THE CAT IN THE CASTLE, Bill Solly's first musical for children,
premiered in 1974 Off Broadway in New York City at the 13th Street Theatre,
where it ran for an unprecedented two years. It has since been produced in
theatres all over the country, and has been revived many times in New York,
always with great success, most recently at the West Side YMCA.

  The story concerns a couple of New York cats, Hugo and Mimi, who stowaway on an ocean liner,
get  thrown overboard, and end up in a fascinating but frightening kingdom where cats are illegal. Reigning  Queen Gloria XIV is allergic to cats and exterminates them mercilessly, courtesy of her
pet  pterodactyl who yawns flames, and whom she keeps in bondage by his fear of her mysterious gatekeeper, Morahorahora.

  Hugo is all for catching the next boat home, but curious Mimi insists "a cat can look at a queen"  and smuggles herself into the castle. Disaster ensues, with the Queen on the warpath, but an  unexpected rapport develops between Mimi and the pterodactyl whose name is Ptommy (he puts ps  in front of his t's). Of course Hugo has to come to the rescue, but he is  helped by - one of the chief  attractions of the show - the children in the audience. It is they who must  supply the  ultimate secret  reason "Why the Queen Hates Cats".

 Rights to performances of THE CAT IN THE  CASTLE are held by Bakers Plays in Boston.

Setting:
A Castle

Cast:
Hugo, Mimi, Peasant, Ham Hamwich, Queen Gloria XIV,
Ptommy (a pterodactyl), Guard.
      ( Note: PEASANT and GUARD are played by the same character. )

Songs:
When You Call ~ If I Could Be Queen ~ You and Me and the Pterodactyl ~ Ptommy ~ A Cat's Got
Into the Castle!  ~ Reprise: A Cat's Got Into the Castle! ~ Why the Queen Hates Cats ~ It's a Ding Dong Day!

The tale has two cats, Hugo and Mimi, invading a castle where a wicked Queen Gloria keeps a pterodactyl on guard against the creatures, because she's allergic to them. The plot allows for mischief making, tugs-of-war for the allegiance of the children in the audience, and some sweet doses of sentiment. The choicest ingredient of the play - though the entire cast of six is delightful -- is the winsome Pterodactyl, Ptommy and who, at a particularly trying moment, must ask another character to 'p-teach me to un-p-tie the p-tails of p-two cats'.