Nicole Scherzinger to Take Role of Grizabella in Cats!

With the recent announcement that Nicole Scherzinger will take on the role of Grizabella in Cats, I want to explain here on the Simon Morris blog why I think its inspired casting.

Nicole Scherzinger to Make West End Debut

According to the Independent, the former Pussycat doll has agreed to take a sojourn to the West End. She will be playing the role of Grizabella in Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Cats for a limited run at the end of 2014.

Of what will be her West End debut, Scherzinger said that “to have the opportunity to work with Andrew, Trevor and Gillian is a dream come true. I grew up listening to Andrew’s extraordinary music and was lucky enough, a couple of years ago, to record Cats’ beautiful song ‘Memory’.”

Does a Popstar Have Any Business on the West End Stage?

So is she right for the role? Let’s start with the elephant in the room. The uninitiated are probably thinking right now, ‘she’s a popstar, she has no business on a West End stage.’

Yet you read it for yourself, she’s already recorded the character’s (and the show’s) signature song. In fact, she has a musical theatre background, majoring in acting and musical theatre at Wright State University.

More to the point, she’s had experience, as she’s not only played the part of Velma in a production of Chicago, but she rose to the occasion when she took on the role of Maureen in a special production of RENT at the Hollywood Bowl in LA. Critically lauded, the latter was a resounding success.

Could Nicole Scherzinger Play Grizabella?

OK, so we know Scherzinger can hack it on a musical theatre stage, but is she specifically right for the part of Grizabella. I think she is, and it’s all to do with who Grizabella is as a character.

Despite her outward appearance as a past-her-prime glamour cat, complete with ragged worn out overcoat, black sequin dress and gold kitten heels, Grizabella is an outsider, just looking to be accepted and adored as she once was. Scherzinger’s own struggles, coupled with her penchant for glamour, mean she can identify with the character.

You Need to Find Something in the Character you can Identify With.

Ultimately, any successful actor will tell you that in order to pull off a part, you need to be able to find something in them that you can identify with. That’s why I think Scherzinger can pull off the role of Grizabella.