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Cats: The Musical
Product Group: Video
ISBN: B00000JWVO
EAN: 9780783236568
UPC: 096898483636
Binding/Media: VHS Tape
Theatrical Release Date: 1998-10-27
SKU: 052609010
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Comes in original slip-case. VHS tape in good condition. All items ship from a smoke-free home.
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Editorial Reviews
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Amazon.com
This pop-cultural phenomenon has been performed on stage for more than 50 million patrons in 26 countries for almost 18 years, churning more than $2 billion in ticket sales. Now that Cats has finally made it to the small screen, attention must be paid not just by fans of this critic-proof show, but also by those entertainment mavens who have somehow avoided Cats until now. The video version has been restaged but, alas, not really reconceived for its new medium. The video cast, assembled from London, Amsterdam, and New York productions, is competent. Ken Page as Old Deuteronomy, Jacob Brent as Mr. Mistoffelees, and Elaine Paige--the original London Grizabella, the Glamour Cat well past her prime--are a great deal more than that. Paige has toned down her theatrical belting of her big number, "Memory," and allowed the faded ruin of her character's soul to prevail in close-up. For all the "covers" of her signature song, Paige's version remains definitive. The video is, by definition, more intimate, not always a good thing: costumes are even more Halloweeny in garish close-up, the cats less cuddly without that all-important interaction, the stage's appropriately midnight lighting transmuted to a Las Vegas neon. And the chorus of cats in production numbers is even clunkier and more amorphous in two- and three-shots. The one complete newcomer to the cast is the 90-year-old icon among English actors John Mills, a delight as Gus the Theatrical Cat. Sir John and his character show the youngsters how it's done in close-up, largely behind the eyes, abetted by a heart-tugging delivery of his one song. Yet virtually all of the songs are lip-synched, further robbing the video Cats of its onstage seeming spontaneity. It's clearer than ever that Lloyd Webber's music is mostly twaddle, with the important exception of "Memory," which instantly and rightly became one of the genuine theater standards not dependent on context, in the vein of Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns." On the plus side, most of the Cats characters and lyrics, from T.S. Eliot's 14-poem Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, are far better defined and understood from the video version. --Robert Windeler
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Customer Reviews
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CATS-tastic!
Rating  (5)
Date: 2010-09-08
I have always loved CATS The Musical, so when I got the 2-disk edition for my birthday many years back I was thrilled. I watched it so much that I wore it out and now it skips all over the place. I bought the Commemorative Edition and it is perfect! I absolutely love it, and it will be a wonderful addition to your movie collection.
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Cats The DVD The way it should be done....
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-08-30
A lot of times when they do a broadway or stage play they put it on location etc. This is the way a "Musical Play" should be done. It is like you are sitting in the best seat in the audience. The sound is perfect and when you wish you could see a little closer..... you don't have to pull out the binoculars. You can understand the words or put the text on the bottom for a sing along. As a community theatre director I like to see the details and hear it well. This was a joy to watch. Very well done. It is the master Andrew Lloyd Weber after all.
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cats the musical
Rating  (3)
Date: 2010-07-27
good movie but the sound quality is very poor. had to turn the volume way up and it was still very hard to hear.
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What's the point?
Rating  (1)
Date: 2010-07-26
I barely remember any of this except for Memories and 'The Rum Tum Tugger is a Curious Cat!' It's a stupid musical. People parading in costumes dancing on stage? And then they make it into a movie? Not memorable at all. Who ever thought this was a good idea?
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Fantastic musical
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-07-14
The most wonderful musical,great cast,something you can watch over and over again and NEVER get sick of.
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