Jellylorum

Jellylorum is one of the characters from the musical "Cats". She is generally a mature female role, principally a vocalist.

The Lilliecat

One of the cats named in "The Naming of Cats," Jellylorum is also the subject of a poem written by T. S. Eliot. In a letter to his godson, Tom Faber, on January 20, 1930, Elliot wrote:

"I am glad you have a cat but I do not believe it is so remarkable a cat as My cat... There never was such a Lilliecat.

ITS NAME IS

:JELLYLORUM

and its one idea is to be

:USEFUL

FOR Instance

:ITS STRAIGHTENS THE PICTURES -

:IT DOES THE GRATES -

:LOOKS INTO THE LARDER TO SEE WHAT'S NEEDED -

:AND INTO THE DUSTBIN TO SEE THAT NOTHING'S WASTED -

AND YET:IT IS SO LILLIE AND SMALL::THATIT CAN SIT ON MY EAR! [ Citation
last1=Eliot
first1=T. S.
last2=Napier
first2=J.
title=CATS: The Book of the Musical
publisher=Harcourt Brace & Company
place=New York, New York
year=1983.]

Character

On stage Jellylorum is generally portrayed as a calico or tabby, with yellow being her dominant color in most productions.

Her age varies from production to production. Many productions have Jellylorum near the age of Bombalurina and Demeter, but others portray her a little older. In the video version of "Cats", Susan Jane Tanner plays the role as she did in the original production, which made the character of Jellylorum closer in age to Jennyanydots. Since Tanner was reprising the role seventeen years after she originated it, she was roughly ten years older than the average actress portraying the character.

Part of the perception of Jellylorum as an older cat comes from her maternal attitude towards the kittens. She is one of the adults who gets between kittens and Grizabella to "protect" them from her and reminds the kittens that "Jellicles dry between their toes." Jellylorum is also one of the few queens who does not swoon for Rum Tum Tugger.

Jellylorum is one of the few characters in "Cats" to have a firmly established relationship with another character. In the second act, Jellylorum sings the female part of "Gus: the Theatre Cat" in a duet with Old Gus. The exact nature of their relationship is never definitively stated, but there is always a great deal of affection between the two. She is often shown as being close friends with Jennyanydots and Skimbleshanks.

The Musical

In "Cats" Jellylorum has four main parts:

* In "The Old Gumbie Cat" Jellylorum is part of the female chorus often called the "Gumbie Trio."

* In "Bustopher Jones: the Cat About Town" Jellylorum is one of three female soloists.

* In "Gus: the Theatre Cat" Jellylorum sings a duet with Gus.

* In "Growltiger's Last Stand" Jellylorum performs the part of Griddlebone in most productions.

The role of Jellylorum is played by a soprano who is able to hit High C. Dance ability is secondary to vocal ability in many larger productions where there are more characters to fill out dance numbers due to the vocal ability needed for Griddlebone's part in "Growltiger's Last Stand."Citation
title =Catsmusical.com
url = http://www.catsmusical.com
accessdate = 2002-02-25 ]

Cast

*London original cast: Susan Jane Tanner
*Vienna original cast: Monica Solem
*Broadway original cast: Bonnie Simmons
*Tokyo original cast: Tomohisa Hosaka
*Oslo original cast: Iselin Alme
*Toronto original cast: Thea MacNeil
*Bueños Aires original cast: Conie Marins
*Mexico City original cast: Susana Zabaleta
*Paris original cast: Pascale Degli-Esposti
*Hamburg original cast: Nancy Nordine
*Helsinki original cast: Riitta Havukainen/Mari Rantasila
*West Coast tour (US): Rebecca Raider

Names

In some non-English language productions Jellylorum goes by other names.

*Bueños Aires: Agilorum
*Helsinki: Jellimaari
*Olso: Jadakatt
*Netherlands and Belgium: Antimakassa

Notes