Comparing Cats To A Chours Line?

[winston89]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 7:56pm

I was at In the Heights this afternoon. During intermission when I went out for a smoke I overheard a conversation that a guy was having. He said that Cats is pretty much the same show as A Chours Line. The characters go up and tell their story and then go back. He said that he doesn't understand why Cats is this show that people hate and yet A Chorus Line is considered this classic Broadway musical.


I honestly didn't know what to make of this comparing Cats to A Chorus Line. I thought I would share it with you all here.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 7:58pm

Comparing CATS to ACL is like comparing a YUGO to a Mercedes.

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 8:16pm

Haha, all I have to say is Haha!

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 8:20pm

Bases on those points that he pointed out, yes you can make comparisons. They also are heavy dance shows and deal with a theme of being accepted. However, will the majority of posters on here ever say something positive about CATS, NO! I, for one, love the show!

[maya5892]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 8:21pm

What was he smoking?

[defyingravity07]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 8:23pm

I love CATS and that and ACL are similar. There is even a Forbidden broadway song about CATS to the tune of I Hope I Get It called "Stop Cats"

[musikman]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 8:53pm

[heathurrr]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 8:54pm

The title of this thread reminded me of the FB song. I love that song.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 8:56pm

It's a valid comparison. They are both heavy dance musicals and they both share the same concept featuring characters stepping forward one by one to tell their story hoping to be accepted.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 8:58pm

"Bases on those points that he pointed out, yes you can make comparisons."

I agree in that manner the shows are similar...each character coming up to tell their story. Both shows were welcomed by audiences, I wouldn't say people in general hated it. Chorus Line is more dance intensive than Cats obviously...I also like the music to ACL much better.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 9:01pm

Except, y'know, ACL was... good.

[winston89]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 9:01pm

I know that Cats doesn't have much in the way of a plot. But, if memory serves. I thought that each cat was presenting their case about why they should be killed and sent to heaven.


A Chorus Line is a Pulitzer winning musical about acceptance and what it takes to succeed. To someone with no knowledge of musical theatre I guess I could see why you would look at both and make that comment. But, to someone that knows musical theatre inside and out like the people here. I am sure that most of the people here would agree that what the guy said is just plain silly.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 9:29pm

Cats does have a plot. It has an extremely detailed through line narrative if you choose to look closely enough. It's clear to me that a great deal of thought went into the devising of the order in which things needed to occur in an effort to tell that story better. It starts off during "The Invitation to the Jellicle Ball" letting you know exactly what the story is, introduces you to each cat, and then by the end of the night raps things up with the prostitute Grizabella's being chosen to start life anew.

It is very much a concept show due to the fact that T.S. Eliot had drawn up "sketches" for the purpose of using and incorporating the poems into an evening of theatre and I've always been rather impressed as opposed to finding it ludicrous that Webber, Nunn and Lynn were able to construct an evening of musical theatre, after Eliot's death, with the ban that the Eliot estate put on the inclusion of original material. They were therefor forced to create a minimalist plot using the unpublished poems of Grizabella, Eliot's "Rhapsody on a Windy Night" and fragments based on two phrases:

"Jellicle cats come out tonight, Jellicles come to the Jellicle Ball" and the unpublished idea of Eliot's that a cat would eventually travel "Up, Up, Up past the Russell Hotel" and "Up, Up, Up to the Heaviside Layer".

It is very much a story of redemption and acceptance that ends up being a heavy subject matter for a show that is often considered to be a children's musical.
Updated On: 5/18/08 at 09:29 PM

[broadwaycat3113]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 9:37pm

CATSNYrevival-thank you for pointing out that CATS does have a plot. i was hoping someone else besides myself understood that and felt the need to point it out.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 9:42pm

Before I saw the show, I just went along with most people in thinking it was a show without a plot. How many people who think it doesn't have a plot have actually seen it and aren't jumping on the bandwagon like I made the mistake of doing? I agree with CATSNYrevival on this one.

[masb19872]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 9:45pm

In that sense, yes, they are similar. However, they're set apart by the stories told, and how they're told. Cats is a show that's elaborate and over the top in terms of costumes and set. ACL is as simple as it gets. I think that the simplicity of ACL makes it so much more moving and extraordinary, because the focus is on the stories. Both shows are classics, though, in their own rights.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 9:46pm

For what its worth -- literally EVERY dancer in the current cast of A CHORUS LINE has been in some production of CATS.

Back in the 80's and 90's -- EVERY dancer in any production of CATS had appeared in some production of A CHORUS LINE.

Ironic?

[misto625]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 9:53pm

I think that jumping to conclusions is the activity occuring on this board most often, followed by unsubstantiated "facts."

If you ask me, Cats has more of a plot than A Chorus Line, which is simply an audition by dancers for a musical, telling their life stories for a nosy director. I am a fan of both shows, but much more familiar with Cats, having seen it four times live, plus watching the video version. I'm looking forward to the A Chorus Line tour this fall!

ETA: I knew that many Cats cast members appeared in the original run of A Chorus Line, but I didn't think about the revival having cast members from Cats. I didn't know Deidre Goodwin, Nick Adams, Jessica Goldyn, Katherine Tokarz, and many others had appeared in Cats.

Updated On: 5/18/08 at 09:53 PM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 10:23pm

Many actually made their Broadway debuts during the Broadway run of CATS, including Charlotte d'Amboise who played Cassandra in the 1st Nat'l Tour then Broadway.

[itsagift]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 10:59pm

Jessica Lea Patty was Demeter in the First National Tour of CATS after it closed on Broadway. More info if you Google.

[misto625]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 11:29pm

I know Charlotte D'Amboise was Cassandra, and I actually saw Jessica Lea Patty in the first leg of the 5th National Tour of Cats. I was talking about the ones I specifically mentioned, Deidre Goodwin, Nick Adams, Jessica Goldyn, Katherine Tokarz, Will Taylor, Jason Patrick Sands, Mike Cannon, Jeffrey Schecter, Jennifer Foote, Heather Parcells, Natalie Cortez, Dena DiGiacinto, Bryan Knowlton, Jason Tam, James T. Lane, Michelle Lone, Mara Davi, Joey Dudding, and Paul McGill. Can anyone tell me when THESE people were in Cats?

[oohshizz146]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 11:51pm

Ouch that hurts.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/18/08 at 11:54pm

CATS ran for 18 years on Broadway and sprouted numerous national tours. Good luck trying to get info on when those on your list appeared in any particular cast of CATS.

Your best bet is to contact each one individually as thousands upon thousands of dancers appeared in CATS throughout its lifetime and even diehard ardent fans most likely have years missing on their cast logs.

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 5/19/08 at 12:01am

Am I the only one that enjoyed both CATS and ACL?

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/19/08 at 12:11am

No. I enjoy them both.