T.S. ELIOT
Poet
The story of CATS is told through the poems from Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, by T.S. Eliot.
Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in St Louise, Missouri, on September 26, 1888, the youngest of seven children. The family is of English origin, the American line descending from Andrew Eliot who went to Massachusetts from the Somerset village of East Coker in the 17th century.
T.S. Eliot was educated at Harvard, at the Sorbonne in Paris, and at Merton College, Oxford. The French symbolists, especially Baudelaire and Laforgue, profoundly influenced his early poetry. In his academic studies he specialised in philosophy and logic.
He settled in England in 1915, the year in which he married, and also met his contemporary, Ezra Pound, for the first time. He taught briefly at High Wycombe Grammer School, and in 1916 spent four terms at Highgate Junior School, where John Betjeman, aged ten, was on of his pupils. In March 1917 he joined Lloyd Bank in the City of London, in the foreign and colonial department. In this year he published his first volume of poems, Prufrock and Other Observations. His second book, Poems, 1919 was hand-printed by Leonard and Virginia Woolf. The Sacred Wood, a collection of critical essays, appeared in 1920. His most famous work, The Waste Land, came out in 1922 in the first issue of the quarterly The Criterion, which he edited. Three years later he left the bank to become a director of the publishing House of Faber.
In 1927 he became a British citizen. Ash-Wednesday was published at Easter 1930. Eliot soon became one of the leaders of Anglo-Catholic opinion and a devoted churchwarden in Kensington.
There have been various collected editions of his poems, and volumes of his literary and social criticism, notably Selected Essays, On Poetry and Poets and Notes Towards the Definition of Culture.
During the nineteen-twenties he frequented the ballet, the theatre and the London music halls, especially the Palladium. He wrote a celebrated tribute to Marie Lloyd on her death in 1922. His verse writing for the theatre began with the Sweeney Agonistes fragments in 1927. He wrote the London churches’ pageant play The Rock in 1934. Murder in the Cathedral, about the martyrdom of Thomas a Becket, was commissioned for the Catherbury Festival in 1935. It was later filmed. The Family Reunion was first performed at the Westminster Theatre in 1939, with Michael Redgrave as Lord Monchensey. Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats appeared in October 1939. (‘Possum’ was Eliot’s alias among his friends.) Four Quartets, now generally regarded as his masterpiece, began with ‘Burnt Norton’ in 1936, continued with ‘East Coker’ in 1940. ‘The Dry Salvages’ 1941 and ‘Little Gidding’ 1942. The separate poems were gathered together in 1943.
Eliot received the Order of Merit in January 1948, and in the autumn of the same year was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Among many other honours and distinctions he was an Officier de la Legion d’ Honneur. He was awarded the Hanseatic Goethe Prize in 1954, and the Dante Gold Medal 1959.
He subsequently wrote three more verse plays, each of which had its premiere at the Edinburgh Festival: The Cocktail Party 1949, The Confidential Clerk 1953 and The Elder Statesman 1958.
Eliot married for the second time in 1957. He died in London in January 1965. There is a memorial to him in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey, beside those to Tennyson and Browning. His ashes rest in St Michael’s Church, East Coker.
TREVOR NUNN
Director
Trevor Nunn was educated at Downing College, Cambridge and in 1962 he won an ABC Director's Scholarship to the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, where, as resident director, his productions included The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Peer Gynt and a musical version of Around the World in Eighty Days. In 1964, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, was made an associate director in 1965, and became the company's youngest ever artistic in 1968. He was responsible for running the RSC until he retired from his post in 1986.
His productions for the RSC included The Revenger's Tragedy, The Relapse, The Alchemist, Henry V, The Taming of the Shrew, King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, The Winter's Tale, Henry VIII, Hamlet, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, Titus Andronicus, Romeo & Juliet, The Comedy of Errors, As You Like It, All's Well That Ends Well, Once In a Lifetime, Three Sisters, Juno and the Paycock, Othello (the final production at The Other Place Theatre) The Blue Angel and Measure For Measure (the first two productions in the new Other Place Theatre). With his colleague, John Caird, he co-directed Nicholas Nickleby (winner of five Tony Awards); JM Barrie's Peter Pan and Les Miserables which won eight Tony Awards and has become the most performed musical in the world.
