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Skimbleshanks
Skimbleshanks is a character in T. S. Eliot's 1939 book of poetry ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' and in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical ''Cats'', which is based on Eliot's book. The character is portrayed as a bright and energetic orange tabby cat who lives and works on the mail trains. The role of Skimbleshanks was originated in the West End by Kenn Wells in 1981, and on Broadway by Reed Jones in 1982. He was portrayed by Geoffery Garrat and voiced by David Arneil in the 1998 film adaptation, and Steven McRae in the 2019 film adaptation. Origins The T. S Eliot poem begins as a parody of Rudyard Kipling's poem "l'Envoi" (also known as "The Long Trail") from ''Barrack-Room Ballads and Other Verses''. Compare the first few lines of Kipling's with Eliot's Skimbleshanks is described as living on the Night Mail overnight express train that travels on the British West Coast Main Line (WCML) between London Euston and Glasgow Central. He is however not exclusiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cats (musical)
''Cats'' is a sung-through musical theater, musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is based on the 1939 poetry collection ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' by T. S. Eliot. The musical tells the story of a tribe of cats called the Jellicle cats, Jellicles and the night they make the "Jellicle choice" by deciding which cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life. As of 2024, ''Cats'' remains the List of the longest-running Broadway shows, fifth-longest-running Broadway show and the List of the longest-running West End shows, eighth-longest-running West End show. Lloyd Webber began setting Eliot's poems to music in 1977, and the compositions were first presented as a song cycle in 1980. Producer Cameron Mackintosh then recruited director Trevor Nunn and choreographer Gillian Lynne to turn the songs into a complete musical. ''Cats'' opened to positive reviews at the New London Theatre in the West End theatre, West End in 1981 and then to mixed revi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cats (2019 Film)
''Cats'' is a 2019 musical fantasy film based on the 1981 West End musical ''Cats'' by Andrew Lloyd Webber, which in turn was based on the 1939 poetry collection ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' by T. S. Eliot which the film is also based on/inspired by. The film was directed by Tom Hooper, in his second feature musical following ''Les Misérables'' (2012), from a screenplay by Lee Hall and Hooper. It stars James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson and Francesca Hayward. The film marked the feature film debut for both Derulo and Hayward. Filming took place from December 2018 to April 2019. It was theatrically released in the United Kingdom and the United States on 20 December 2019 by Universal Pictures. ''Cats'' grossed $75.5 million worldwide against a production budget of $80–100 million, resulting in an estimated loss of $71 million after ancillary costs, and was considered a box office disappo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cats (1998 Film)
''Cats'' is a 1998 British direct-to-video musical film based on the 1981 stage musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, itself based on '' Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' (1939) by T. S. Eliot. Lloyd Webber oversaw orchestration and called on Gillian Lynne, the show's original choreographer, to train the cast members. David Mallet served as the director of this production. The film is a recreation of the stage musical, but with new staging and significant edits made to reduce the runtime for television broadcast. It was filmed at the Adelphi Theatre in London in 1997, with the cast selected from various past and (then) present international productions of ''Cats''. Initially released to VHS and subsequently DVD and Blu-ray, the film has since been shown on television channels including PBS, BBC and Ovation TV. Synopsis After the overture, the Cats gather on stage and describe the Jellicle tribe and its purpose ("Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats"). The cats (who break ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reed Jones
Reed Jones (June 30, 1953 – June 19, 1989) was a dancer and choreographer whose credits included Skimbleshanks in the original cast of ''Cats'' and Big Deal in the Jerome Robbins revival of ''West Side Story''. Early life Jones was born in Portland, Oregon. Performances Originally cast as an understudy, Jones originated the role of Skimbleshanks, the Railway Cat in the original Broadway company of ''Cats''. He replaced originally cast member Willie Rosario in the pre-opening rehearsal period, after Rosario suffered a prolonged knee injury. Other Broadway credits included ''Peter Pan'' (1979 revival, dance captain), ''West Side Story'' (1980 revival), ''America'' (1981), ''Play Me a Country Song'' (1982, dance captain), ''A Chorus Line'' (1983), '' You Can't Take it With You'' (1983, choreographer), ''As Is'' (1985), ''The Loves of Anatol'' (1985). He also toured as a dancer with Sandy Duncan in 1979. On screen, Jones appeared in an episode of ''Live from Lincoln Center'' (197 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Possum's Book Of Practical Cats
