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''Cats'' is a
sung-through A sung-through (also through-sung) musical, musical film, opera, or other work of performance art is one in which songs entirely or almost entirely replace any spoken dialogue. Conversations, speeches, and musings are communicated musically, for e ...
musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based upon the 1939 poetry collection ''
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' (1939) is a collection of whimsical light poems by T. S. Eliot about feline psychology and sociology, published by Faber and Faber. It serves as the basis for Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical '' Cats ...
'' by T. S. Eliot. It tells the story of a tribe of cats called the Jellicles and the night they make the "Jellicle choice" by deciding which cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life. As of 2022, ''Cats'' remains the fourth-longest-running Broadway show and the seventh-longest-running West End show. Lloyd Webber began setting Eliot's poems to music in 1977, and the compositions were first presented as a
song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice ...
in 1980. Producer
Cameron Mackintosh Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh (born 17 October 1946) is a British theatrical producer and theatre owner notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "th ...
then recruited director
Trevor Nunn Sir Trevor Robert Nunn (born 14 January 1940) is a British theatre director. He has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed dramas f ...
and choreographer
Gillian Lynne Dame Gillian Barbara Lynne (née Pyrke; 20 February 1926 – 1 July 2018) was an English ballerina, dancer, choreographer, actress, and theatre-television director, noted for her theatre choreography associated with two of the longest-runnin ...
to turn the songs into a complete musical. ''Cats'' opened to positive reviews at the
New London Theatre The Gillian Lynne Theatre (formerly New London Theatre) is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden. The Winter Garden Theatre formerly occupied the site until 196 ...
in the West End in 1981 and then to mixed reviews at the
Winter Garden Theatre The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre at 1634 Broadway in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It opened in 1911 under designs by architect William Albert Swasey. The Winter Garden's current design dates to 1922, when ...
on
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
in 1982. It won numerous awards including Best Musical at both the
Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...
and
Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...
s. Despite its unusual premise that deterred investors initially, the musical turned out to be an unprecedented commercial success, with a worldwide gross of US$3.5 billion by 2012. The London production ran for 21 years and 8,949 performances, while the Broadway production ran for 18 years and 7,485 performances, making ''Cats'' the longest-running musical in both theatre districts for a number of years (surpassing ''
A Chorus Line ''A Chorus Line'' is a 1975 musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is centered on seventeen Broadway dancers ...
'' which ran for 6,137 performances). ''Cats'' has since been revived in the West End twice and on Broadway once. It has also been translated into multiple languages and performed around the world many times. Long-running foreign productions include a 15-year run at the
Operettenhaus Operettenhaus ''(Stage Operettenhaus)'' is a performing arts theatre in Hamburg, owned and operated by Stage Entertainment Stage Entertainment is an international operating live entertainment company, a subsidiary of Advance Publications. The co ...
in
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
that played over 6,100 performances, as well as an ongoing run in a purpose-built theatre in Japan that has played over 10,000 performances since it opened in 1983. ''Cats'' started the
megamusical A megamusical (also known as a "spectacle show", "blockbuster musical", or "extravaganza") is a large-scale musical produced for large commercial profit. Such musicals utilize spectacle and increased technology to "radicalize the imagistic poten ...
phenomenon, establishing a global market for musical theatre and directing the industry's focus to big-budget blockbusters, as well as family- and tourist-friendly shows. The musical's profound but polarising influence also reshaped the aesthetic, technology, and marketing of the medium. ''Cats'' was adapted into a
direct-to-video film Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was ...
in 1998, and a
feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
directed by
Tom Hooper Thomas George Hooper (born 5 October 1972)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005''. 5d: 2485. is a British-Australian filmmaker. Hooper began making short films as a teenager and had his first professional short, ...
in 2019.


Background

''Cats'' is based on T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book ''
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' (1939) is a collection of whimsical light poems by T. S. Eliot about feline psychology and sociology, published by Faber and Faber. It serves as the basis for Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical '' Cats ...
'', the songs in the musical consisting of Eliot's verse set to music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The musical is unusual in its construction; along with Eliot's poems, music and dance are the main focus of the show at the expense of a traditional narrative structure.
Musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...
s William Everett and Paul Laird described ''Cats'' as "combining elements of the
revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own duri ...
and
concept musical A concept musical is a work of musical theatre whose book and score are structured around conveying a theme or message, rather than emphasizing a narrative plot. Two 1940s shows compete for the title of "first concept musical": ''Allegro'' and '' L ...
". The plot centres on a tribe of cats called the Jellicles, as they come together at the annual Jellicle Ball to decide which one of them will ascend to the Heaviside Layer (their version of heaven) and be reborn into a new life. The bulk of the musical consists of the different contenders being introduced, either by themselves or by other cats.