In 1982, he opened the RSC's new London home, the Barbican Theatre, with his production of Shakespeare's Henry IV Parts I and II. 1986 saw the opening of the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon which he conceived and for which he directed one of the finest productions, The Fair Maid of the West.
Outside the RSC, he has directed the Tony award-winning Cats, Starlight Express, Aspects of Love and Sunset Boulevard for Andrew Lloyd Webber; Chess, The Baker's Wife, Timon of Athens and Heartbreak House. At Glyndebourne he has directed Idomeneo, Porgy and Bess, Cosi Fan Tutte and Peter Grimes and at The Royal Opera House Porgy and Bess (revival) and Katya Kabanova.
For the Royal National Theatre, he has directed Arcadia, An Enemy of the People, Mutabilitie, Not About Nightingales, Oklahoma!, Betrayal, Summerfolk, The Merchant of Venice, Albert Speer, The Cherry Orchard, My Fair Lady and The Relapse.
His television work includes Antony and Cleopatra (BAFTA award), The Comedy of Errors, Macbeth, Three Sisters, Nicholas Nickleby (Emmy Award) Word of Mouth, Othello and Porgy and Bess. He has directed three films, Hedda, Lady Jane and Twelfth Night.
He is the Director of London's Royal National Theatre.
GILLIAN LYNNE
Associate Director and Choreographer
Gillian Lynne was a leading soloist with Sadler’s Wells Ballet, the star dancer at the Palladium, played opposite Errol Flynn in the movies and danced with all the greats on TV. She became instrumental in the development of jazz dance in Britain and her distinctive style - a fusion of classical and jazz - led to her groundbreaking work on the world famous Cats, which was recognised with a new category of Olivier Award, specially created for her to acknowledge Outstanding Achievement of the Year in a Musical. Cats continues to be produced worldwide
Gillian’s fifty-plus Broadway and West End shows include - Tonight at 8.30, Love on the Dole, The Match Girls, Tomfoolery, Jeeves Takes Charge, Cabaret, The Roar of the Greasepaint, Pickwick, The Card, Phil The Fluter, Hans Christian Andersen, My Fair Lady, Songbook, The Phantom of the Opera and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
For the Royal Shakespeare Company - A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Comedy of Errors, The Way of the World, As You Like It, Once in a Lifetime and The Boyfriend. She has previously worked with Adrian Noble on the RSC production The Secret Garden.
Gillian’s opera productions include the direction of Bluebeard, The Trojans, The Midsummer Marriage, The Flying Dutchman, and Parsifal. Among Gillian’s ballets are Breakaway, Lippizaner, The Brontes, and Journey for the Bolshoi.
On television, Gillian has directed The Various Ends of Mrs F’s Friends, Easy Money, The Look of Love, The Morte d’Arthur, which won the Samuel G Engel Award in America and A Simple Man, which won a 1987 BAFTA.
She staged many of The Muppet Show for ATV and her 11 feature films include A Wonderful Life, Half a Sixpence, Man of La Mancha and Yentl.
Gillian’s most recent productions include the staging of a special Gala in New York to celebrate Phantom of the Opera overtaking Cats as the longest running show on Broadway and Phantom – the Las Vegas Spectacular, which opened in 2006.
ABC-TV awarded Fool on the Hill, Gillian’s special featuring the Australian Ballet, Best Musical and Best Production; she was awarded the Austrian Silver Order of Merit for her production of Cats in Vienna; a Moliere award for Cats in Paris and in 2001 she was honoured by the Royal Academy of Dance with the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award. Gillian was awarded the CBE in 1997.
For further information: www.gillianlynne.com
JOHN NAPIER
Designer
John Napier studied Fine Art at Hornsey College of Arts and subsequently theatre design at the Central School of Arts and Crafts under Ralph Koltai. He is an associate designer of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Notable productions for the RSC include Macbeth, The Comedy of Errors, King Lear, Once In a Lifetime, The Greeks, Nicholas Nickleby Hedda Gabler, Peter Pan and Mother Courage.
