Cats - Now and Forever, the longest running Broadway musical. But enough about broadway, lets go to London's West End! Rosemarie opened as Grizabella on October 1st 1995 at London's West End Theatre.

Grizabella the Glamour Cat, is one of the more important cats in the extremely successful Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, based on the poems of TS Eliot. Grizabella is an outcast from the other Jellicle cats. A long time ago she left the tribe to seek out new things, only to find despair and sorrow. Now, trying to return to the others, she is rejected, until the end, where she is accepted and sent to the Heaviside Layer.

Althought the role involves almost no dancing, it is best known for the song 'Memory' which has received even more recognition than the musical itself. It is a powerful song, and no doubt Rosemarie does it beautifully.

Rosemarie left Cats at the end of the season in 1996, moving on to other work. But you'll be very glad to know that she came back! This time in a video, a great item for all you Rosemarie fans out there.

The Cats video was released at the end of 1998, and became especially popular in the United States after it was aired on PBS' Great Performances. The video started a coming-out of several cats fans, and also a couple Rosemarie Ford ones..

In the video she plays Bombalurina, a role much better suited to her abilities as a dancer. Bombalurina is a very sexy, flirtatious cat, and she does a lot of dancing and singing. Her major number is the Macavity song, which she does with Demeter. The number in my opinion is the best one in the whole musical, because of Rosemarie (naturally) and also because its a great song. If I have time, I may include a sound clip later.

The making of the video was a long process, and took several months, which involved doing the musical is parts, putting it all together, along with voice-overs in a recording studio. In Hong Kong, where the video was aired as a TV special (on two stations within a month of each other) also featured a half hour special called The Making of Cats. In the special you see Rosemarie Ford in the recording studio and also hanging around on the stage.

By the way, the role of Grizabella in the film was played by the original performer Elaine Paige.

If you haven't yet gotten the video, go out and buy it now! Or even better, get it on DVD, on which it is available too. Rosemarie Ford admirers out there will not be disappointed. Most of the pictures you see in this part are in fact shots from the DVD, done by Jemimus, a Cats fan, with a great site dedicated to Veerle Castelyn, another great performer in Cats.