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Show TV 40 - The Daily Herald. Provo. Uuh Sunday. November W 1. Cats' are on the musical prowl as staqe blockbuster comes to PBS By Jay Bobbin, Tribune Media Services The live theater promises its g musical will last "now and forever." Now, public television does, too. Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's globally popular "Cats" comes to PBS as a "Great Performances" offering Monday (8 p.m. ET). The winner of seven Tony Awards, the show personally is overseen by Webber for TV based on "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" by poet T.S. Eliot. British stage star Elaine Paige reprises the role of Grizabella, who sings the classic tune "Memlongest-runnin- ory." Other prominent felines joining in the reunion of Jellicle Cats include the wise leader Old Deuteronomy (played by Ken Page), the aged Gus (John Mills), the Jennyanydots (Susie McKenna) and the sinister Macavity (Bryn Walters). Filmed last year at London's Adelphi Theatre, "Cats" also has been made available on home video, i on the PolyGram label. For the most part, Paige, is supportive of the television version of "Cats." She reasons, "As an audience member, I have seen some tremendous performances, i've often thought, 'Wouldn't it lazy-by-d- U'AJ VVf V! xVS.mO be fantastic to be able to preserve those and be able to go back and see them again?' In some respects, there's a real value to that. "On the othei .;nd, as an artist, I am of the belief that theater "performances are spontaneous and meant to be enjoyed for the moment. Though i'm of two minds about it, 1 do think 'Cats' lends itself to being committed to video. They recorded it as a live theater piece, then they were able to go back and add cutaways and close-upso you've got the best of both worlds." Having originated the part of Grizabella in 1981, Paige had mixed feelings about returning to it so many years later. She says she ultimately did it again because "it was going to be filmed and retained for all time. In England, Grizabella is very much a part of who I'm known to be. 'Memory' is almost my signature song, so it felt good to go back to a role 1 had such success with." Over the past 17 years, the haunting "Memory" has been recorded by numerous singers including Barbra Streisand and Barry Manilow. "1 certainly knew it was special," Paige recalls. "I became obsessed with it. When 1 first heard it, it was just a melody. They hadn't gotten as far S s, xi U CENTRAL UTAH WITH as the lyrics, but just the structure of the song did something to me emotionally. It still does." The entirety of "Cats" had a similar effect on Paige, though she couldn't predict what a stage milestone it would become: "I'm not sure any of us did, really. 1 clearly remember that during rehearsals, most of us in the company were thinking, 'What are we doing, cavorting about as cats? Is anybody going to buy this?' It was a unique, idea, seeing the world through a cat's eyes with wit and humor. Everything was enlarged." The Andrew Lloyd Webber style is more familiar to Paige now, since she also has appeared in stagings of his hits "Jesus Christ Superstar," "Evita" and "Sunset Boulevard." She says, "He comes up with these wonderful ideas that no one else would bother with. He just goes for it, and historically, he's been successful when he does. Still, I don't think anyone imagined that g 'Cats' would become the musical in theater longest-runnin- Z La. (hi. Mil A- - VALUABLE COUPON USE THIS 6 CI QQA U I off YOUR I-V- AUQUAUTY6LASSOJrJUtCE 'Rtttrtctiont canmn Elaine Paige her stage role as Grizabella in the "Great Performances" version of the hit stage musical Monday, Nov, J p.m. ET) on PBS. "Cats," (8-1- 0 |