Grizabella

Elaine Paige as Grizabella in the 1998 Cats video.

Grizabella is the "Glamour Cat" in the musical production Cats. She does not appear in T. S. Eliot's work Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, but she is a prominent character in the stageplay. It appears that she is the feline version of the woman mentioned in T.S. Eliot's poem "Rhapsody on a Windy Night".

“Regard that woman (Remark the Cat)
Who hesitates toward you in the light of the door
Which opens on her like a grin.
You see the border of her dress (You see the border of her coat)
Is torn and stained with sand,
And you see the corner of her eye
Twists like a crooked pin.”

It is also mentioned on The Really Useful Company's Really Useful Group web site that Eliot's widow Valerie gave Trevor Nunn a piece of paper with an eight line poem on it called "Grizabella the Glamour Cat".

Grizabella is, at the time of her appearance, a very old cat, withered by her age to the point that she no longer resembles the proud, carefree, flamboyant dancer of her youth. Her fellow Jellicles are quite jealous of Grizabella and hence sadistically pleased to see her in a dishevelled condition.

Possibly because of this jealousy, it is Grizabella whom Old Deuteronomy consigns to the Heaviside Layer to be reborn. During her change, Grizabella sings the song "Memory", which has been thought of by audiences as a very emotionally touching, profound, and even mysterious composition. It has been recorded by over 150 different artists, including Barry Manilow, Michael Crawford, and Barbra Streisand.

Another interpretation of Grizabella's past is that she left the Jellicle tribe to explore the outside world ("Grizabella the Glamour Cat"), despite knowing that she would never be allowed back in. The other cats shun her for leaving them, despite that she wants to be with them again. After several attempts to gain their acceptance, Grizabella's emotional appeal (represented by "Memory") is accepted; seeing how much that she suffered, she is chosen to be reborn.

The name Grizabella is probably derived from "grizzle" which means either "grey" or "disheveled", and "belle" which means "beauty". Hence "Grizabella"; "The grey beauty" or "the disheveled beauty".

The role of Grizabella was originated by Elaine Paige in the West End production, who later reprised the role for the video. In the first Broadway production, Grizabella was played by Betty Buckley. Buckley won the Tony Award for outstanding achievement in the theater in 1983 for playing Grizabella.