Search - T. S. Eliot, Trevor Nunn, Richard Stilgoe :: Cats (1982 Original Broadway Cast)

Finest of all official CATS recordings in English

Yi-Peng | Singapore | 06/09/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This recording of CATS is what I consider the finest of all the official English recordings of the score of this classic Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. Compared to its London cast predecessor, I find this recording more spirited in nature, and better able to keep in tune with its quintisential Britishness. Notwithstanding revisions and rewrites, this cast does an excellent job at this, even with American accents that do not seriously jar the ear. And the recording quality, despite having a sense of theatrical atmosphere, tends to be a little too thick-textured, and sometimes clouded.This fine performance boosts the stalwart Betty Buckley as Grizabella. Buckley is able to adopt the right kind of gorgeous voice in her portrayal of the fallen glamour cat, and she really is able to use this to great effect with her rendition of Memory. Elaine Paige may be regarded as the foremost interpreter of the role, but here Buckley is able to prove that she can hold her own against her arch-rival from the original London cast. Ken Page's portrayal of Old Deuteronomy is on the same high plain as Buckley's Grizabella, as he uses his sonorous voice to great effect in his solos. In particular, he gives a firm and commanding performance of The Ad-Dressing of Cats, and is warm, open and expansive. The rest of the cast is no less strong, especially the lower-level principals Timothy Scott, Harry Groener and Terrence Mann. Timothy Scott does a splendid job not only in his standout number but also when he sings Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer, and Terrence Mann sings his Rum Tum Tugger passages (Mistoffelees and his standout number) with gusto and panache, and a tenderness during Old Deut's Theme. Anyway, they both characterise their cat characters with as much slickness as you could hope for. But special mention should also go to Harry Groener's Munkustrap, who can hold his own with Michael Gruber due to his immediacy, warmth and engaging nature.The rest of the cast proves that it is as strong as the major cast. All the cats prove that they can shine not only individually but also as a group, except for a small number that I will not mention here. Anna McNeely's Jennyanydots, Bonnie Simmons' Jellylorum and Donna King's Bombalurina all show each cat shining vocally in this fine musical, and the choral contributions from all the cats are done with fervour and energy. But perhaps the standout cat is Stephen Hanan as Bustopher Jones and Gus: the Theatre Cat. His Bustopher Jones has an astute and truly aristocratic air about it, and his Gus and Growltiger are both superbly done. Gus has a melancholic air about him when Hanan relishes the nostalgaic past of Gus when he sings his passages. And his Growltiger is particularly fearsome and ferocious, with a laugh that could rival Satan and a powerful operatic voice in the Italian opera parody. The supporting orchestral accompaniment is nicely done too, and Stanley Lebowsky adopts near-perfect tempi that could perhaps have a little bit more spring and be a little more sprightly in some points.Like the London recording, this CATS recording omits The Pekes and the Pollicles due to the need to accomodate space on record.On the whole, I find this CATS recording an enjoyable experience and I feel more than prepared to recommend it to anyone who is just venturing out into the score. The nicely-done booklet contains a cast list, credits and an adequately-produced libretto. For those who don't want to spend too much money on this 2-CD set, there is also an abridged version available. But, I would say that because the music is so infectuous, this 2-CD set is rather compulsive."

This is how you address a cat.

Matthew Murray | New York City, NY USA | 07/28/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Few musicals divide audiences as much as this one, but I think this is a great CD. Though it isn't complete--one full song, and some significant portions of dance music aren't included--it is a marvelous representation of the show. The music feels perfectly matched with T.S. Eliot's poems, and allows their childlike lightheartedness and fun to shine through. Betty Buckley's rendition of the show's most famous song, "Memory," is still unmatched in my opinion. The cast is wonderful straight across the board, but with Betty Buckley giving the show's most famous song, "Memory" what remains its best performance ever, how can you not have Cats in your cast recording library?"

Only for CATS fans

Joan | Malaysia | 10/07/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For all CATS fans, it's a CD worth buying. For those who can't appreciate the work put into the musical and can't let loose and enjoy, too bad you can't enjoy the CD as much as CATS fans do. You don't have to understand music, you just need to enjoy the tune. There's a lot of "meaningless" songs out there, but I think over the years, the song from CATS had changed making each version sound more unique even though it's the same song. A bit of warning: the songs in the CD is nothing like the songs on the video. They're much faster and the Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer track has an entirely different tune. The Pekes and the Pollicle soundtrack isn't in the CD either which is a shame cos I loved that song. Overall, if you're a CATS fan, you'll love it. If you're not, then why are you here in the first place? If you haven't seen CATS at all, visit CATS fans websites to get an overview of what its about otherwise you might not enjoy it."