Poems

''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' is a collection of
light poetry Light poetry or light verse is poetry that attempts to be humorous. Light poems are usually brief, can be on a frivolous or serious subject, and often feature word play including puns, adventurous rhyme, and heavy alliteration. Typically, light ...
about cats that Eliot had originally written for his godchildren in the 1930s. Due to the rhythmic nature of Eliot's work, there had been previous attempts before ''Cats'' at setting his poems to music, though none of these attempts had been met with much critical or commercial success. John Snelson, a musicologist, wrote of the poems: Most of the lyrics in ''Cats'' were taken from ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' with very minor alterations. Supplementary verses from unpublished poems by Eliot were adapted for "Grizabella: The Glamour Cat" and "The Journey to the Heaviside Layer", while the song "The Moments of Happiness" was taken from a passage in Eliot's ''
The Dry Salvages ''The Dry Salvages'' is the third poem of T. S. Eliot's ''Four Quartets'', marking the beginning of the point when the series was consciously being shaped as a set of four poems. It was written and published in 1941 during the air-raids on G ...
''. ''Cats'' director
Trevor Nunn Sir Trevor Robert Nunn (born 14 January 1940) is a British theatre director. He has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed dramas f ...
and lyricist
Richard Stilgoe Sir Richard Henry Simpson Stilgoe (born 28 March 1943) is a British songwriter, lyricist and musician, and broadcaster who is best known for his humorous songs and frequent television appearances. His output includes collaborations with Andrew ...
provided the remaining lyrics, namely for the opening number "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats" and the most famous song from the musical: "
Memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...
". The former was written by Nunn and Stilgoe and was modelled after an unpublished poem by Eliot titled "Pollicle Dogs and Jellicle Cats", while the latter was written by Nunn based on another Eliot poem titled "Rhapsody on a Windy Night".


Creation


Inception

Lloyd Webber began composing the songs in late 1977 as a songwriting exercise, partly because Eliot's book had been a childhood favourite and partly to see if he could write music to predetermined lyrics. The compositions were performed privately for friends but Lloyd Webber had no further intentions for them at the time. After his
song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice ...
''
Tell Me on a Sunday ''Tell Me on a Sunday'' is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Don Black. A one-woman show, it has been performed by a number of female singers/actors, most notably Marti Webb and Bernadette Peters. A one-act song cycle, ...
'' was televised by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
in early 1980, Lloyd Webber began to consider using his musicalization of Eliot's poems in the same vein for a televised concert anthology. He approached producer
Cameron Mackintosh Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh (born 17 October 1946) is a British theatrical producer and theatre owner notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "th ...
to explore possible avenues for the songs. ''Practical Cats'', as the show was then called, was first presented as a song cycle at the 1980 summer
Sydmonton Festival The Sydmonton Festival is a summer arts festival presented in a deconsecrated 16th century chapel on the grounds of Sydmonton Court, the country estate of Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is in Hampshire, located approximately 85 kilometres southwest of Lo ...
. The concert was performed by
Gemma Craven Rita Gemma Craven (''née'' Gabriel; born 1 June 1950) is an Irish actress. She is best known for her role as Joan Parker, the frigid wife of Arthur (Bob Hoskins), in the BBC TV drama '' Pennies From Heaven'' (1978). Biography Craven's family ...
,
Gary Bond Gary James Bond (7 February 1940 – 12 October 1995) was an English actor and singer. He is known for originating the role Joseph in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', his performances ...
and
Paul Nicholas Paul Nicholas (born Paul Oscar Beuselinck; 3 December 1944) is an English actor and singer. He started out with a pop career, but soon changed to musical theatre, playing the lead role in ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' at the West End’s Palace ...
. Eliot's widow and
literary executor The literary estate of a deceased author consists mainly of the copyright and other intellectual property rights of published works, including film, translation rights, original manuscripts of published work, unpublished or partially completed wo ...
,
Valerie Valerie may refer to: People *Saint Valerie (disambiguation), a number of saints went by the name Valerie *Valerie (given name), a feminine given name Songs *"Valerie", a 1981 song by Quarterflash, from ''Quarterflash'' *"Valerie", a 1982 son ...
, was in attendance and brought along various unpublished cat-themed poems by Eliot. One of these was "Grizabella the Glamour Cat" which, although rejected from Eliot's book for being "too sad for children", gave Lloyd Webber the idea for a full-blown musical. He explained: Lloyd Webber thus decided to turn ''Practical Cats'' into a musical, co-produced by Mackintosh and the
Really Useful Group The Really Useful Group Ltd. (RUG) is an international company set up in 1977 by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is involved in theatre, film, television, video and concert productions, merchandising, magazine publishing, records and music publishing. ...
's Brian Brolly.


