Judi’s feline fine as she signs for Cats
JUDI DENCH is like the feline that got all the cream. Four decades after the legendary actress had to withdraw from the original production of Cats after she tore her achilles tendon, she will star — with Jennifer hudson, idris elba, ian McKellen and Taylor swift — in the film version of the andrew lloyd Webber musical.
Dame Judi will play old Deuteronomy: ancient leader of the Jellicle tribe mentioned in T.s. eliot’s old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, the volume of poems upon which lloyd Webber based his production, which opened at the original new london Theatre in 1981.
Judi had been cast to play Grizabella, the faded glamour puss, in the original cast.
she joined the rest of the company at rehearsals but bowed out after being hospitalised with a heel injury.
The song Memory was written after Judi’s withdrawal and was first sung by elaine Paige, who took over the part.
Jennifer hudson will play Grizabella in the film, which director Tom hooper will start filming from early December. old Deuteronomy, a mournful old moggy, is traditionally played by a man, but clearly that’s going to change in this version.
The character has its own introductory eponymous song, old Deuteronomy, plus others including The Moments of happiness and The ad-Dressing of Cats (which includes the line ‘a cat is not a dog’).
Director hooper met Judi at home to persuade her to join the picture, which is being produced by eric Fellner and Tim Bevan’s Working Title film company, along with Debra hayward and hooper himself.
The actress was excited to be approached and was particularly pleased that her old friend ian McKellen is also going to be in the movie — playing Gus the Theatre Cat. one of the creative executives involved with the picture told me that ‘the beautiful thing about Judi is that she has incredible emotional heft.
‘she’s thrilled to be doing it — and we’re thrilled she said yes’. Rehearsals for the large ensemble of singers and dancers are already underway, and Judi will join them in a couple of weeks.
But first she will get her singing voice in shape and learn the songs.
DESCRIBING herself as an ‘animal person’, Judi says she loves cats and dogs equally — though during the war years her family had 17 cats.
in more recent times, she talked of having a ‘menagerie’ that included dogs, cats and guinea pigs.
lloyd Webber — as this page first revealed — has written a new song for the film. and he and screenwriter lee hall are discussing how to update old Deuteronomy’s verses, now that he has become a she.