The Plot behind Cats the Musical

Apparently, there's a movie coming out based on this musical, and the interwebs are of mixed opinion.

One of those opinions is that Cats the Musical has no plot.

Not true. It does have a plot. It's an uberplot, and therefore may be a bit difficult for some people to grok, if they're not used to analysing uberplots.


Quick analysis:

• Exposition:  The cats gather together at the Jellicle Ball to determine who gets to ascend to the Heavyside Layer. Those cats who believe they have a chance put forth their cases for their candidacy to Old Deuteronomy, who knows what it takes to succeed.
• Inciting Incident: Grizabella shows up to share her story, but she's rebuffed and isn't allowed to raise her candidacy. But Old Deuteronomy has noticed her.
• Plot Point I:  Old Deuteronomy is kidnapped. Without him, the choice can't be made.
• Rising Action: the cats set out to find out what happened to him and get him back.
• Midpoint: Grizabella dwells on her life. She's got memories, and they remind her that she once knew what happiness was. She yearns for it again.
• Plot Point II: They learn that it was Macavity who kidnapped Old Deuteronomy.
• Pre-Climax: They put their faith in Mister Mistoffolees to find and returns Old Deuteronomy
• Climax: Old Deuteronomy is rescued. Now a cat can be chosen.
• Denouement:  Old Deuteronomy chooses Grizabella to rise to the Heavyside Layer.

In the world of the Jellicle Cats, there comes a time when a cat has an opportunity to be reborn into a new life during a brief window of opportunity.  This is called "ascending to the Heaviside Layer."  Turns out, the Heaviside Layer is an actual place in Earth's ionosphere. It's known for its ability to bounce radio waves back to earth. This is a metaphor for a cat who's died, returning to earth for a new life. Nicely poetic, once you know.

Who is the lucky feline? That is determined by the patriarch of the kindle, Old Deuteronomy. Why him?  Maybe he was the last one to be reincarnated, and has that extra layer of wisdom to choose the best candidate. One thing's for sure, he's been reincarnated many times, maybe the most times, and thus, has seniority. He probably knows the qualities that make for the best reincarnation candidates.

One by one, certain cats present their cases as to why they should be reincarnated.  Some present their good deeds (Jennyanydots), or their high standing in society (Bustopher Jones) as reasons for their candidacy. But not all cats are worthy. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteaser are quite mischievous, whereas Macavity is downright evil.

Some cats are supported by others in their candidacy, but not all cats are welcome. Grizabella, who was once a beautiful and glamorous cat, is now old and ugly. The "virtue" that had set her apart in her younger life is now gone, and for that she is scorned. But underneath, Grizabella is not bitter and ugly about the loss of her beauty. Along the way, she discovered the true meaning of happiness, and has never forgotten. As she aged, she never treated the other cats with spite or scorn or shallow judgements. Even when they drive her off, she does not bear them any ill will.

Not all the cats are happy to see one of their ascend.  To prevent the choice from happening, Old Deuteronomy is kidnapped. Without him, the choice can't be made. What does that mean? Is it that no cat gets a chance to ascend, or that the cat who could have ascended, doesn't, and dies forever instead? Dire thoughts indeed.  Much could be read into the reasons behind O.D.'s kidnapping (it was by Macavity). Did Macavity do it to take O.D's place and choose his own candidate, possibly himself, knowing he wasn't worthy, and this could be the only way?

Regardless, the best needs be chosen. Overall, the cats agree that O.D is the best one to choose, and a rescue is mounted. Yay for the good guys.

Old Deuteronomy knows Grizabella, and that her beauty is more than skin-deep. Thus, he chooses her as the candidate to ascend to the Heaviside Layer and thus, come back to earth in the next incarnation of cats.

And that's the plot.

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Her Grace has fond memories of the time she was in an am-dram production of Cats in the early 1990's  She's got some proof somewhere.

Using Singing to Create a Positive Emotional Benefit

We haven't had a TASE (Talk About Something Else) Day in a while. We're overdue.

A friend is teaching a child how to master their emotions. Like all good researchers, she asked her peers for their experiences.  I suggested singing as a quick and immediate method the child could use to get themself out of an emotional rut like frustration or anger.

I've always known singing to be a positive mood-lifter, far more effective than just listening to music. I've taught classes in using singing for optimism, and often teach my regular music students how to use music for their emotional benefit. (A bit of a selfish purpose behind this one as well, for if a child learns to love creating music, they'll be more likely to practice.)