Development

Shortly after the Sydmonton Festival, Lloyd Webber began setting the unpublished poems he had been given to music, a few of which were later added into the show. He also composed the
overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") in music was originally the instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overt ...
and "The Jellicle Ball", incorporating
analog synthesizer An analog (or analogue) synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Trautonium, were built with a variety of ...
s into these orchestrations to try to create a unique electronic
soundscape A soundscape is the acoustic environment as perceived by humans, in context. The term was originally coined by Michael Southworth, and popularised by R. Murray Schafer. There is a varied history of the use of soundscape depending on discipline, r ...
. Meanwhile, Mackintosh recruited Nunn, the then artistic director of the
Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
(RSC), to direct ''Practical Cats''. Nunn was an unusual choice as he was considered "too high-brow" for musical theatre, but Mackintosh felt that a "pedigree" director was needed to ensure Valerie Eliot's approval of the project. After much persuasion, Nunn came on board and was joined by his RSC colleagues, choreographer
Gillian Lynne Dame Gillian Barbara Lynne (née Pyrke; 20 February 1926 – 1 July 2018) was an English ballerina, dancer, choreographer, actress, and theatre-television director, noted for her theatre choreography associated with two of the longest-runnin ...
and set and costume designer
John Napier John Napier of Merchiston (; 1 February 1550 – 4 April 1617), nicknamed Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish landowner known as a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He was the 8th Laird of Merchiston. His Latinized name was Ioann ...
. Nunn initially envisioned ''Practical Cats'' as a chamber piece for five actors and two pianos, which he felt would reflect "Eliot's charming, slightly offbeat, mildly satiric view of late-1930s London". However, he relented to Lloyd Webber's more ambitious vision for the musical. Nunn was also convinced that for the musical to have the wide commercial appeal that the producers desired, it could not remain as a series of isolated numbers but instead had to have a narrative through line. He was therefore tasked with piecing the self-contained poems together into a story. Nunn wrote about the significance "Grizabella the Glamour Cat" had on the construction of the narrative: An event called the Jellicle Ball was referenced by Eliot in the poem "The Song of the Jellicles", while a cat version of heaven known as the Heaviside Layer was mentioned in one of his unpublished poems. Nunn expanded on these concepts by conceiving the Jellicle Ball as an annual ritual in which the cats vie to be chosen to ascend to the Heaviside Layer, thus giving the characters a reason to gather and sing about themselves in the musical. He also added the element of rebirth as a play on the idea that cats have nine lives. One of Nunn's stipulations for agreeing to direct ''Practical Cats'' was that actress
Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...
would be cast in the musical. Lloyd Webber was happy to oblige given her credentials and so Dench joined the company in the
dual role A dual role (also known as a double role) refers to one actor playing two roles in a single production. Dual roles (or a larger number of roles for an actor) may be deliberately written into a script, or may instead be a choice made during produc ...
s of
Grizabella Grizabella the Glamour Cat is a main character in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical ''Cats''. Lonely and decrepit, Grizabella seeks acceptance from the other Jellicle cats but is initially ostracised. She sings the most famous song from the musical ...
and
Jennyanydots Jennyanydots is a fictional character from T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats''. She is also a principal character in the 1981 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical ''Cats'', which is based on Eliot's work. Jennyanydots is ...
. Former
Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...
principal dancer
Wayne Sleep Wayne Philip Colin Sleep (born 17 July 1948) is a British dancer, director, choreographer, and actor who appeared on the BBC series '' The Real Marigold on Tour'' and ITV's '' The Real Full Monty''. Early life Sleep was born in Plymouth, D ...
was offered the part of
Mr. Mistoffelees Mr. Mistoffelees is a character in T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' and its 1981 musical adaptation, Andrew Lloyd Webber's '' Cats''. Mistoffelees is a young black-and-white tuxedo cat with magical powers ...
after Lloyd Webber and Mackintosh attended a performance by his dance troupe, one of the many dance showcases they saw in preparation for the musical. Casting for the other roles began in November 1980, with auditions held across the UK for dancers who could also sing and act. There was an initial disagreement over the casting of Nicholas as
Rum Tum Tugger Rum Tum Tugger is one of the many feline characters in the 1939 poetry book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' by T. S. Eliot, and in the 1981 musical '' Cats'' which is based on Eliot's book. Rum Tum Tugger is a rebellious Jellicle cat wh ...
; Nunn had misgivings about the actor's easy-going attitude but eventually yielded to Lloyd Webber, Mackintosh and Lynne, all of whom were keen on Nicholas for the role.
Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano singer, actress and dancer. Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, ...
, who had already made a name for herself with the chart hit "
I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper", sometimes cited as "(I Lost My Heart to A) Starship Trooper", is a 1978 single written by Jeff Calvert and Geraint Hughes of Typically Tropical and performed by Sarah Brightman and Hot Gossip. It was the ...
", arranged a private audition and was cast in an as-then undecided role. By December, the full cast had been assembled. Meanwhile, Mackintosh engaged the advertising agency Dewynters to design a poster for the musical. After much back-and-forth, the agency presented a minimalist poster consisting of a pair of yellow feline eyes (with dancing silhouettes for the
pupil The pupil is a black hole located in the center of the iris of the eye that allows light to strike the retina.Cassin, B. and Solomon, S. (1990) ''Dictionary of Eye Terminology''. Gainesville, Florida: Triad Publishing Company. It appears black ...
s) set against a black backdrop. The producers and the creative team loved the design but felt that the title — ''Practical Cats'' — looked out of place when paired with the image of the cat's eyes. The musical's title was thus shortened to just ''Cats''. The musical was scheduled to open on 30 April 1981, with previews starting on 22 April. Shortly before tickets went on sale in mid-February, Nunn revealed to the alarmed producers that he was struggling to write the script for the musical. Despite still having no established book or score, rehearsals began on 9 March 1981 in a church hall in
Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...
, London. The situation improved later that day when Lloyd Webber, Mackintosh and Nunn met with
Richard Stilgoe Sir Richard Henry Simpson Stilgoe (born 28 March 1943) is a British songwriter, lyricist and musician, and broadcaster who is best known for his humorous songs and frequent television appearances. His output includes collaborations with Andrew ...
, a musician known for his ability to improvise lyrics on the spot, in hopes that Stilgoe could write an opening song for the musical. By the next evening, Stilgoe had produced a draft for "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats". However, "Memory", an 11 o'clock number for Grizabella that Nunn insisted the show needed as its "emotional centre", still had no lyrics at this point. Lloyd Webber's former writing partner
Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ' ...
was brought in to write a lyric for the song, but his version was rejected by Nunn for being too depressing. The lyrics for "Memory" were not completed by Nunn until well into the previews. Many of the ensemble characters were created by the original cast through extensive
improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
sessions held during the rehearsal process. Said Nunn: " day one of rehearsals what we had was 15 poems set to music and five weeks later we had a show with characters, relationships and stories running from beginning to end." The production faced a last minute mishap when Dench snapped her Achilles tendon during rehearsals for "The Old Gumbie Cat" and had to pull out one week before the first preview. Shortly after this, the original music director, Chris Walker, also had to leave the production for medical reasons and was replaced by the film conductor
Harry Rabinowitz Harry Rabinowitz MBE (26 March 1916 – 22 June 2016) was a South African-British conductor and composer of film and television music. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, he was the son of Israel and Eva Rabinowitz. He was educated at the Univ ...
. Dench's understudy Myra Sands replaced her as Jennyanydots, while
Elaine Paige Elaine Jill Paige (née Bickerstaff; born 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, making her first professiona ...
agreed to take over the role of Grizabella. Opening night was pushed back to 11 May, but Mackintosh refused to postpone the previews as he wanted to dispel the industry rumours that the production was an impending debacle. The development of ''Cats'' was also plagued by financial troubles. Mackintosh struggled to raise the £450,000 (US$1.16 million) needed to stage the musical in the West End as major investors were sceptical of the show's premise and refused to back it. Lloyd Webber personally underwrote the musical and took out a second
mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pu ...
on his house for the
down payment Down payment (also called a deposit in British English), is an initial up-front partial payment for the purchase of expensive items/services such as a car or a house. It is usually paid in cash or equivalent at the time of finalizing the transactio ...
of the theatre. He later recalled that if ''Cats'' had been a commercial failure, it would have left him in financial ruin. The remaining
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
was eventually raised by small investments procured from 220 individuals through newspaper advertisements. After the musical became a massive hit, the
rate of return In finance, return is a profit on an investment. It comprises any change in value of the investment, and/or cash flows (or securities, or other investments) which the investor receives from that investment, such as interest payments, coupons, ca ...
for these investors was estimated to have exceeded 3,500 per cent.


