Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the pioneering choreographer and director, Dame Gillian Lynne's memoir is the story of a life well-lived.
Admired as the creator of the most influential performances of the last century, Gillian Lynne's memoir explores the personal, star-studded stories which defined her extraordinary career.
Drawing inspiration from T. S. Eliot's timeless Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats alongside the feline characters of the world-renowned musical, Cats, Gillian Lynne reflects on the people who shaped her life and work. From Sophia Loren and Margot Fonteyn to Judi Dench and Andrew Lloyd Webber, Gillian rubbed shoulders, quite literally, with stars of stage and screen. With wit, warmth and insight, these talented individuals appear front and centre amongst her vivid, beautifully written memories.
Collated by her husband, the actor Peter Land, Gillian Lynne's Book of Particular Cats weaves stories of hard-work, passion and love to create a playful and inspiring portrait of a life spent in dance, theatre and artistry.
This is the much-anticipated second part of Dame Gillian Lynne's autobiography, following her acclaimed memoir A Dancer in Wartime (Chatto & Windus).
Mr Mistoffelees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 3
Bombalurina (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11
Bombalurina (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
19
Alonzo (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 25
Alonzo (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 33
Electra & Demeter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
51
Skimbleshanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
67
Munkustrap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
79
Gus: The Theatre Cat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Bustopher Jones (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
Bustopher Jones (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113
Rum Tum Tugger & The Gumbie Cat . . . . . . . . .131
Mungojerrie & Rumpelteazer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Old Deuteronomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181
Pollicle Dog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.199
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
211
GILLIAN LYNNE (19262018)
Gillian Lynnes career started at the age of fourteen: leap-frogging from the Sadlers Wells Ballet, to Star Dancer at the London Palladium, to a film opposite Hollywood royalty Errol Flynn. It was her original style and energy that helped make Gillian the leading director/choreographer of her generation, best-known for her groundbreaking staging and choreography for Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Aspects of Love and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. She directed over sixty productions in the West End and on Broadway, worked on twenty-one feature films and hundreds of television productions as producer, director, choreographer or performer. Gillian received numerous accolades throughout her life including two Olivier Awards; the first an award for Outstanding Achievement for her choreography of Cats in 1981, and the second a Lifetime Achievement Special Olivier, in 2013. Her other awards include: Viennas 1983 Silver Order of Merit for the first proscenium-arch production of Cats; Golden Rose of Montreux Award for The Muppet Show Series; Engel Television Award (USA) as director for her conceptual drama The Morte dArthur; a BAFTA for her dance drama A Simple Man directed for BBC TV and a Moliere Award for Cats in Paris in 1989. The Royal Academy of Dance elected her Vice President in 2012. Gillian was honoured with a CBE in 1997 and a DBE in the 2014 New Year Honours List for her services to Dance and Musical Theatre. In June 2018, Andrew Lloyd Webber officially renamed the New London Theatre after her, the first non-royal woman to be honoured in this way in the West End: the Gillian Lynne Theatre. The grace, energy and spirituality of Gillian Lynnes artistry continues worldwide.
PETER LAND
Peter Land has been a member of both the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company performing with Sir Michael Gambon, Dame Peggy Ashcroft and Sir Patrick Stewart. He made his Broadway debut with Margaret Tyzack and Dame Harriet Walter in Alls Well That Ends Well and has been seen off-Broadway in the musicals: Colette Collage, Oh! Coward and as Sylvia St Croix in Ruthless! Recently Peter appeared as Howard Hughes in the
HBO Series: Autopsy and his numerous West End credits include: My Fair Lady; The Phantom of the Opera; Pickwick; Cabaret and Dear World, firstly in London with Betty Buckley, and then again with Tyne Daly in America. Along with many performances on Cast Albums and Radio/TV, Peter has also recorded On the Street WhereYou Live with Placido Domingo, appeared in the 1991 & 1993 Royal Variety Show and recorded the CD Thats What Friends Are For! with Robert Meadmore. He and his wife Dame Gillian Lynne collaborated as performer, producer, writer and director over sixteen times.
