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Grizabella
Grizabella the Glamour Cat is a starring role in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats. The show's signature number, "Memory," belongs to her.
Elaine Paige originated the role in the show's West End premier in 1981 (replacing Dame Judi Dench just four days before the production's opening night), and by Betty Buckley on Broadway in 1982. Buckley won the 1983 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her portrayal. Jennifer Hudson played Grizabella in the 2019 film version.
In Act I, the Jellicle Cats are in the process of deciding who among them will ascend to the Heaviside Layer (the Jellicles' conception of heaven). Grizabella enters the scene an outsider to the tribe, old and decrepit. She is no longer the glamorous cat of her youth. Having left the Jellicle cats behind long ago, she is now alone, left with only memories of happier days. She begs for re-acceptance, but Demeter and Bombalurina, repulsed, explain to the tribe who she once was ("Grizabella the Glamour Cat"), and urge them to shun her, which they do.
At the end of Act I, Grizabella is left to watch from afar as the other cats dance at the Jellicle Ball. When she attempts to dance, too, she finds that she is now too weak to do so, a fact that she laments in both a reprise of "Grizabella" and a prelude to "Memory."
In the show's climactic scene, Grizabella sings "Memory" in full to the gathering of the Jellicle cats, pleading for understanding and acceptance. She collapses, near death, in midst of it but presses on until the end, encouraged by the kitten Jemima. Victoria then offers her a gesture of acceptance, and then the other Jellicles follow suit. They escort Grizabella before their leader, Old Deuteronomy, who in turn escorts her as she ascends as their chosen one to the Heaviside Layer.
The role of Grizabella requires a wide vocal range and the ability to belt to E♭5.
T. S. Eliot omitted Grizabella when he published Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, the musical's source; he thought that her story was "too sad for children."
The opening lyrics of the musical's number "Grizabella: The Glamour Cat" are from Eliot's "Rhapsody on a Windy Night" (with the substitution of "cat" for "woman"):
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Grizabella
Grizabella the Glamour Cat is a starring role in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats. The show's signature number, "Memory," belongs to her.
Elaine Paige originated the role in the show's West End premier in 1981 (replacing Dame Judi Dench just four days before the production's opening night), and by Betty Buckley on Broadway in 1982. Buckley won the 1983 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her portrayal. Jennifer Hudson played Grizabella in the 2019 film version.
In Act I, the Jellicle Cats are in the process of deciding who among them will ascend to the Heaviside Layer (the Jellicles' conception of heaven). Grizabella enters the scene an outsider to the tribe, old and decrepit. She is no longer the glamorous cat of her youth. Having left the Jellicle cats behind long ago, she is now alone, left with only memories of happier days. She begs for re-acceptance, but Demeter and Bombalurina, repulsed, explain to the tribe who she once was ("Grizabella the Glamour Cat"), and urge them to shun her, which they do.
At the end of Act I, Grizabella is left to watch from afar as the other cats dance at the Jellicle Ball. When she attempts to dance, too, she finds that she is now too weak to do so, a fact that she laments in both a reprise of "Grizabella" and a prelude to "Memory."
In the show's climactic scene, Grizabella sings "Memory" in full to the gathering of the Jellicle cats, pleading for understanding and acceptance. She collapses, near death, in midst of it but presses on until the end, encouraged by the kitten Jemima. Victoria then offers her a gesture of acceptance, and then the other Jellicles follow suit. They escort Grizabella before their leader, Old Deuteronomy, who in turn escorts her as she ascends as their chosen one to the Heaviside Layer.
The role of Grizabella requires a wide vocal range and the ability to belt to E♭5.
T. S. Eliot omitted Grizabella when he published Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, the musical's source; he thought that her story was "too sad for children."
The opening lyrics of the musical's number "Grizabella: The Glamour Cat" are from Eliot's "Rhapsody on a Windy Night" (with the substitution of "cat" for "woman"):