Growltiger's Last Stand

He is described as a "bravo cat who lived upon a barge", one who scoured the Thames from Gravesend to Oxford, terrorizing the inhabitants along the river, including "cottagers", canaries, geese, hens, "pampered Pekinese", and the "bristly Bandicoot that lurks on foreign ships".

This poem is a reminiscence of good times at the "old Bull and Bush" and the crowd at that bar on a "Sattaday night", in particular the barmaid Lily La Rose and the parrot Billy M'Caw.

The initial New York production of Cats replaced "The Ballad of Billy M'Caw" with a "pastiche Italian aria" titled "In Quella Tepida Notte," which was "felt to be more of a crowd pleaser".

This was primarily due to the age of Sir John Mills, who played Gus in the filmed version, as well as time restraints.

The musical also received criticism as non-Asian cast members originally used "stereotyped Asian accents" when portraying the Siamese cats.

[3][4] Actors who have played the part on stage include Stephen Nathan, Eddie Korbich, Bronson N. Murphy (US National Tour), Matt Bartlett, Christopher E. Sidoli, Stephen Mo Hanan (1983 Tony Nominee), Ryan Bailey, Sal Minstretta, Nathan Morgan, Kelly Robertson, Bill Remps, Ethan Jones, George Breynard and Christopher Scott.