Cats is a pop-cultural phenomenon that has been performed on stage for more than 50 million patrons in 26 countries for almost 18 years, resulting in more than two billion dollars in ticket sales. Now that Cats has finally made it to the small screen, attention must be paid not just by fans of this critic-proof show, but also by those entertainment mavens who have somehow avoided it until now.
All the characters are anthropomorphic cats. One of them, Grizabella, is frequently very sad throughout the story, as she is an old, disabled cat with chronic pain who the other cats don’t like for some reason. She is the frequent subject of gossip that implies she was once a prostitute (or whatever the cat version of a prostitute is) and also it’s stated that a postman remarked that “she ought to be dead”. Other adult cats keep kittens away from her, and she is hissed at and swatted at.
However, there is a decently happy ending for old Griz, in that (spoiler alert) she is chosen to be reborn, and we see her walking up some stairs, smiling brightly.
Well, kinda. Most of the Jellicle cats are ferals or strays, so they aren’t anyone’s pets at the moment. They are also quite anthropomorphic, as part of the show’s schtick. Much of the story centers around the idea of cats having multiple lives, as in the “nine lives” saying. Cats attend the Jellicle Ball and try to guess who’s going to be reincarnated into a different Jellicle life (and instead of being afraid to die are excited about the prospect of what might come after). They treat this portion like humans treat an awards show.
Major spoilers, Grizabella the Glamour Cat gets chosen for the rebirth ceremony. The end of the show has her walking up some steps to go to “The Heaviside Layer” (cat heaven) to go be reborn as a kitten. She is extremely happy.
No but there are comments about rabbit meat. Quickly moved on from, but if you’re particularly sensitive to the topic I can see how it might bother you a little bit.
there are 2 mild jumpscares where the music is loud and the lights flash when they think macavity is about to arrive. They're not bad but could affect someone
Look. I love this show but it’s not for everyone. There are a lot of flashing lights. If that’s a problem for you then you should probably avoid this show.
The three fat characters that exist (Old Deuteronomy, Bustopher Jones and Jennyanydots) are all cats that are respected in amongst the Jellicle Cats. While one could interpret certain lyrics ("Bustopher Jones is not skin and bones, in fact he's remarkably... fat", or the constant references to Jennyanydot's lazy nature) as fatphobic, these traits are never treated as negative. Bustopher is respected and even viewed as attractive by many characters large in part due to his weight (as the cats live in a junkyard, and struggle to find food. So his weight is a sign of wealth), and Jennyanydots is seen as a hard worker once her family goes to bed. Old Deuteronomy is also respected greatly as their leader.
During her song Jenny removes her large coat and is seen as "skinny". Another comment says she is "becoming skinny" as is seen as such for the rest of the show, but this is not Jennyanydots and is instead the ensemble counterpart, and is a different character.
I would say that there is but it’s shown to be wrong. Grizabella walks with a limp and can no longer dance the way she could when she was younger, and the way other cats treat her through most of the show is not nice. One cat remarks on a postal worker thinking Grizabella “ought to be dead”, and nobody comes to her aid when she gets a backache trying to shimmy around.
no, but the show does have sexual elements to it, and the cast are depicting cats. there is absolutely no depictions of outright sex or b********y though
Cats is a VERY touchy musical and can absolutely be viewed as sexual. There is a dance scene that is meant to depict an orgy (but it's not explicit in any way, and never references itself as such. it's just SUPER touchy), and Rum Tum Tugger is constantly hip thrusting in peoples faces.