Not everyone is a musician, but I believe everyone is capable of singing. You might be a bad singer and woefully out of tune, but you can still sing, and you will still receive the benefits I list below. Never let anyone tell you you shouldn't sing. I refuse to oppress a singer just because they might not have learned to master their pipes yet.

Anyone who's sung out loud may have noticed the centering effect music has. Really, it works, so here I go hardcore with research to explain how this works.

Singing can alter your mood through:

• Employing deep and focused breathing. To sing, one must first draw breath, then release it in a focused and controlled manner to make sound. This deep breathing can also slow heart rate and neural activity. It also provides re-focus, as the brain must concentrate on producing music. Also, the vibrations of music has an effect on the autonomic nervous system. (Clark & Tamplin 2016)  
• Triggering endorphin release. While merely listening to music can make us feel better, the actual performance, whether playing an instrument or singing, has the greater benefit. It requires the singer to be active and not just passive, as a listener would be. This activity stimulates greater endorphin release. (Dunbar et al 2012)(Kreutz G et al 2004) 
• Using a different part of the brain. This disengages the "stuck" brain and engages fresh thinking, which will be less likely to get stuck in a feedback loop. Singing also engages the same part of the brain that processes emotions. Take that over, and the negative emotions are easier to deal with and get over. (Chanda et al 2013) Also helps with stuttering and emotion-related speech issues, like an inability to explain oneself when upset.
• Familiarity. As our common rituals and favourite things soothe us all, the familiarity of a favourite song can also bring us back to ourselves when we feel out of sorts. (Ibid)

So, how does one get this singing schtick to beat off the black dogs?

• Before you find yourself in an emotional bucket o' crap, choose a positive song or ten to be part of your emotional first-aid kit. I've got several, but one that works really well for me is "Before the Parade Passes By" from the musical "Hello Dolly".  Get in the habit of singing your first-aid kit songs now and then so you can get used to how they feel in your chest.
• When you find yourself down or frustrated or angry, pull out the song that "feels right" for the moment, and start singing, even if you don't feel like it. If you're not really in a place you can sing out loud and can't get to one, humming is also acceptable. But if you can do some proper out-loud singing, the deep breathing will do you much good.
• Do not let whatever harshed your original mellow steal the focus from your song. You're here to beat the grief, not let it beat you.  (3/4 or 4/4 are good beats.)  Singing won't solve your original problem, but it will resettle your brain enough for you to have more spoons with which to cope.

Barbara Streisand singing "Before the Parade Passes By".

I am interested to hear results from anyone who's willing to experiment on this method and report back.

References

Clark IN & Tamplin J (2016) "How Music Can Influence the Body: Perspectives From Current Research" Voices, 16, 2

Dunbar RI, Kaskatis K, MacDonald I, Barra V (2012) "Performance of music elevates pain threshold and positive affect: implications for the evolutionary function of music", Evolutionary Psychology, 10, 4

Kreutz G, Bongard S, Rohrmann S, Hodapp V, Grebe D (2004) "Effects of choir singing or listening on secretory immunoglobulin A, cortisol, and emotional state" Journal of Behavioural Medicine, 27, 6

Chanda ML & Levitiin DJ (2013) "The neurochemistry of music (A meta study)" Trends in Cognitive Science, 17, 4





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Her Grace is a Coloratura Mezzo-Soprano by training, though her voice has gone a little smokier with age.

Cutting Edge vs Accessibility

I recently read a book on Australian women composers, Women of Note. It didn't list every Aussie sheila composer (because there are a lot of us), but listed some of the more influential ones.

Maybe. There were a few I thought who should be in there, but weren't. Like Elissa Milne.

One thing I did notice was that the later composers were all avante garde, on the cutting edge of style.

For example, fellow Perth composer Cat Hope:

This modern atonal, arhythmic style is very much Not My Thing. As a student of music, i can understand the genius behind it, and have performed similar pieces, but does it appeal to my taste? Not really.

I also got to thinking about modern art--you know, the strange, abstract splattered-paint-on-a-canvas kind of art. Again, I don't get it as much as I think the artist wants me to get it. Even if the artist's main point was to get me to think, I fear she  may have failed with me, when my only thought is, "Huh?"

Nevertheless, all Art and all Music does get me thinking on a certain level, namely, What Do I Like?