''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' (1939) is a collection of whimsical Light poetry, light poems by T. S. Eliot about Cat, feline psychology and sociology, published by Faber and Faber. It serves as the basis for Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical ''Cats (musical), Cats''. Eliot wrote the poems in the 1930s and included them, under his assumed name "Old Possum", in letters to his godchildren. Eliot tried to persuade the poet Ralph Hodgson to illustrate the poems but failed. They were collected and published in 1939, with cover illustrations by the author, and quickly re-published in 1940, illustrated in full by Nicolas Bentley. They have also been published in versions illustrated by Edward Gorey (1982), Axel Scheffler (2009) and Rebecca Ashdown (2014). Contents The contents of ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'', along with the names of the featured cats where appropriate, are: * "The Naming of Cats" * "The Old Gumbie Cat" (Jennyanydots) * "Growltiger's Last Stand" * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steven McRae
Steven McRae (born 19 December 1985) is an Australian ballet dancer and tap dancer. He is a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet, London.Steven McRae website of the Royal Opera House. Early life Steven McRae was raised in the Sydney suburb of Plumpton the son of a drag racer.Steven McRae: Dancing at full throttleby Mark Monahan, 26 April 2011, The Telegraph. He started dancing at age seven, after ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dumfries Railway Station
Dumfries railway station serves the town of Dumfries in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located on the Glasgow South Western Line. The station is owned by Network Rail and managed by ScotRail who provide all passenger train services. It is staffed on a part-time basis throughout the week. History Opened by the Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway in 1848, the line serving it was extended northwards to Kilmarnock and Glasgow two years later (the GD&CR became part of the Glasgow and South Western Railway at the same time). It subsequently became the junction for branches to Castle Douglas and Stranraer (opened between 1859 and 1861), (opened in 1863 and taken over in 1865 by the Caledonian Railway) and latterly to Moniaive ( Cairn Valley Railway, opened in 1905). All of these later lines have now closed (the ''Port Road'' to Stranraer being the last to go in June 1965), leaving only the original G&SWR main line open to serve the town. The Beeching Axe cutting t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Broadway Theatre
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, American and British English spelling differences), many of the List of Broadway theaters, extant or closed Broadway venues use or used the spelling ''Theatre'' as the proper noun in their names. Many performers and trade groups for live dramatic presentations also use the spelling ''theatre''. or Broadway, is a theatre genre that consists of the theatrical performances presented in 41 professional Theater (structure), theaters, each with 500 or more seats, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Broadway and London's West End theatre, West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world. While the Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway thoroughfare is eponymous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gallowgate Railway Station
Gallowgate railway station was a station on the City Union Line in Glasgow, Scotland. It was situated a short distance east of Glasgow Cross Glasgow Cross is at the hub of the ancient royal burgh and now city of Glasgow, Scotland, close to its first crossing over the River Clyde. It marks the notional boundary between the city centre and the East End As a major junction at the gate ... at the junction of Gallowgate and East Nile Street, today Molendinar Street. The station opened on 18 December 1870, then closed and shortly reopened in 1871. It closed permanently on 1 October 1902. Workmen’s service operated until 1926 or 1934. The bridge which carried the tracks to the station remains standing, as the line is still used by empty stock passengers trains to and from Shields Depot south of the River Clyde and occasional freight trains. References Disused railway stations in Glasgow Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1870 Railway stations in Great Britain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of dance with Glossary of ballet, its own vocabulary. Ballet has been influential globally and has defined the foundational ballet technique, techniques which are used in many other dance genres and cultures. Various schools around the world have incorporated their own cultures. As a result, ballet has evolved in distinct ways. A ''ballet'' as a unified work of art, work comprises the choreography (dance), choreography and music for a ballet production. Ballets are choreographed and performed by trained ballet dancers. Traditional classical ballets are usually performed with classical music accompaniment and use elaborate costumes and staging, whereas modern ballets are often performed in simple costumes and without elaborate sets or scenery ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenor
A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below middle C to the G above middle C (i.e. B2 to G4) in choral music, and from the second B flat below middle C to the C above middle C (B2 to C5) in operatic music, but the range can extend at either end. Subtypes of tenor include the ''leggero'' tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor, and tenor buffo or . History The name "tenor" derives from the Latin word '' tenere'', which means "to hold". As noted in the "Tenor" article at ''Grove Music Online'': In polyphony between about 1250 and 1500, the enor was thestructurally fundamental (or 'holding') voice, vocal or instrumental; by the 15th century it came to signify the male voice that sang such parts. All other voices were normally calculated in relation to the ten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
