Cat in the Castle

Synopsis THE CAT IN THE CASTLE is the story of two New York cats, Hugo and Mimi, who stow away on an ocean liner, get thrown overboard, and end up in a fascinating but scary kingdom where cats are illegal. Reigning Queen Gloria XIV is allergic to cats and ruthlessly exterminates them, courtesy of her Prime Minister and her pet pterodactyl -who yawns flames and is kept in bondage through his fear of her gatekeeper, the mysterious loud-voiced Morahorahora! Hugo is all for catching the next boat home, but curious Mimi insists quot;a cat can look at a queenquot; and smuggles herself into the castle. Disaster ensues, with the Queen on the war path and Mimi consigned to the dungeon with the fire-breathing pterodactyl, but an unexpected rapport develops between her and this prehistoric creature, who puts Ps in front of his Ts (quot;Who do you think you're ptalking pto?quot;) and whose name is Ptommy. Hugo comes to the rescue, helped by the children in the audience, who must supply the ultimate secret reason quot;Why the Queen Hates Catsquot; - which I won't tell you here. You have to listen to find out. Bill Solly writes: First, a warning. This is the one-and-only cast recording of the songs from THE CAT IN THE CASTLE, and I'm proud of it, but I have to confess that as CDs go, it's pretty short. However, let's not forget that the show itself is only an hour long.* When I moved to New York in 1973, Edith O'Hara requested from me a musical for children. Nobody ever does that, you know, actually asks a writer to write. Me, I was so overwhelmed I wrote The Cat in the Castle almost overnight. Wrote, composed, designed, painted the scenery, directed, even played one (or more) of the parts in it. Of all my children's shows it's my favorite. Inside this booklet you'll find a synopsis of the story, along with liner notes by June Daniel White, the very first ever to play the title role of Mimi (she was known then as June Feast). Today it delights me to think that over the years The Cat in the Castle must have been seen by thousands of children, and many of those must now have children of their own. Also, over the years, there are many actors who gave memorable performances in it, and I can certainly sympathise with June when she says, quot;There's only one major problem with this CD. I'm not on it!quot; This recording, which features cast-members from both the New York and Los Angeles productions, was made in Hollywood in 1977. I would here like to thank this cast and several other people who helped along the way: Bob Talmage, Glen Kelly, Robin O'Hara, Raymond Wood, Dolores Smith, Alan Michael Smith and Barbara Booker.