd Webber pop song "I Could Have Given You More", recorded by Petula Clark.

The lyrics are taken from the T S Eliot poem of the same name from Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (1939). The poem contains a lot of references to 19th century London theatre.
 * Irving - Henry Irving, renown stage actor and theatre manager.
 * Tree - Herbert Beerbohm Tree, renown actor, theatre manager, and 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.
 * Little Nell - the main character in Charles Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop. Gus is presumably referring to playing a character in a stage adaptation of the novel.
 * Dick Whittington - the story of Dick Whittington and His Cat is a very traditional subject for a christmas Pantomime. Modern adaptations often cast The Cat in a familiar black and white costume.
 * East Lynne - a melodrama popular 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.

Music
"Gus: The Theatre Cat" is a pastiche of old-fashioned music hall numbers, reflecting Gus' nostalgia for a heyday gone by. The melody is simple and gentle, composed in the key of D major and set to a 3/8 meter, with a tempo of 104 beats per minute. Jellylorum's vocals span from G#3 to E5, and Gus' from A3 to D5.



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

International Versions

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

Audio

 * "Gus: The Theatre Cat" from the 1981 London cast recording


 * "Gus: The Theatre Cat" from the 1983 Broadway cast recording


 * "Gus: The Theatre Cat" from the 2019 movie soundtrack