I spent most of my musical life playing the violin, either as a solo instrument or in an orchestra of some kind. Like all music students from the U of U, I did pick up some piano skills, and later refined them from the AMEB. I find the piano as one of the more indispensable tools for composition.

It is in learning the piano that I discovered what I love most about  music: harmony. I love how sounds blend together, especially how that blending will sing to the human heart.

I've also discovered I have a taste for music with Romantic-era influences. Most of my elective pieces for the past few grades have been from the Romantic era.

Also, thinking about the music I love to listen to, I discovered that I mostly prefer....

Soundtracks.

Yep, Soundtracks, as in the music you hear on movies, and the music you hear in video games.

Video games?!?

Absolutely. It's beautiful, evocative stuff that is very reminiscent of the 19th Century Romantic-era compositions. Most working composers today earn their crusts through composing sound tracks.

Soundtracks are specifically designed to portray emotionality. It's like they are telling you how you should feel.  For example, nothing says "ridiculous slapstick" like the Benny Hill theme, aka "Yackety Sax". Another example is the spookily addictive bell-like opening tune to Harry Potter. (I set it as my ringtone for several years.)

As Jazz defined the first half of the 20th Century and Rock'n'Roll the second half, I declare the Soundtrack to be the definitive music of the beginning 21st Century.

Why?  Because it's so highly accessible to the masses. Everyone listens to soundtracks, whether they realise it or not. This is what our descendants will note as the definitive and noteworthy music composition of this time.

John Williams (all hail the master!)
Danny Elfman
Nigel Westlake

Even if you might not recognise their names, you'd certainly recognise their music.

Ultimately, I believe art should reflect the Human Experience in a way that many humans can relate to. For this to truly succeed, I feel it needs to be accessible to them.

Soundtracks certainly do that.

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Her Grace would be a career composer if she couldn't be a career author.

600 Year Old Butt Song From Hell

See this guy's butt?

It's got the music of the damned tattooed all over it. What sin did this guy commit to get his own cursed song inked into his behind?

Here's a pullback shot of the picture:

And here's the whole triptych by Hieronymus Bosch - "The Garden of Earthly Delights":

Anyhow, some genius student by name of Amelia from Oklahoma Christian University noticed this guy's shame in a painting. After she and a mate had snickered over it a while (embarrassment is part of this guy's penance for his sin. Man, what did he do?) she decided to transcribe it.

I'm liking Amelia. She's a music/arts major with a bit of computer science thrown in. This is exactly the sort of whackadoodle thing I would have done at university.

Apparently I'm not the only one who's intrigued by her music.  Will, the wellmanicuredman, was also taken by this cursed little tune and he did a rather lovely arrangement, with lyrics. I can't embed it here, so go listen to it. You'll like it.

I wish I knew the guy's original sin. Must have been a doozy, because here we are, six hundred years later, giving him grief.

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Her Grace's blog post today is brought to you by a love of music, a strange sense of humour and TASE Day.

A to Z Challenge: C is for Cookie!

...is for Cookie.

I love Sesame Street and I especially love Cookie Monster.

I therefore present a plethora of C is for Cookie videos for your entertainment.

I can't be bothered with the usual history and background today. So sit back and have some fun watching YouTube.

Enjoy!

The original:

A clever remake:

Featuring Pentatonix:

(more Pentatonix on Sesame Street)

Featuring Marilyn Horne in an operatic version:

In reverse (subliminal messages optional):

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Her Grace just wants to chill out sometimes.

Randomosity for Birthday Month

Randomosity of cool stuff I found about the web.

• Anna from And Then We Saved offers this excellent bit of advice:

Her advice is worth listening to. One morning she woke up to herself, realised she had put herself in a bad place financially, and chose to do something about it.  Good on you, Anna! I'm impressed.

• Despite its dated corniness, I've always enjoyed Disney's Bedknobs and Broomsticks. I'd love to get my hands on the remastered version, that had a lot of cut footage restored/remastered/redone. Alas, there are a few scenes where footage could not be located (possibly destroyed?).   I would have loved to see the whole three hours of this flick.  Factlet: George Lucas worked on the screenplay for this one.
  

• "I am a Child of God" - this hymn has a positive self-image message for humans.  My many-great Aunt Mildred Tanner Pettit wrote the original music for this.

