Hi there! I'm Mew, and welcome to this little lyrics page. Cats is my favourite musical, I just adore it! Like with most long-running musicals, the songs in it have gone through a few adjustments over the years.. so I decided to make this page to compare the lyrics from the four "main" English recordings of the show: the original London, Broadway and Australian cast recordings, and the video. (Because I'm a big ol' nerd who likes comparing things, you see :P) There's some other misc trivia scattered here and there, too. (Oh, and if you're looking for info relating to the 2019 film, keep moving, cause this line right here is the only acknowledgement of that thing you'll find on this site. :U)

Where possible, I've colour-coded lyrics to reflect which character sings what line. Black text denotes lines sung by the whole cast, or, on occasion, parts where I wasn't sure who was singing them (this is usually noted in the notes for that page). Some songs swap singers back and forth too freely for me to be sure who's singing what part; such songs are written entirely in black text. I've tried to be as accurate as possible with these lyrics, but if you notice any errors, please feel free to let me know and I'll fix them ASAP!

I hope you enjoy looking around this site! :)


ACT ONE: When Cats Are Maddened By The Midnight Dance
01. Overture (instrumental)
02. Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats
03. The Naming of Cats
04. The Invitation to the Jellicle Ball
05. The Old Gumbie Cat
06. The Rum Tum Tugger
07. Grizabella, The Glamour Cat
08. Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town
09. Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer
10. Old Deuteronomy
11. The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles
12. The Jellicle Ball
13. Grizabella, The Glamour Cat (Reprise)
14. Memory

ACT TWO: Why Will The Summer Delay - When Will Time Flow Away
01. The Moments of Happiness
02. Gus: The Theatre Cat
03. Growltiger's Last Stand
      The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles
04. Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat
05. Macavity: The Mystery Cat
06. Mr. Mistoffelees
07. Memory
08. Journey to the Heaviside Layer
09. The Ad-Dressing of Cats

 

Cast List Original London Cast Original Broadway Cast Original Australian Cast Video
Admetus Steven Wayne N/A N/A N/A
Alonzo Roland Alexander Hector Jaime Mercado Stephen Holford Jason Gardiner
Asparagus Stephen Tate Stephen Hanan Grant Smith Tony Timberlake
Bill Bailey Peter Barry N/A N/A N/A
Bombalurina Geraldine Gardner Donna King Kerry Woods Rosemarie Ford
Bustopher Jones Brian Blessed Stephen Hanan Grant Smith James Barron
Carbucketty David Baxter Steven Gelfer N/A N/A
Cassandra Seeta Indrani René Ceballos Nadia Strahan Rebecca Parker
Coricopat Donald Waugh René Clemente Geoffrey Jenkins Tommi Sliiden
Demeter Sharon Lee-Hill Wendy Edmead Robyn Forsythe Aeva May
Electra Anita Pashley (not listed) (not listed) Leah Sue Morland
Etcetera Julie Edmett Christine Langner (not listed) Jo Bingham
Exotica N/A N/A N/A Femi Taylor
George John Chester N/A N/A Frank Thompson (uncredited)
Gilbert / Genghis Donald Waugh Steven Gelfer (not listed) N/A
Griddlebone Susan Jane Tanner Bonnie Simmons Marina Prior N/A
Grizabella Elaine Paige Betty Buckley Debbie Byrne Elaine Paige
Growltiger Stephen Tate Stephen Hanan Grant Smith N/A
Gus the Theatre Cat N/A N/A N/A Sir John Mills
Jellylorum Susan Jane Tanner Bonnie Simmons Marina Prior Susan Jane Tanner
Jemima Sarah Brightman N/A (not listed) Veerle Casteleyn (acting)
Helen Massey (singing)
Jennyanydots Myra Sands Anna McNeely Pat Piney Susie McKenna
Macavity John Thornton Kenneth Ard Bruce MacArthur Bryn Walters
Mungojerrie John Thornton Ren� Clemente Garry Ginivan Drew Varley
Munkustrap Jeff Shankley Harry Groener Anthony O'Keeffe Michael Gruber
Old Deuteronomy Brian Blessed Ken Page John Wood Ken Page
Plato N/A Kenneth Ard Bruce MacArthur Bryn Walters (uncredited)
Pouncival N/A Herman W. Sebek Jess Jiminez Karl Morgan
Quaxo aka Mr. Mistoffelees Wayne Sleep Timothy Scott David Atkins Jacob Brent
Raffish Crew

