CATS - Gus, The Theatre Cat lyrics
rate me"Gus The Theatre Cat" appears next. He's an aged stage actor <br />
suffering from palsy, who worked with the greatest actors of his <br />
day. Gus tells of his greatest theatrical triumphs, and yearns <br />
to do it again. <br />
<br />
SOLO: <br />
Gus is the cat at the theatre door <br />
His name, as I ought to have told you before <br />
Is really Asparagus, and that's a fuss to pronounce <br />
That we usually call him just Gus <br />
<br />
His coat's very shabby, he's thin as a rake <br />
And he suffers from palsy that makes his paw shake <br />
Yet he was in his youth quite the smartest of cats <br />
But no longer a terror to mice or to rats <br />
<br />
For he isn't the cat that he was in his prime <br />
Though his name was quite famous, he says, in his time <br />
And whenever he joins his friends at their club <br />
(Which takes place at the back of the neighboring pub) <br />
<br />
He loves to regale them, if someone else pays <br />
With anecdotes drawn from his palmiest days <br />
For he once was a star of the highest degree <br />
He has acted with Irving, he's acted with Tree <br />
<br />
And he likes to relate his success on the halls <br />
Where the gallery once gave him seven cat calls <br />
But his greatest creation as he loves to tell <br />
Was Firefrorefiddle, the fiend of the fell <br />
<br />
GUS: <br />
I have played in my time every possible part <br />
And I used to know seventy speeches by heart <br />
I'd extemporize backchat, I knew how to gag <br />
And I knew how to let the cat out of the bag <br />
<br />
I knew how to act with my back and my tail <br />
With an hour of rehearsal, I never could fail <br />
I'd a voice that would soften the hardest of hearts <br />
Whether I took the lead, or in character parts <br />
<br />
I have sat by the bedside of poor little Nell <br />
When the curfew was rung then I swung on the bell <br />
In the pantomime season, I never fell flat <br />
And I once understudied Dick Whittington's cat <br />
<br />
But my grandest creation, as history will tell <br />
was Firefrorefiddle, the fiend of the fell <br />
<br />
SOLO: <br />
Then, if someone will give him a toothful of gin <br />
He will tell how he once played a part in East Lynne <br />
At a Shakespeare performance he once walked on pat <br />
When some actor suggested the need for a cat <br />
<br />
GUS: <br />
And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained <br />
As we did in the days when Victoria reigned <br />
They never get drilled in a regular troupe <br />
And they think they are smart just to jump through a hoop <br />
<br />
SOLO: <br />
And he says as he scratches himself with his claws <br />
<br />
GUS: <br />
Well the theatre is certainly not what is was <br />
These modern productions are all very well <br />
But there's nothing to equal from what I hear tell <br />
<br />
That moment of mystery when I made history <br />
As Firefrorefiddle, the fiend of the fell <br />
<br />
I once crossed the stage on the telegraph wire <br />
To rescue a child when a house was on fire <br />
And I think that I still can much better than most <br />
Produce blood curdling noises to bring on the ghost <br />
<br />
And I once played Growltiger <br />
Could do it again, could do it again <br />
Could do it again