• Recipe for Angel Food Cake - from Scratch.  If you live in the US, no doubt you have ready access to packet Angel Food Cake mix.  Not so in Australia. Therefore, if I am to enjoy my traditional birthday cake, I must make it from scratch.

Angel Food Cake

Preheat oven to 375ºF (200ºC).

Sift together:

1 ¹/₂ cup powdered sugar

1 ¹/₂ cup cornstarch flour
Set aside.

Beat until stiff peaks form:
1 ¹/₂ cups egg whites (from 9-12 eggs)

1 ¹/₂ tsp cream of tartar

1 ¹/₂ tsp vanilla

¹/₄ tsp salt

Gently fold in flour mixture into beaten egg whites.  Pour into ungreased angel food cake pan (you can use a bundt pan if you must). An angel food cake pan looks like this:

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until top is golden brown and crusty.  There may be some cracks.

Invert pan to cool.  Loosen from pan when cools, and serve with fresh berries and whipped cream.  Sing "Happy Birthday" to me while you eat it.

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Her Grace has several particular things about her birthday. 1. She's always shared the day with other family members. 2. She's always had Angel Food Cake. 3. Presents are nice, but optional. Having fun with her is far more important than being given things. However, if you must give, consumables, like paper and fancy food items are preferred.

Music!

A few days ago on Twitter, author John Scalzi (@scalzi) posted a link to an "entire album of electronic music".  Apparently, most people did not know this. I didn't.

I was happy to find another fellow writer who was also a composer. (Oh yeah.  Did I mention I was a composer?  I am.)  Many creative people often 'crosstrain' in other fields. dancer/painter, writer/musician, etc. Keeps the creative muscles fresh.  Frex, an actor who can also sing and dance is called a "triple threat", aka Hugh Jackman.

In 2008 I was commissioned to write some theme music for the World Horror Convention that year. Thought I'd share a working copy of the main theme with you:



The lyrics are:
No safe place
left to hide
under the Desert Sun.

I've got a couple of albums' worth of music lying about, plus the soundtracks to a few roadshows, an opera I wrote in University, some movies soundtracks to some student film projects, etc.  I haven't done much composing the past year or so, having focused more on my writing projects and a few Really Big Family Projects involving schooling.

I might get back into it, casually, just to stretch my legs when my brain freezes up from novellisation.

Hope you enjoy.

Okay, aside from the coincidental link from Scalzi to his album, a few weeks ago my husband rigged up a tape player so he could rescue the music from some mix tapes some friends gave him in the early 90's.

I, too, had some tapes with music I wished to rescue from magnetic obscurity.  Especially, I had one beautiful song called "Looking Through Time" that I had created during an Electronic Acoustic Composition class.  I consider it one of my best works to date.  Alas, I haven't uploaded it to the Internet yet, so it'll be some time before you'll get to hear it.

Right now, I'm just glad I managed to save it.  I did have one tape that suffered degradation. The One And Only Copy of that music was on that tape, and now it's pretty much gone. Alas.

Go back up your work.  Doesn't matter if you're a composer, a writer, or a doodler.  Go scan, copy, photograph, archive anything of value that you've created. Trust me, you'll be ever so sorry when it's gone.

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Her Grace composed her first song at the age of three.  It was pretty much little more than a patterned banging on the piano, but it was still music to her.  If you've ever written music, share it with the world.

Reading Glasses

Jan van Eyck
had some issues as well.

As I get older, I find myself needing reading glasses.  This happens to, oh, nearly everyone as we age, due to presbyopia.

Being nearsighted, I've worn glasses for the past thirty years. It was only in the past year I've needed (horrors!) multifocals.

Now, multifocals are good for everyday use and casual glancing at the back of a cereal box.  But for voracious readers and musicians (ie me), they can be quite bothersome.  The change of prescription across a lense causes a funny wavery wobble to anything textual.

So I got a second pair of single-vision lenses for playing the piano and reading.

What a boon!  Now all I have to do to be able to read sheet music or a trade paperback was swap glasses.

Reading glasses have been around for centuries.  Originally, that's what they were for--reading.  Since most people didn't do much reading, most people did not bother with spectacles.  Those who did have them did not sport them continuously, but treated them as tools, worn and used only when perusing texts.

But some people wore them enough to be pictured with them in the 1830's.

Do you wear glasses or contact lenses?  Do you have a pair of glasses just for reading?
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Her Grace is a voracious reader who needs glasses to read properly, possibly because of her habit of holding books with her feet. An eReader has changed that, in that resizeable text has eliminated the need for glasses and she can now easily turn the pages with a toe.