Jeff Shankley as Grumbuskin
Roland Alexander as Tumblebrutus

John Chester
Wayne Sleep
Ken Wells

 Harry Groener
Reed Jones
Terrence V. Mann
Hector Jaime Mercado
Timothy Scott		 (not listed) N/A
The Rum Tum Tugger Paul Nicholas Terrence V. Mann Jeff Phillips John Partridge
Rumpelteazer Bonnie Langford Christine Langner Laura Bishop Jo Gibb
Rumpus Cat N/A N/A Stephen Holford Frank Thompson
Siamese

David Baxter as the Siamese Acrobat

John Thornton
Femi Taylor
Bonnie Langford
Paul Nicholas
Geraldine Gardner
Myra Sands
Finola Hughes
Sharon Lee-Hill
Seeta Indrani
Sarah Brightman

 (not listed) (not listed) N/A
Sillabub N/A Whitney Kershaw Anita Combe N/A
Skimbleshanks Ken Wells Reed Jones John Hackett Geoffrey Garratt (acting)
David Arnell (singing)
Tantomile Femi Taylor Janet L. Hubert Roula Kanta Kaye Brown
Tumblebrutus N/A Robert Hoshour Stewart Crowley Fergus Logan
Victoria
(White Cat)		 Finola Hughes Cynthia Onrubia Greta Thomas Phyllida Crowley Smith

Swings
(The Kittens)

 Peter Barry as Bill Bailey
Julie Edmett as Etcetera
Anita Pashley as Electra
Steven Wayne as Admetus		 Walter Charles
Susan Powers
Carol Richards
Joel Robertson		 Edwina Cox
Graciano Debeljuh
Rodney Glenn-Smith
Marianne Howard
Hilton Jones
Leanne O'Farrell
Leonie Page
Glen Walsh		 Richard Armitage
Beth Robson
Chorus Jeni Evans
Nick Hamilton
Stephen Hill
Nichola Kimber		 N/A Mark Bradley
Adey Grummet
Avigail Herman
Ian White		 N/A
Notes: In all productions except the video, the characters of Asparagus and Gus the Theatre Cat are one and the same; they were split into two characters for the video as Sir John Mills was only able to appear for one scene. Jemima and Skimbleshanks were dubbed over, although reportedly their actors' actual voices were used in "Jellicle Songs". (Note that despite what the credits claim, Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer's voices were not dubbed.)
The lead Siamese was named "Gilbert" in the original London production (and original poem), but (as far as I'm aware) all productions after that rename him "Genghis".
Some characters' names vary from production to production. In UK productions, it's traditional for "Quaxo" to be the "real" name of Mr. Mistoffelees; some productions keep this, whereas others have Quaxo as a separate character. Bill Bailey is the London name for the character that was renamed "Tumblebrutus" in the Broadway version (the video also uses this name). Note that the original London production did have a character named Tumblebrutus, but instead of being a chorus/ensemble cat, he was Growltiger's bosun, played by Munkustrap, and thus only showed up for the song "Growltiger's Last Stand"; later productions cut the references to him and Grumbuskin, Growltiger's "bucko mate", from the song, thus leaving those roles nameless.
"Pouncival" is the alternate name for the character "Carbucketty"; note that the 2014 London revival had both characters, although Pouncival more closely resembled George. Speaking of George, some fans call his video counterpart "Admetus", but that's an error - "Admetus" is the original/alternate name of Plato. The video character most closely resembles George, and it is traditional in London versions for George to play Rumpus Cat, so that's what I've listed him as.
Jemima and Sillabub are a little more complicated. "Jemima" is the UK name for the character, however, she was renamed "Sillabub" when the show moved to Broadway, out of concerns that the original name could be seen as having racist connotations. Usually, Jemima/Sillabub are the same character, with her name varying from production to production. However, certain productions (including the Australian one) include both characters; such productions usually have Sillabub be the cat who sings "Memory" with Grizabella, with Jemima being relegated to a minor/ensemble character.
Exotica is exclusive to the video, for the most part; they wanted to have Femi Taylor (the original London actress for Tantomile) in the video, but Tantomile had already been cast, so they added a new character for her. Some productions do include Exotica as a swing cat, though.
Rumpelteazer's name has many spellings (check the page for "Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer" for more info on that); for this page, I have gone with the spelling used in the original poem. Rumpus Cat's name is also sometimes spelt as "Rumpuscat", but I've decided to write it with a space here. Finally, note that while "Victoria" is the proper name for that character, many programmes also refer to her as "White Cat" (most likely for clarity, as her name is never said in the show even though she has a fairly prominent role), so I did that here, too.

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"Cats" and all related things are the property of Andrew Lloyd Webber, The Really Useful Group, and related parties. Lyrics are taken from and based off "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" and other poems by T.S. Eliot, with additions by Trevor Nunn and Richard Stilgoe. No copyright infringement is intended.