Mr. Mistoffelees

"He's a bit of a rascal, I think...I think he's a bit of a child prodigy of the Tribe, brilliant at what he does but a little wacky at the same time...and he's not really an adult yet; he's not a kitten, so he's in that in-between stage...but he has these magical powers, and he doesn't quite know how to use them yet, but he's learning."

--Jacob Brent, Mr. Mistoffelees

Mr. Mistoffelees, otherwise known as Quaxo, is a young magician-in-training. He only makes his official appearance as Mr. Mistoffelees toward the end of the show, in a glittery costume that can create the illusion of fire. As Quaxo, however, he participates a great deal in nearly every number, and performs magic several times, such as revealing Jennyanydots for her song, and turning on the lights for the second part of the Jellicle Ball.

Quaxo seems to get along well with Munkustrap, as they collaborate on various points. He has a more interesting relationship with the Rum Tum Tugger. He seems singularly unimpressed by him, calling him "a terrible bore", but the Rum Tum Tugger still sings his song and presents him to the Tribe.

Quaxo is especially close to Victoria; the exact nature of their relationship is questionable, although Andrew Lloyd Webber has hinted that he meant them to be siblings. The two of them call all the cats to the Jellicle Ball.

Like everyone else, Quaxo loves and respects Old Deuteronomy. He is the first to sense that the Jellicle leader is close at hand. This intuition is repeated during Grizabella's various appearances. In early productions, Quaxo was the one to call Macavity's name during the three "Macavity scares", but Demeter later took it over, partially to fit the plot and work up to her leading his song, and partially so the actor playing Quaxo would have time to change into his Mr. Mistoffelees costume.

There has been some controversy over whether Mr. Mistoffelees and Quaxo are the same character, or whether they are two different characters--brothers, maybe--played by the same actor. Although I portrayed them in my fanfiction as brothers, my personal opinion is that they are the same cat.

Useful Facts About the Role

I think that Mr. Mistoffelees probably has to be the best dancer in the cast, and to have had ballet training, since it is very much a dance role that includes complex turns, leaps and other acrobatic moves. He does not do much solo singing in current productions...in the past he did much more third-person singing--that is, he sang about Jennyanydots where Munkustrap does now, about Old Deuteronomy where the Rum Tum Tugger does now, and about Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer whereas now they introduce themselves. He also sang part of his own song. Even now, although there is much less, you cannot completely escape singing--there are some lines that you sing on your own or with others.

Mr. Mistoffelees also has two short speaking lines outside of "Song of the Jellicles": "Old Deuteronomy!" and "Presto!" Because spoken lines are so rare, this is something very special, even though all together this amounts to only three words.