# Rum Tum Tugger
**Rum Tum Tugger** is a fictional cat created by [T. S. Eliot](https://www.edgepedia.org/t-s-eliot) in the poem "The Rum Tum Tugger", one of the pieces in *Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats*, first published in September 1939 by Faber and Faber[1](https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/eliotts-practicalcats/eliotts-practicalcats-01-h.html). He is best known as a character in [Andrew Lloyd Webber](https://www.edgepedia.org/andrew-lloyd-webber)'s musical *Cats*, which is based on the book[2](https://poets.org/book/old-possums-book-practical-cats).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First appearance | "The Rum Tum Tugger", poem 4 in *Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats* (Faber and Faber, September 1939)[1](https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/eliotts-practicalcats/eliotts-practicalcats-01-h.html) |
| Defining trait | The refrain calls him "a Curious Cat"; he is contrary, wanting whatever he has not been given[1](https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/eliotts-practicalcats/eliotts-practicalcats-01-h.html) • [3](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/shortcuts/2014/jul/08/cats-rap-andrew-lloyd-webber-rum-tum-tugger-hip-hop) |
| Musical role | His song is a rock number in *Cats*, in contrast with the lullaby-styled "Old Deuteronomy"[4](https://revistas.uva.es/index.php/esreview/article/download/awefull-afterlife-of-cats/6257/25292) |
| Stage persona | In the musical he is a black and gold cat described as a Mick Jagger type, charismatic and a magnet to the younger cats[5](https://www.broadwayworld.com/singapore/article/Feature-SoWhat-is-CATS-Even-About-A-Character-Guide-to-CATS-THE-MUSICAL-20261020) |
| Film portrayal | Jason Derulo played him in Tom Hooper's 2019 film adaptation[6](https://time.com/5751675/jason-derulo-cats-movie/) |
| Recent stage reinvention | Sydney James Harcourt plays him in *Cats: The Jellicle Ball*, a ballroom-culture reimagining that transferred to Broadway and received nine Tony Award nominations, winning three[7](https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/sydney-james-harcourt-cats-jellicle-ball-rum-tum-tugger-interview) |
## The poem
The poem presents a cat who is never satisfied with what he is offered. Its best-known couplet runs: "If you set him on a mouse then he only wants a rat / If you set him on a rat then he'd rather chase a mouse"[3](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/shortcuts/2014/jul/08/cats-rap-andrew-lloyd-webber-rum-tum-tugger-hip-hop). The refrain declares that "the Rum Tum Tugger is a Curious Cat", and the poem also states that he "doesn't care for a cuddle"[1](https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/eliotts-practicalcats/eliotts-practicalcats-01-h.html). According to a study guide for the book, the matter is stated simply: no one can do anything at all to change it, since that is simply the sort of cat Rum Tum Tugger is[8](https://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-old-possums/chapanal004.html).
The word "curious" in the poem carries the sense of unusual or contrary rather than inquisitive; a school curriculum exercise built around the poem asks students to justify exactly that reading from the text[9](https://www.rosedalecurriculum.com/uploads/2/3/4/2/23429024/7th_ela_unit_1_cfa_teacher_june_2014.pdf).
## In the musical Cats
When Lloyd Webber set Eliot's verses to music, "The Rum Tum Tugger" became a rock number, while "Old Deuteronomy" was given a lullaby-styled treatment that hints at that character's importance[4](https://revistas.uva.es/index.php/esreview/article/download/awefull-afterlife-of-cats/6257/25292). Onstage the character is a showman: the chorus exclaims "THE RUM TUM TUGGER IS A CURIOUS CAT!" while he celebrates his contrary mischief, and the song's chaotic, boisterous dynamic shape contrasts with the synchronized ensemble numbers around it[10](https://cris.winchester.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/2608149/PhD_Thesis_FINAL.pdf). A character guide to the musical describes him as a rockstar among the tribe, naughty, mischievous, and self-obsessed but ultimately lovable, and notes that whenever you give him anything, he wants anything but that[5](https://www.broadwayworld.com/singapore/article/Feature-SoWhat-is-CATS-Even-About-A-Character-Guide-to-CATS-THE-MUSICAL-20261020).
