Rumpleteazer and Mungojerrie

"I'm Rumpleteazer, and I'm part of a duo who is Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, and we're the two naughtiest cats in 'Cats', I suppose. We're always doing what we shouldn't, being where we shouldn't be, getting up to mischief, and creating a hassle for everyone else. The number 'Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer' talks through a process about when we decide to go out burgling one night, which we do often, of course. But she's lovable at the same time as being naughty and cheeky--she's always getting a clip around the ear from the older cats...but they like her really."

 --Jo Gibb, Rumpleteazer

Once again, there's not much I can say that will top that! What I do have to say is mainly some things about their relationships to the other cats, fan speculation, and (of course) useful facts for future Rumpleteazers and Mungojerries.

The two of them are very close, best friends and partners in crime, almost always seen together. Mungojerrie and in some versions Rumpleteazer get mention as agents of Macavity, but as Rumpleteazer dances in his song and Mungojerrie takes part in clawing him away, this is debatable.

A topic of fan speculation is whether Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are siblings or mates. Although their looking alike makes them likely siblings, the fact that in some productions they do the mating dance together and certain suggestive elements of their own song makes one wonder.

It is hard to tell exactly what either thinks of Grizabella, since they generally magically disappear when she's around. Like everyone else, they greatly respect Old Deuteronomy--he is just about the only cat/person they do respect.

Rumpleteazer is often one of the kittens who likes the Rum Tum Tugger. In smaller productions she may be the one squealing toward the end of his song.

In a production I saw, Mungojerrie often danced alongside the females, which made me wonder if he was gay...but since I have yet to hear of homosexual cats in the real world, I will leave it at that. Please don't attack me...it's just a theory!

Useful Facts About the Roles

Both characters do a lot of dancing and acrobatics. You have to be able to sing, but you don't have to be Julie Andrews or Idina Menzel. (Sorry, future Mungojerries--I'm not very well educated in the great male musical singers!)

The characters are comical and mischievous for the most part, with a little ego added in when they say their own names. Obviously you have to know the character and the story, but neither role is extremely difficult to play.
In smaller productions, they will cover Coricopat and Tantomile's lines and do their dancing, and there they may be portrayed as more serious or at least more insightful (see Coricopat and Tantomile).