Synopsis


Act I – When Cats Are Maddened by the Midnight Dance

After the overture, a tribe of cats known as the Jellicles gather on stage and describe themselves and their purpose ("Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats"). The cats (who break the
fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...
throughout the show) then notice that they are being watched by a human audience, and proceed to explain how the different cats of the tribe are named ("
The Naming of Cats "The Naming of Cats" is a poem in T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats''. It was adapted into a musical number in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical '' Cats'', and has also been quoted in other films, notably '' Lo ...
"). This is followed by a
ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
solo performed by
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
to signal the beginning of the Jellicle Ball ("The Invitation to the Jellicle Ball"). At this moment,
Munkustrap Munkustrap is a Jellicle cat from T. S. Eliot's 1939 poem "The Naming of Cats". He is a principal character and the main narrator in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical ''Cats'', which is based on Eliot's poems. Munkustrap is the storyteller and ...
, the show's main narrator, explains that tonight the Jellicle patriarch
Old Deuteronomy Old Deuteronomy is a character in T. S. Eliot's 1939 ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' and its 1981 musical adaptation, '' Cats''. He is a wise and beloved elderly cat, further serving as the Jellicle patriarch in the musical. The role of O ...
will make an appearance and choose one of the cats to be reborn into a new life on the Heaviside Layer. Munkustrap introduces the first contender
Jennyanydots Jennyanydots is a fictional character from T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats''. She is also a principal character in the 1981 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical ''Cats'', which is based on Eliot's work. Jennyanydots is ...
("The Old Gumbie Cat"), a large tabby cat who lazes around all day, but come nighttime, she becomes active, teaching mice and cockroaches various activities to curb their naturally destructive habits. Just as Jennyanydots finishes her song, the music changes suddenly and
Rum Tum Tugger Rum Tum Tugger is one of the many feline characters in the 1939 poetry book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' by T. S. Eliot, and in the 1981 musical '' Cats'' which is based on Eliot's book. Rum Tum Tugger is a rebellious Jellicle cat wh ...
makes his extravagant entrance in front of the tribe ("The Rum Tum Tugger"). He is very fickle and unappeasable, "for he will do as he do do, and there's no doing anything about it". Then, as Rum Tum Tugger's song fades, a shabby old grey cat stumbles out wanting to be reconciled; it is
Grizabella Grizabella the Glamour Cat is a main character in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical ''Cats''. Lonely and decrepit, Grizabella seeks acceptance from the other Jellicle cats but is initially ostracised. She sings the most famous song from the musical ...
. All the cats back away from her in fear and disgust and explain her unfortunate state ("Grizabella: The Glamour Cat"). Grizabella leaves and the music changes to a cheerful upbeat number as
Bustopher Jones ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' (1939) is a collection of whimsical light poems by T. S. Eliot about feline psychology and sociology, published by Faber and Faber. It serves as the basis for Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical '' Cat ...
, a fat cat in "a coat of fastidious black", is brought to the stage ("Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town"). Bustopher Jones is among the elite of the cats, and visits prestigious gentlemen's clubs. Suddenly, a loud crash startles the tribe and the cats run offstage in fright. Hushed giggling sounds signal the entrance of
Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are fictional characters in T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats''. The Jellicle cat duo are mischievous petty thieves who often cause trouble for their human family. Although origi ...
, a pair of near-identical cats. They are mischievous petty burglars who enjoy causing trouble around their human neighbourhood ("Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer"). After they finish, they are caught off-guard and confronted by the rest of the cats. Finally, the Jellicle patriarch, Old Deuteronomy, arrives before the tribe ("Old Deuteronomy"). He is a wise old cat who "has lived many lives" and is tasked with choosing which Jellicle will go to the Heaviside Layer every year. The cats put on a play for Old Deuteronomy ("
The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles "(Of) The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles" (Together with Some Account of the Participation of the Pugs and the Poms and the Intervention of the Great Rumpus Cat) is a poem by T. S. Eliot included in ''Old Possum's Book of Practica ...
"), telling a story about two dog tribes clashing in the street and subsequently being scared away by the Great
Rumpus Cat The Great Rumpus Cat is a fictional character from T.S. Eliot's 1939 book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' and in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical, '' Cats''. The Great Rumpus Cat appears in the poem " Of the Awefull Battle of the Peke ...
. A sombre moral from Old Deuteronomy is interrupted by a second loud crash, presumably from
Macavity Macavity the Mystery Cat, also called the Hidden Paw, is a fictional character in T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats''. He also appears in the Andrew Lloyd Webber 1981 musical ''Cats'', which is based on Elio ...
, which sends the alarmed cats scurrying. After a quick patrol for Macavity, Old Deuteronomy deems it a false alarm and summons the cats back as the main celebration begins ("The Jellicle Ball"), in which the cats sing and display their " Terpsichorean powers". During the Ball, Grizabella reappears and is once again shunned by the other cats ("Grizabella: The Glamour Cat (Reprise)") while Old Deuteronomy looks on sadly. She tries to dance along, but her age and decrepit condition prevent her from doing so ("Memory (Prelude)").


