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Macavity

Macavity!

Macavity's mystery cat: He's called the Hidden Paw.
For he's a master criminal who can defy the low.
He's the bafflement of Scotland Yerd, the Flying Squad's despair.
For when they reach the scene of crime Macavity's not there!

Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity.
He's broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity.
His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare,
And when you reach the scene of crime Macavity's not there!
You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air.
But I tell you once and once again: Macavity's not there!

Macavity's a master criminal with levitational powers.
But when you reach the scene of crime, Macavity's not there!
He's always looking to cause trouble for the Jellicles, but no one knows why.

He has no lines. In fact, he only shows up a few times, only to leave agin quickly.
Before his actual sung is sung, he and four hairy henchmen catnap Old-D
(watch them get the large leader in a tiny net: It looks funny).
Then, after the song he shuffles in disguised as Old-D (this is also rather funny)
and then erupts among screams when he is uncovered. Not the nicest kitty, that one..

About his song: Going beyond any other cat, this one doesn't even
show up for his own song until it's over.
Bombalurina and Demeter sway to the jazzy number.
It seems almost burlequish, and one is left with the feeling that
if the two ladies were wearing clothes, they wouldn't be by the end of the song.
His song is extended into a fight with Munkustarp and Alonzo, which the Mystery cat wins,
and culminates with his shorting out all the lights and disappear in a bolt of electricity.

Leave it to Webber to find a bad guy in a kiddie book.
In the poem, Macavity seems more James Bondish than volcanic,
and I don't think Eliot quite had the blazing demon in mind that Webber did.
Nonenthless, it's interesting. Two rumors about this "monster of depravity"
abound the junkyard: first, that Mungo (and Teazer; if one, then other)
are underhis hire, and secondly, that he catnapped Demeter when she was just a kitten
(Not sure about this one, just heard it...).
Bombalurina seems almost infatuated with him, and Demeter is scared to death of him
(she's the one who that yells his name at every crash).
I once heard him referring as "Bic Mac", which almost made me fall off my chaur, I laughed so hard.

The Macavity role is usually taken on by the actor playing Plato (B'way, Paris, Sydney, Video).
In the London show, the actor playing Admetus used to double as Macavity.
However, now the two cats are cast as seprate roles, and Macavity is part of the curtain call.
When he is not playing the fearsome ginger cat, the actor is in the ensemble somewhere as part of the cats chorus.

The Plato/Macavity/Rumpus Cat actor sometimes understudies Alonzo, Rum tum Tugger or Munkustrap.

This is another "High-risk" role in the show, mainly due to the lifts done during the Battle scene.
If the actors aren't careful, Macavity may end up falling on his hed!

He is played by:

  • John Thornton: Original London cast, 1981.
  • Ken Ard: Original Broadway cast, 1982.
  • Bruce Macarthur: Original Sydney Cast, 1985.
  • Malco Rev: Original Paris Cast, 1989. Rev also appeared in the 1987 Amsterdam company.
  • Bryn Walters: Video, 1997-98; London.

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