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Jellylorum

Jellylorum is-similar to the gumbie cat-a kind of
"mother hen" to the young cats in the tribe.

Jellylorum is motherly, overly so, prim and proper (she's friends with Jenny, watch during the Tugger's song).
I believe that Gus is her father: she seems to be prouder of the fact
that she can now take care him than the fact of his stardom.
Have I mentioned how much I hate her attitude torward him?
It's as if she worked in a nursing home:
"Have I ever told you of Firefrorefiddle?" "Yes, Mr.Asparagus, hundreds of times." Yuck.
The ederly deserve to be treated with respect.

Jellylorum is a major player in Jennyanydots and Bustopher's tune,
being a member of the girlie trio.
In the beginning, she sings, "When you fall on your head, do you land your feet?",
accompanied by a slight hip wiggle.
In the Jellicle Ball, her severe, "Jellicles dry between their toes"
is not to be missed. I mean, she sounds SO much like a schoolteacher.
She also struggles to keep the kittens away from Grizabella, and takes the time to reprise Grizabella the Glamour Cat. She sings before Memory, "You see the border of her coat is torn and stained with sand." She narrates Gus the Theatre Cat, singing in a condescending tone as if Gus wasn't really there,
or better yet as if he was piece on display that couldn't hear her.
She vaguely disbelieves the full extent of his stardom, and keeps referring to the fact that he ONCE was a star.
She's lovely in the part, but I really hate the part.
In most productions of the show, Jellylorum doubles as Griddlebone.
Jellylorum is one of the roles cast for "singers who move well" in CATS.
The New York audition notices state that actresses must be able to hit a high C in soprano range.

She is played by:

  • Susan Jane Tanner: Original London Cast,1981; Video, 1997-98.
    Ms.Tanner was one of the original cast members invited back to film the Cats Video.
  • Bonnie Simmons: Original Broadway Cast, 1982.
  • Susan Powers: Original Broadway Cast, 1992. Powers, who was officially in the Cats Chorus,
    understudient and performed Jellylorum/Griddlebone and Jellyanydots.
    She did a phenomenal job when she went on! Powers stayed with th e show even longer than Simmons--she
    was there from the beginning right up through 1997, when she left to pursue a career in Human Resources.
  • Idiko Kishonti: Original Budapest Cast, c. 1983-84.
  • Marina Prior: Original Sydney Cast, 1985.
  • Pascale Degli-Esposti: Original Paris Cast, 1989.
  • Catrin Darnell: London Cast, c.1998.

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