The Great Rumpus Cat is a fictional character from T.S. Eliot's 1939 book ''

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' (1939) is a collection of whimsical Light poetry, light poems by T. S. Eliot about Cat, feline psychology and sociology, published by Faber and Faber. It serves as the basis for Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 ...

'' and in

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

's 1981 musical, ''

Cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

''. The Great Rumpus Cat appears in the poem " Of the Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles." The poem describes a contentious encounter between a Peke and a Pollicle dog which eventually leads to the participation of other dogs and a great deal of barking, heard throughout the park. The Great Rumpuscat nonchalantly intervenes and scatters the dogs merely by his threatening appearance and a single great leap. The Great Rumpuscat is described as having blazing eyes, great jaws, and a fierce and hairy presence. Of the dogs in the poem, the Pollicle is referring to many types of dogs, whereas the Pekes, Poms, and

Pug The Pug is a breed of dog with the physically distinctive features of a wrinkly, short-muzzled face, and curled tail. An ancient breed, with roots dating back to 400 B.C., they have a fine, glossy coat that comes in a variety of colors, most ...

s all correspond to actual breeds. The Pollicle is a dog who is a stray and wilder than pets. In ''Cats'', the Jellicles put on a small play when their leader, Old Deuteronomy, arrives. The story is about how Rumpus Cat stopped two neighboring

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

clans, the Pekes and Pollicles, from fighting. Steven Wayne played the part in the original

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

West End production, doubling as George, and Kenneth Ard, doubling as Macavity created the part on Broadway. It appears, as his costume in the film version suggests, that he is considered a type of superhero in the Jellicle society. In the film version, Rumpus Cat is played by Frank Thompson who also plays Admetus. In the 2016 Broadway revival, The Rumpus Cat was played by Christopher Gurr, who also played Bustopher Jones and Gus the Theater Cat. The Rumpus Cat is a replacement for Growltiger in this revival.

References

Characters in Cats (musical) Literary characters introduced in 1939 Fictional cats {{lit-char-stub it:Cats (musical)#I Gatti