NaNoWriMo Word Count

22050 words and counting.

Here you go.  I did promise a sporadic word count.  Currently, I'm just under par.  I was hoping to breach 30K by now, but that didn't happen.

On the Life front, I had a few End-of-Year things (concerts, etc) going on that took up more time than I planned.

On the Writing front, I sold a novella and cleared up my Sonar list, sending a handful of short stories out on sub.

Will I win NaNo this year?  Entirely possible.

When do you get to see this novel?  Not for some time.  NaNoWriMo's all about the first draft.  Some haters may hate NaNo for exactly this reason, but I see it as valuable.  Putting down this first draft is the passing through the door from Idea to Novel.  Even if it's an SFD (which is the norm), it's still got value.

Then I take that SFD and polish it up to the fiction you all know and love.

In a few years I'll spend a day the local library as the Author in Residence as part of their NaNoWriMo celebrations.  Then y'all can come and watch me crank out a draft and ask questions.  More details later as details are finalised.

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When Her Grace isn't writing, she's dreaming about writing. Or music. A lot of that goes on as well. This song has been going through her head for the past few days:

The Soft Furry Purry Thing

TASE: Video Game Music

So, Talking About Something Else, a couple of weeks ago ABC Classic Radio spent much of their air time broadcasting Computer Game Soundtracks.

You heard me.  The music of video games.  Super Mario Brothers.  Final Fantasy.  Angry Birds.

I love movie music. Got a degree in the disciplines of movies and music.  For the same reasons I love movie music, I love computer game music. Its Romantic sensibilities add an emotional depth, making for a more immersive gaming experience.

One morning I listened to “Suicide Mission’ from Mass Effect.  (The version they played: London Voices; London Phil Orchestra X5 Music X5CD114 (The Greatest Video Game Music).  If you love video game music as much as I do, go buy the album and support the artists.)   

An online version of “Suicide Mission” you can listen to on YouTube: 

Oh, what a beautiful piece!  Jack Wall, I am extremely impressed! If I wasn’t a novelist, I would want to be a video game music composer. 

What I love about video game music is its ability to maintain a certain level of tension.  One trend I’ve noticed in video game music is the use of suspended dominants, similar to the classical cadenzas in a concerto, to maintain tension and expectation. 

This is a necessary function in video game music, where the plot beats are not necessarily at predictable, timed intervals, as they would be in a movie, or a novel.  How does one maintain emotional tension during a battle scene?  That is the challenge of the video game composer.

I could listen to video game music for hours.  In fact, I’m going to buy the album and do just that.

How does music affect your mood?  What's your favourite genre of music?

Piano Playing (Taking About Something Else Day)

Friday is “Talking About Something Else” Day here at Romance Spinners.  C'mon!  It can't always be about writing.

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"Girl Playing the Piano"
by Sergei Arsenevich Vinogradov
I'll bet she had to play Hanon as well.

We writers are a fascinating bunch. Naturally, we have outside interests.

I play the piano.  Take lessons, have a regular gig on the weekends, and everything.

Piano players everywhere are familiar with the Hanon "The Virtuoso Pianist" piano exercises. ( No, I can’t play it as quickly as in the Wikipedia example.)  It’s considered part of the basic “chops” every piano player has to do including scales, arpeggios and Heart ‘n’ Soul. 

So I’m reading through the preface notes, and one of the final paragraphs says this: “This entire volume can be played through in an hour; and if, after it has been thoroughly mastered, it be repeated daily for a time, difficulties will disappear as if by enchantment, and that beautiful, clear, clean, pearling execution will have been acquired which is the secret of distinguished artists.”

So I’m thinking, “What?  An entire hour every day on Hanon alone?”  Then I remember that I will cheerfully spend hours a day cranking out rough draft on a novel.   Either way, me and Anastasia the Piano Player spend hours wiggling our fingers over keyboards.

I guess it all depends on where your heart (and soul) lies.

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Her Grace has studied piano three times in her life: for a few years as a child, for a few years in university, and for the past eight years as an adult.  She has studied other fields of music, such as violin and voice and minored in Music at her alma mater.  Currently she is working towards her AMusA degree and occasionally teaches other people how to tickle ivories.  But really, she'd much rather be writing.  Don't tell her piano teacher she said that.