His productions for the Royal National Theatre include Peter Shafter's Equus, later seen worldwide, Trelawny of the 'Wells', An Enemy of the People, Peter Pan, Candide and South Pacific. John Napier's designs for opera include Lohengrin and Macbeth for the Royal Opera House, Idomeneo for Glyndebourne, The Devils for ENO and Nabucco for the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
In the musical theatre he designed Cats, Starlight Express, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon and Sunset Boulevard. These productions have been presented on Broadway and around the word. Other designs in the West End include Time, Children of Eden and Jesus Christ Superstar at the Lyceum.
John designed the Captain EO video starring Michael Jackson for Disney. He designed and co-directed the spectacular Siegfried and Roy Show at The Mirage in Las Vegas, followed by Steven Speilberg's film Hook.
He created Burning Blue at the Haymarket (1996 Olivier award for Best Set design), The Tower and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? both at the Almeida, the new production of Martin Guerre and the musical version of Jane Eyre on Broadway.
John Napier's design awards include three society of London Theatre Laurence Olivier awards, a BAFTA and five Tony awards for Nicholas Nickleby, Cats, Starlight Express, Les Miserables and Sunset Boulevard.
Mr Napier is a member of the American Academy of Achievement and in 1996 was elected Royal Designer for Industry.
DAVID HERSEY
Lighting Designer
David Hersey has designed the lighting for over 250 plays, musicals, operas and ballets. His work has been seen in most corners of the globe and his many awards include Tonys for Evita, Cats and Les Miserables and his Laurence Olivier Award for Lighting given in 1996. His work is currently represented in London's West End by Cats, Starlight Express, Les Miserables and My Fair Lady.
He has also been active in the world of theme parks in Florida and Italy as well as lighting extravaganzas at The Mirage, Treasure Island and Belaggio hotels in Las Vegas.
He is founder of DHA Lighting, which concentrates on the design, and manufacture of specialist lighting. For ten years he was lighting consultant to the Royal National Theatre and is past Chairman of the Association of Lighting Designers.
David has recently returned from a two-year sabbatical during which he travelled over 38,000 miles around the world.
JO-ANNE ROBINSON
Adapted Direction and Choreography
Jo-Anne trained in London gaining scholarships to further her studies in all aspects of performance skills. Her performance credits include the original London casts of A Chorus Line; Billy; No No Nannette; Oklahoma! and many T.V. and variety shows including Royal Command Performances in England.
Since concentrating on the directorial/choreographic side of theatre, her credits include working with Trevor Nunn and Gillian Lynne on the original production of Cats in London and also assisted in the staging of the New York production. She has directed and choreographed Cats worldwide, concurrently working with Hal Prince on The Phantom of the Opera in Australia and Miss Saigon, working as Resident director/choreographer on the productions as they toured Australia.
Jo-Anne has worked on many other T.V. and film productions, both in England and Australia, choreographing scenes as required and has directed and choreographed Into the Woods in Australia for WAAPA; The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber in China; Mack and Mable; and South Pacific; for The Production Company in Melbourne; choreographed Aspects of Love and The Hunting of the Snark both in London and Australia; Nine in Australia and is constantly travelling with various productions of Cats. Meanwhile, she has completed a B.A. in Italian and Art History at Sydney University, has been part of a team excavating an archeological site in Chios where she is to return to in July 2007 to assist in a study tour, and is hoping to complete a Masters in Ancient History.
She also revisited South Pacific, the magnificent musical by Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers (two of the world’s greatest musical theatre legends) directing and choreographing it in April/May 2005, in Adelaide, Australia with her husband of 26 years.
Last year, Jo-Anne worked as Associate Director/Choreographer on a new production of Titanic the Tony award winning musical by Maury Yeston and Peter Stone which opened in Sydney in October 2006 to great critical acclaim and was nominated for Best Production of a Musical by the Sydney Theatre Critics.