Set in 21st Century New York city on a back alley, this is an excerpt from a musical adaptation of the Greek mythological story of Phaeton. The story goes: Jasper (the naïve, inexperienced young cat who lives on a doorstep) is bullied by the other stray cats and has a poor relationship with his father, Shadow (a 15-year-old elder cat). He wants to prove his worthiness and believes he can do this by using his mouse trap and borrowing his dad’s mouse-detecting goggles. In the process of trying to catch the mouse, Jasper gets caught up in the moment chasing a mouse who crosses the road, and as he doesn’t look before he crosses, injures his tail and breaks the goggles. The moral of the story is don't let ambition and other people's opinions cloud your judgement, and of course look both ways before crossing! Cygnus, in this case Sebastian, secretly fancies Jasper and doesn’t want to bully him, so he comforts Jasper as he heals his injuries.

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This ‘I Want’ song, meant to be performed in the first Act, is a piano reduction demo and is called ‘Win This Vicious Game’. In the song, the clowder of cats mock Jasper about how he wants to be like his father, who is the best predator on the street. Meanwhile Jasper tries to come up with ways to show his worthiness, and declares his plan to prove them all wrong.

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Vocals by James Carter

Music by Tim Burnelis (chorus by James Carter and Michaela Pugh)

Lyrics by Tim Burnelis, Michaela Pugh and James Carter