Taylor Swift, James Corden, Jason Derulo and other members of the cast of Cats have performed its famous song ‘Memory’ using makeshift instruments.
Jennifer Hudson and Francesca Hayward also joined in the bizarre performance on The Tonight Show, where they were backed by host Jimmy Fallon and regular house band The Roots.
In a twist on the show’s regular Classroom Instruments segment, the cast performed ‘Memory’ on “instruments” found in a nearby alley. These included bottles, paint cans, dustbin lids and tuna fish cans.
Hudson sings ‘Memory’ in the film version, and she ended the performance last night (December 18).
Directed by Tom Hooper, Cats is released this week. NME‘s three-star review calls the film “weird and occasionally wonderful”, as reviewer Nick Reilly said: “Leave your cynicism at the door and you’ll find there’s unexpected fun to be had here.”
The film had been beset by problems. Hooper reshot the film after the first trailer was universally slated for the bizarre appearance of the half-human/half-cat cast.
Hooper told The Times: “On some level, the reaction to the trailer was insane, but I do think there were lessons to be learned.”
Derulo, who plays Rum Tum Tugger, has said he’s unhappy about the CGI in the film – saying it makes his penis look smaller. Asked by Sirius XM host Andy Cohen about his “package” not being visible in the movie, Derulo said: “They CGId the dick out. Yeah, I noticed that.”
Cats is based on the 1981 musical by Andrew Lloyd-Webber, which was in turn adapted from TS Eliot’s 1939 poetry collection Old Possum’s Book Of Practical Cats.