[Paul Nicholas](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-nicholas), who sang "Magical Mr. Mistoffelees" on the 1980 music release that preceded the stage production, later went on to play Rum Tum Tugger[11](https://www.catsthemusical.com/news/the-origins-of-cats).
In 2014 Lloyd Webber said he wanted to make Rum Tum Tugger a "contemporary street cat" who "has to do hip-hop", adding a rap version of the song to the musical, and he called Eliot's original poem "possibly the first ever rap"[3](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/shortcuts/2014/jul/08/cats-rap-andrew-lloyd-webber-rum-tum-tugger-hip-hop).
## Screen and recent stage versions
In [Tom Hooper](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-hooper)'s 2019 film, [Jason Derulo](https://www.edgepedia.org/jason-derulo) played the character, described as the "terrible" and "curious" cat whom the lady felines adore; Derulo said he had watched "every Rum Tum Tugger that there ever was, from community theater to Broadway" in preparation[6](https://time.com/5751675/jason-derulo-cats-movie/).
The 2024 reimagining *[Cats](https://www.edgepedia.org/cats-musical): The Jellicle Ball*, first staged at the Perelman Performing Arts Center in [Lower Manhattan](https://www.edgepedia.org/lower-manhattan) and then transferred to Broadway, recasts the Jellicle Ball as a ballroom competition. In this version, [Sydney James Harcourt](https://www.edgepedia.org/sydney-james-harcourt)'s Rum Tum Tugger is an abs-baring pretty-boy contestant whose ballroom category is pop-star pretty-boy realness (ballroom-culture category: how convincingly one embodies an ideal), modeled by Harcourt on performers such as Usher, George Michael, and Prince[7](https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/sydney-james-harcourt-cats-jellicle-ball-rum-tum-tugger-interview) • [12](https://monorepo-sample1.nyt.net/2026/04/07/theater/cats-jellicle-ball-review-broadway.html). The production received nine Tony Award nominations and won three, for Best Direction of a Musical, Best Choreography, and Best Costume Design of a Musical[7](https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/sydney-james-harcourt-cats-jellicle-ball-rum-tum-tugger-interview).
## References
1. [Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot, Project Gutenberg Canada](https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/eliotts-practicalcats/eliotts-practicalcats-01-h.html)
2. [Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, Academy of American Poets](https://poets.org/book/old-possums-book-practical-cats)
3. [Cats rap: Andrew Lloyd Webber gives Rum Tum Tugger a hip-hop remix, The Guardian (8 July 2014)](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/shortcuts/2014/jul/08/cats-rap-andrew-lloyd-webber-rum-tum-tugger-hip-hop)
4. [The Awefull Afterlife of Cats: From the Illustrated Book to the Stage, ES Review](https://revistas.uva.es/index.php/esreview/article/download/awefull-afterlife-of-cats/6257/25292)
5. [So...What is CATS Even About? A Character Guide to CATS THE MUSICAL, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/singapore/article/Feature-SoWhat-is-CATS-Even-About-A-Character-Guide-to-CATS-THE-MUSICAL-20261020)
6. [How Jason Derulo, Prince of the Sexy Club Banger, Ended Up in Cats, Time](https://time.com/5751675/jason-derulo-cats-movie/)
7. [Sydney James Harcourt Is Embracing His Sex Appeal Thanks To Cats: The Jellicle Ball, Bustle](https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/sydney-james-harcourt-cats-jellicle-ball-rum-tum-tugger-interview)
8. [Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis, BookRags](https://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-old-possums/chapanal004.html)
9. [7th Grade ELA Unit 1 Common Formative Assessment, Rosedale Curriculum](https://www.rosedalecurriculum.com/uploads/2/3/4/2/23429024/7th_ela_unit_1_cfa_teacher_june_2014.pdf)
10. [PhD thesis on Cats in performance, University of Winchester](https://cris.winchester.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/2608149/PhD_Thesis_FINAL.pdf)
11. [The Origins of CATS, catsthemusical.com](https://www.catsthemusical.com/news/the-origins-of-cats)
12. [Fanciful and Fabulous: 'Cats: The Jellicle Ball' on Broadway, The New York Times](https://monorepo-sample1.nyt.net/2026/04/07/theater/cats-jellicle-ball-review-broadway.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Creative written works and worlds › Poetry works › Individual poems › Modernist poems (1900–1945)*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license