Which Cat Am I? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jennyanydots

Jennyanydots is the first contestant we meet, appearing in "Old Gumbie Cat".

"But . . .
When the day's hustle and bustle is done
Then the Gumbie Cat's work is but hardly begun
And when all the family's in bed and asleep
She tucks up her skirts to the basement to creep
She is deeply concerned with the ways of the mice
Their behaviour's not good and their manners not nice
So when she has got them lined up on the matting
She teaches them music, crocheting and tatting"

Answer: Bustopher Jones

"Bustopher Jones : The Man About Town" is the fourth 'competion' song.

"Bustopher Jones is not skin and bones
In fact, he's remarkably fat
He doesn't haunt pubs - he has eight or nine clubs
For he's the St. James's Street Cat!

He's the cat we all greet as he walks down the street
In his coat of fastidious black
No commonplace mousers have such well-cut trousers
Or such an impeccable back"

Answer: Skimbleshanks

We don't meet Skimbleshanks until Act Two where he competes second with "Skimbleshanks : The Railway Cat".

"Then he gave one flash of his glass-green eyes
And the signal went "All Clear!"
They'd be off at last to the northern part of the Northern Hemisphere!

Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat
The Cat of the Railway Train
You might say that by and large it was me who was in charge
Of the Sleeping Car Express
From the driver and the guards to the bagmen playing cards
I would supervise them all more or less"

Answer: Rum Tum Tugger

ALW created the part of Rum Tum Tugger as a tribute to Mick Jagger.

He is the second competitor with his self titled song "Rum Tum Tugger".

"The Rum Tum Tugger is a curious cat
And there isn't any call for me to shout it
For he will do as he do do
And there's no doing anything about it!

The Rum Tum Tugger is a terrible bore
When you let me in, then I want to go out
I'm always on the wrong side of every door
And as soon as I'm at home, then I'd like to get about
I like to lie in the bureau drawer
But I make such a fuss if I can't get out"

Answer: Rumpleteazer

"Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer" sing their duo after Bustopher making them the fifth and sixth cats.

Eliot's poem, and thus the song, implies that both of these characters are male - "they were plausible fellows, and liked to engage a friendly policeman in conversation" but Rumpleteazer is usually portrayed as a female.

"If the area window is found ajar
And the basement looks like a field of war
If a tile or two comes loose on the roof
(Which presently fails to be waterproof)
If the drawers are pulled out from the bedroom chest
And you can't find one of your winter vests
If after supper one of the girls
Suddenly misses her Woolworth pearls
The family will say, "It's that horrible cat!
It was Mungojerrie or Rumpelteazer!"
And most of the time they leave it at that"

Answer: Deuteronomy

"Old Deuteronomy" introduces us to our eighth cat but he is the judge not a competitor.

He is the leader of the Jellicle Cats and is the one who must make the choice on which one of the cats can ascend to the Heaviside layer and be reborn.

"Old Deuteronomy's lived a long time
He's a cat who has lived many lives in succession
He was famous in proverb and famous in rhyme
A long while before Queen Victoria's accession

Old Deuteronomy's buried nine wives
And more - I am tempted to say ninety-nine
And his numerous progeny prospers and thrives
And the village is proud of him in his decline"

Answer: Mr Mistoffelees

"Mr Mistoffelees" is our fourth competitor from Act Two.

Though the lyrics definitely state him as being totally black this would have presented lighting problems on stage so the white has been added to his costume.

His character is unusual in that some productions have him singing a lot and others nearly nothing. This is because the choreography for his part is so difficult that the ability to dance, rather than sing, is of higher value.

"Oh! Well I never! Was there ever
A cat so clever as magical Mr. Mistoffelees!

He is quiet and small
He is black
From the ears to the tip of his tail
He can creep through the tiniest crack
He can walk on the narrowest rail"

Answer: Gus

Gus, or Asparagus to give him his full name, is the first competitor in Act Two.

He has two songs : "Gus : The Theatre Cat", his introduction by Jellylorum, and "Growltiger's Last Stand", his memoir of one of his favorite parts.

"His coat's very shabby
He's thin as a rake
And he suffers from palsy that makes his paw shake
Yet he was in his youth quite the smartest of cats
But no longer a terror to mice or to rats
For he isn't the cat that he was in his prime
Though his name was quite famous, he says, in his time
And whenever he joins his friends at their club
(Which takes place at the back of the neighbouring pub)
He loves to regale them if someone else pays
With anecdotes drawn from his palmiest days"

Answer: Macavity

We meet the villain of the piece third in the Second Act - "Macavity : The Mystery Cat"

Macavity is a master criminal - responsible for many crimes without ever being caught. In the musical he kidnaps Old Deuteronomy.

"Macavity's a ginger cat
He's very tall and thin
You would know him if you saw him for his eyes are sunken in
His brow is deeply lined in thought
His head is highly domed
His coat is dusty from neglect
His whiskers are uncombed
He sways his head from side to side
With movements like a snake
And when you think he's half asleep
He's always wide awake!"

Answer: Grizabella

We actually meet Grizabella third in "Grizabella: The Glamour Cat" and then again at the end of Act One when she crashes the Jellicle Ball because she thinks she deserves the chance to compete. Her famous competition piece is the last to be heard.

Though Grizabella is a major character in the musical she is not from Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" like the rest of the cats.

Her emotional appeal in "Memory" is heard by Deuteronomy and he chooses her to be reborn.

"Memory
All alone in the moonlight
I can smile at the old days
I was beautiful then
I remember the time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again"