Customer Reviews

Cats: Songs from the Musical

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Vocal Selections from CATS, is just that, a ten song selection of the "vocals" from this great play. Unfortunately, the music included is only for piano and guitar. The CD released in 1982 of twenty-one selections, gives the listener a "complete" sound for the play now on video. One of the problems with the materials available from the play are the differing versions. A veiwer of "just the video" may get the impression that this "is" the play. When looking at the book, "CATS (The Book of the Musical), then comparing to this vocal selections and the video it becomes clear of the differing versions of CATS. It is important that the reader of this book is aware of this fact. As a teacher, many of my students who look at these differing versions get confused by the character, costuming, and musical changes. This "Vocal Selections" however does give someone the ability to see many of the words of the most popular songs from the play and have a basic (piano) arrangement to accompany the work. I would recommend this book to persons wanting to prepare a solo performance and groups doing tributes to the show CATS. Finally, the book is a good value for the price and has some nice photographs arranged with the songs of the central characters for CATS.

Okay, so I wasn't a big CATS fan. I have never seen the show, but have heard the music from CDs. I must say the music is highly addictive. And it's Andrew Lloyd Webber, so how could you go wrong? This book would be the best book for piano because it contains basically every song. But, I have to warn beginners, it can be extremly hard. Most of the songs jump around between sharps and flats, and when they do it's usually four or five at a time! It will take alot of practice to get it down. All the songs are fun to play. It's one of those books where you start at the beginning, and play every song without skipping any. Overall a great buy.

Wow! I was amazed how great and useful this book was. It includes 19 songs of Cats Classics. Most every song is written just like Andrew Lloyd Webber did himself. It also includes pictures from various Cats casts through out the years. If you are a theater buff, and enjoy being up on stage, then this is a great audition book. With songs like Memory, Skimbleshanks, Gus:The Theatre Cat, Mr. Mistoffeles, and many others. It will leave you at the piano for hours playing away. When of the best things about this is that it is the COMPLETE book of songs from the musical. I highly recommend this, and I hope you will enjoys this as much as I did.

You have to be careful, which edition you get. There are some with 10 songs, 19 songs or complete 22 songs. I am reviewing Hal Leonard's "Complete Music From Cats" with piano arrangement, guitar chords, vocal melody and lyrics; ISBN 0881882003 or HL00359465; 112 pages. This version is fantastic. If you know the original London cast audio recording, then this is the book to go with it. It has all 22 songs. The piano arrangements are great, original harmonies. The level of difficulty changes, some songs are easy for the intermediate player, others require some fiddling and practice, bec they come with 5 flats or 5 sharps. I run the string ensemble and orchestra and muscial theatre group at my kids' school as a parent volunteer. This book has it all, if you want to write your own arrangements, or accompany some solo singing kids on the piano. Great. But make sure you get the correct edition.

Not that I know how to play the music well but I wanted to have the music for reading along with poetry book. Would be nice if they had the music book as a ring so can open to a piece and not ruin the book. I just wanted a keepsake because may not have a chance to see it again, on stage. A black cover and the yellow eyes which show figures of cats posing a figure.

This book is totally awesome and is highly recommended for anyone who love the broadway musical "Cats". I have seen it twice now and look forward to seeing it again if the opportunity arises. Having this book lets me live what I have seen and remember the beauty, joy and fun of the show. I'm very excited to have this book.

This is an excellent reference for vocal instruction. I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoyed the musical.