Jellicle cats

Jellicle cats, or simply the Jellicles, are a type of feline mentioned in T. S. Eliot's book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, and in Cats, a stage musical written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and based on the book.

Introduced in Eliot's poem The Song of the Jellicles, they were originally depicted as commonly nocturnal black-and-white cats. Specifically, Eliot mentions that they like to gather at an event called the "Jellicle Ball".

In the musical, a sub-plot surrounds the disappearance of the Jellicle patriarch Old Deuteronomy. The names are taken from Eliot's poem The Naming of Cats and used for many of the ensemble characters in the musical. In contrast with the poem, Lloyd Webber's Jellicles possess many kinds of coat-patterns, diverse personalities and individual talents. Also detailed on this page are Chorus characters from the musical Cats whose names are from other works by T. S. Eliot, or not directly derived from the poems.

The name jellicle comes from a previously unpublished poem by Eliot entitled "Pollicle Dogs and Jellicle Cats", where jellicle cats is a corruption of dear little cats and pollicle dogs of poor little dogs.

The ensemble characters in Cats are fluid, non-specific roles. None are named in performance specifically, although the performer may choose to react to their name if mentioned in reciting "The Naming of Cats". The original London production in 1981 chose to not name the ensemble kittens, however these roles soon developed into distinct characters with their own personality and costume design. The Broadway production in 1982 made many different choices with assigning names to roles. This has led to several roles which are essentially the same Cat being given different names, subtly different costume designs and character traits. Most productions will therefore include one or the other option, but larger productions have expanded their cast by including all the variations. Smaller productions often omit some of these ensemble roles.

"Admetus" is used primarily in the London production, replaced by "Plato" in Broadway and subsequent productions. His costume is ginger and white, and specifically includes a simple make-up design that the actor transforms into the elaborate Macavity makeup, and then re-applies after the featured scene. He is also often recognisable as being one of the tallest cast members, as the fight scene between Macavity and Munkustrap requires him to be able to lift other male dancers.

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