The Rum Tum Tugger is Curious Cat
As a cat and musical lover, it's no surprise that I quite enjoy the Broadway musical Cats. However, too few people know that the musical is based on a collection of poems by T.S. Eliot called Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. This collection is an old favorite of mine and is a wonderful commentary on cats, their behaviors, and their unique sociology, as well as a comparison of cats to humans. Each cat caricatured by a poem is not only a different type of cat, but you can see those sort of characteristics in the people we come across in daily life.
My favorite is the Rum Tum Tugger. I've even named an orange tabby Rum Tum Tugger, or Tummy for short. The roly-poly thing was in tune with his nick name and never seemed to stop eating! Anyway, the poem about the Rum Tum Tugger is about a very vain cat that is extremely particular and obstinate, always wanting the exact opposite of what he has--envision a three year old, and you've got a good idea of this rum chap.
Many other cats are noted, Macavity, Old Deuteronomy, Mr. Mistoffelees, Gus, Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer, Skimbleshanks and Bustopher Jones, among others, and the topics of cats names, historical battles, and how to ad-dress a cat.
Both the poetry and the musical are fun ways to enjoy the ideas on sociology that Eliot puts forth without the audience realizing what it's doing! Nothing like learning and thinking accidentally! People of all ages enjoy the poems in both forms, though I encourage starting with the poetry first and then seeing it come to life in the musical, which adds characters and subplots that Eliot did not have.
My favorite is the Rum Tum Tugger. I've even named an orange tabby Rum Tum Tugger, or Tummy for short. The roly-poly thing was in tune with his nick name and never seemed to stop eating! Anyway, the poem about the Rum Tum Tugger is about a very vain cat that is extremely particular and obstinate, always wanting the exact opposite of what he has--envision a three year old, and you've got a good idea of this rum chap.
Many other cats are noted, Macavity, Old Deuteronomy, Mr. Mistoffelees, Gus, Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer, Skimbleshanks and Bustopher Jones, among others, and the topics of cats names, historical battles, and how to ad-dress a cat.
Both the poetry and the musical are fun ways to enjoy the ideas on sociology that Eliot puts forth without the audience realizing what it's doing! Nothing like learning and thinking accidentally! People of all ages enjoy the poems in both forms, though I encourage starting with the poetry first and then seeing it come to life in the musical, which adds characters and subplots that Eliot did not have.