Rum Tum Tugger/Street Cat

For the original rockstar character, see Rum Tum Tugger.

Rum Tum Tugger(Street Cat)
Character
Alternate Versions	Rum Tum Tugger (Rockstar)
Markings	Tiger stripes
Gender	Male
Age	Adult
Three Words	Perverse, Preening, Independent
Role	Singer, Rapper, Breakdancer

The Street Cat version of Rum Tum Tugger is the hip-hop alternate to the more common rockstar version of the character. This take on Tugger was used in several productions between 2014 and 2016, but has since been phased out in favour of the original.

Personality

“	Perverse, Preening, Independent	”
	— Three Words

The "Street Cat" Rum Tum Tugger is a rebellious young cat who clowns around for attention. He enjoys being in the spotlight and has a small fan following of younger kittens and a few queens. His antics do not impress the more mature cats such as Munkustrap, and they are fed up with him and his disobliging ways. He appears to look up to Mungojerrie as a role model. Although Mistoffelees does not seem to care for his antics initially, they appear to be close and Tugger calls Mistoffelees his "bestie". He sometimes nicknames the other cats, calling Old Deuteronomy "Old Deut" and Mistoffelees the "magi-coolest cat".

Appearance

The Rum Tum Tugger is a tiger striped cat. He wears his wig in braids, a backwards black snapback hat, a printed vest top, gold/silver chain necklaces, and black and yellow leopard spotted drop pants over a tiger print unitard. He wears fingerless gloves and black or gold running shoes. The original design called for him to have a single silver glove and white shoes, however these details were toned down in the final costume. He did, however, gain underwear visible above his pants at the waist with the lettering "Jelli coolest cat" on the elastic.

Updated Tugger design

Jack Butterworth, Blackpool 2015

Gallery

Antoine Murray-Straughan as Tugger, 2014 London Palladium Cast

Jack Butterworth as Tugger, 2015 Blackpool Cast

Marcquelle Ward as Tugger, 2015 Palladium

Golan Yosef, Paris 2015

Daniel Assetta, Australia 2015

Role

Casting Calls

Paris 2015	Rum Tum Tugger (Male) Rum Tum Tugger is the 'rock-star' cat, with a wild comedic sexuality. Must be a charismatic performer with a fantastic rock/ pop tenor voice with very strong falsetto, great presence and good dance skills. Playing age 25 – 35. Ideally over 5'10" tall.
Broadway 2016	Rum Tum Tugger Male, ages 18-35, All Ethnicities A charismatic and anarchic character, notoriously hard to please and sets himself apart from others by trying to be different; always does the opposite of what is expected of him. Rum Tum Tugger is deviously self-centered and relishes in being so; must have strong dance; funk and street styles a plus; principal.

While the Paris production in 2015 still called for a "Rock-star" cat, the production planned to mirror the London revival and use the "Street cat" version. Conversely, the Broadway revival in 2016 specifically searched for "funk and street styles a plus" in their casting, yet the production opened with the restored "Rock Star" character.

For the 2014 London Palladium production, Andrew Lloyd Webber announced that he found the original Rum Tum Tugger "rather boring" and would update the character to a "street cat", giving him a rap song and featured hip hop choreography. Tugger's eponymous rock song was thus rewritten, with the new hip hop number using rephrased elements of the original poem combined with rap verses created by Antoine Murray-Straughan.

These alterations did not affect Tugger's role otherwise and he still sang the same vocal parts as the original: "The Rum Tum Tugger" (rap version) and "Magical Mister Mistoffelees"; as well as a duet with Munkustrap in "Old Deuteronomy". It did however have distinct changes on the dynamics within the show. As a younger cat, Street Cat Tugger appears to rank below Mistoffelees and Mungojerrie in the tribe's hierarchy, and the other kittens enjoyed his mischief-making. He spent much of the show removed from the ensemble and aloof, building fewer interactions between other characters, though he had a lot of interactions with the audience.

Between 2014 and 2016, he was included in each new production of Cats, notably both Palladium runs and its Blackpool appearance, the Paris revival, the Australia/New Zealand tour and the 2016 UK/Europe Tour. "Street Tugger" began to be phased out in 2016, starting with the Broadway revival which reintroduced the original Tugger. The ongoing UK/Europe tour reverted to the Rockstar character, along with other changes from the Broadway revival, in 2017. There are currently no productions running that use Street Cat Tugger.

Controversy

Tugger's update was met with criticism from both critics and theatre fans condemning the re-working of the character into a dated and offensive cliché. The character was eventually phased out from 2016 onwards, with the Broadway revival and all major productions following it using the original Rockstar Tugger rather than the Street Cat version.

Cast

Performers who have played Street Cat Tugger.

Fandom

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