Gays taking over musical comedy. What's next?
Posted on 07/20/2018 7:14:23 AM PDT by EdnaMode
Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift, James Corden and Ian McKellen have been cast in Working Title’s upcoming movie version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s smash musical “Cats.”
Tom Hooper, the Oscar-winning director of “The King’s Speech,” will direct “Cats,” which is set to begin shooting in Britain in November. The screenplay by Lee Hall (“Billy Elliot”) is based on Lloyd Webber’s musical, which was itself adapted from a book of children’s poems by T.S. Eliot.
Hudson, who won an Oscar in 2007 for her breakout role in “Dreamgirls,” will play Grizabella, the former “glamour cat” who falls on hard times and gets to sing about it in showstopper “Memory.” It’s unclear which roles will be played by Swift, Corden and McKellen.
The Daily Mail was the first to report the casting news, which was confirmed to Variety.
“Cats” is one of the most successful musicals in history, enjoying long runs both in London’s West End and on Broadway. The possibility of a movie version has long been bandied about.
Working Title’s Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan brought another beloved stage musical, “Les Miserables,” to the big screen in 2012. That film was nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards and won a statuette for Anne Hathaway as best supporting actress.
Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” published in 1939, is a collection of poems about creatures known as “Jellicle cats” and their secret world, but lacks an overarching story line. Lloyd Webber’s musical stitches the poems together into a tale of cats seeking some sort of feline redemption in the “Heaviside layer,” somewhere above London, “up, up, up past the Russell Hotel.”
Besides tired and tattered Grizabella, other characters include Old Deuteronomy, Macavity, Skimbleshanks and the Rum Tum Tugger.
Gays taking over musical comedy. What's next?
Yes, she *was*. Lovely voice. Played one of the Cats in the original (London) cast, etc. etc. Her voice is on the original soundtrack, I think the ‘Skimbleshanks’ bit.
I have a certain neural thing, perhaps it’s peculiar, perhaps it’s something common, I don’t know, but when I’m listening to something, certain tones, voices, and especially the oboe played just so will send a thrill from my spine to the back my skull. Woof.
Not so fun while driving the car, but that’s another matter entirely.
Sarah’s voice has that same effect on me, it’s like audio ambrosia.
Which is why, though the thought of a movie is intriguing, I suspect it just wouldn’t be the same. (ahem)
Evidently they learned nothing from the heinous debacle that was the movie version of my favorite musical, Le Miz.
Ugh. It was indescribably hideous.
Although I have seen CATS on stage, as one of my students landed a role in it (Rumpletweezer) I despise that musical so the movie, I imagine would be completely unwatchable.
Just my opinion. Yours may vary.
Agree - I usually enjoy the Broadway musicals, but Cats was insufferable. My wife and I still joke about the “Jellico cat” (however it is spelled), had to look it up after the play to even figure out what they were talking about.
THEY CAN’T DO THAT!!! THEY ARE NOT CATS!!!! ONLY CATS CAN PLAY CATS!!!!
This is another case of stolen heritage and stolen gender/race/sexuality/and, I guess, beastiality. There will be a protest at the studio by activist cats and cat supporters from around the world.
There is also the issue of which sex the cats that these humans are playing. I mean is there at mirroring of gender or gender identity. We also need to consider the breed of cats being portrayed and how that plays into racism. The color of the cats will be a huge consideration.
This is a hughes and series issue that must be dealt with through activism and demonstrations.
LOL. That’s hilarious!
thanks
I was trying to get ahead of the screaming liberals
it was meant to be ridiculous
Swift will be 29 this year. Commercially, she's peaked. 1989 was her magnum opus. Moving in front of the camera is a natural progression. Judging from skits she's been in over the years, she has great comedic timing and talent. I expect she'll enjoy success in film.
Taylor Swift has never bombed in anything. It'll be a huge hit.
If you were cool, you acted like you “got it”. Screw that.
I just saw this on Tay's Facebook feed.
I think the answer is "yes".
She will do great in any endeavor she chooses to be in though.
I thought there were sheets and I wanted them
How many screen musicals adapted from another work has she appeared in?
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