Welcome to Jemima's corner of the Dream World. Who is this beautiful kitten, you ask, and the person behind her? All will be revealed here.
Jemima
Jemima is a beautiful young tabby kitten who, according to the story, is attending her very first Jellicle Ball. Her name means "Little Dove". It is said that Jemima was born under a full moon, so she is the most clairvoyant of all the cats and can understand what Old Deuteronomy is trying to say through her simple words and her sweet singing voice. Her best Jellicle friends are Victoria, Etcetera and Electra, is a fan of the Rum Tum Tugger like all the other kittens (though not as much as Etcetera), and she is very lucky to have Munkustrap as a protector! She (along with Victoria) is the first to accept Grizabella for who she is
In North America, Jemima is known as Sillabub, but has gained a lot of popularity since the release of the highly successful video.
Veerle Casteleyn
Veerle is the actress who plays Jemima in the video, her name means "Feather" in Dutch. She is a Belgian actress with a lot of energy and talent (she was 18 when she was chosen for the role of Jemima in the video). One of her most notable credits is playing the role of Liesl in a production of "The Sound of Music" and has also performed Jemima in London as part of the British cast of CATS (in another production, she played Jemima and Electra as well as understudying for Victoria and Rumpelteazer). She has also done other shows in her native Belgium such as "Mamma Mia" and a musical version of "Romeo and Juliet".
Fact: Veerle didn't sing her character solos in the video because her English was not good at the time. Her vocals were dubbed over by Helen Massle
Other Jemima Facts
* In most past Japanese productions, Jemima and Sillabub are two different characters. Jemima mostly keeps to the background while Sillabub does most of the solos Jemima does in the video
* The character can be known as different names in other languages as well. In one production (which Veerle was part of), Jemima is known as "Sylvani"
* Past actresses who have played Jemima/Sillabub in various worldwide productions include Sarah Brightman, Ruthie Henshall, Alexandra Jay and Whitney Kershaw. Another actress who played the role on Broadway was Alaine Kashian, who was a cast member of the PBS children's series Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego from 1996 to 1998
