Wait, what did they say? What was that? Jellicle? What the...?

This sucker was on Broadway for a long time, and even though my 8th grade show choir sang "Memories" once, I only just now saw it for the first time. Maybe its my old age or just the acoustics in that place, but I don't think I understood a word they sang. At first I thought they were saying jelly or maybe Jericho, but jellicle? What the heck is a jellicle anyway? Not to mention the cats' names themselves. I never picked up on any of them. Did you know that one of them was named Alonzo? I mean I understand misunderstanding Munkustrap or some of the other crazy names they have, but how did I miss Alonzo? Thats ordinary enough. Even when they worried about Macavity, I thought they were actually worried about being thrown in captivity. Fortunately there were some youthful ears there to clear this all up for me. Nevertheless despite my difficulties and also the apparent lack of any sort of plot whatsoever, this musical really captures the essence of what a cat is. It doesn't seem to care if you understand it or are even entertained by it and there may be no rhyme or reason to its actions. It just does its thing irregardless of you and that is just like a cat. Bravo, but I'm still a dog person.