Saturday, December 22, 2012

Victoria


"Victoria's one of the kittens of the show. She's quite naive, and I feel that's because she's so much younger than the other cats. All she wants is to be like them. But then, throughout the show, she kind of grows up a little bit more."
--Caitlin McNamara, Victoria 

Victoria is a beautiful white kitten. She is very mature for her age, I think a symbol of a child coming into womanhood.
In Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, there was no cat named Victoria, but Queen Victoria was referred to more than once, and as there were too many names for toms but not enough for queens, they made a character out of that name for Cats...at least, I assume that's how Victoria came into being. She is always very pleased to hear her namesake mentioned.
Victoria's closest friends are Quaxo/Mr. Mistoffelees, with whom she invites all the Jellicles to the Jellicle Ball, and Jemima, with whom she...well...reiterates the invitation at the beginning of the "Song of the Jellicles". She is also good friends with the other kittens.
Munkustrap and Victoria seem to have a close connection, although it is not necessarily a romantic one--in the movie they dance together during "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats", and when Munkustrap describes the Jellicle Choice, while all the other cats crouch down Victoria stays standing. She seems to have a special connection with the spirits beyond the Heaviside Layer.
Although Victoria does not participate in the big mating dance, she has a solo one later on with one of the toms. She does not seem to be portrayed as Alonzo's mate, but she often flirts with him during "Song of the Jellicles". She also admires the Rum Tum Tugger and Skimbleshanks, but not as much as some of the other kittens.
Victoria dances in the Macavity number, but--perhaps wisely--disappears during the battle. She sympathizes with Grizabella more than most other cats, and repeatedly tries to approach her but is stopped by Jellylorum. Finally, at the end of "Memory", Old Deuteronomy has her begin the acceptance circle that will eventually send Grizabella up to the Heaviside Layer.

Useful Facts About the Role

Victoria has no solo singing or speaking lines, and is mainly a dance role. Her biggest moments are a balletic solo early in the show and, of course, the solo mating dance, both of which require extreme flexibility.

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