Act II – Why Will the Summer Day Delay – When Will Time Flow Away?

After the Jellicle Ball, Old Deuteronomy opens Act II by contemplating "what happiness is", referring to Grizabella. However, Jemima (also known as Sillabub), the youngest of all Jellicles, is the only one that understands who he's singing of. Knowing it must be Grizabella, she reprises the melody of her cry ("The Moments of Happiness").
Gus Gus is a masculine name, often a diminutive for Angus, August, Augustine, or Augustus, and other names (e.g. Aengus, Argus, Fergus, Ghassan, Gustav, Gustave, Gustafson, Gustavo, Gussie). It can also be used as the adaptation into English of ...
 – short for Asparagus – shuffles forward as the next cat to be introduced ("Gus: The Theatre Cat"). He was once a famous actor but is now old and "suffers from
palsy Palsy is a medical term which refers to various types of paralysisDan Agin, ''More Than Genes: What Science Can Tell Us About Toxic Chemicals, Development, and the Risk to Our Children;; (2009), p. 172. or paresis, often accompanied by weakness and ...
which makes his paws shake". He is accompanied by
Jellylorum Jellylorum is a principal character in the musical ''Cats (musical), Cats''. One of the Jellicle cats, she is usually portrayed as a motherly caretaker and is principally a vocalist. The musical is based on the 1939 collection of poems by T. S. ...
, his caretaker, who tells of his exploits. Gus then remembers how he once played the infamous pirate captain,
Growltiger Growltiger is a fictional character appearing in both T. S. Eliot's ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical '' Cats'' which is based on Eliot's book. He is described as a "bravo cat who lived upon a barge", one ...
("Growltiger's Last Stand"). Gus tells the story about the pirate captain's romance with Lady Griddlebone, and how Growltiger was overtaken by the Siamese and forced to walk the plank to his death. Back in the present, after Gus exits,
Skimbleshanks Skimbleshanks is a character in T. S. Eliot's 1939 book of poetry ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' and in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical ''Cats'', which is based on Eliot's book. The character is portrayed as a bright and energetic ora ...
is seen sleeping in the corner ("Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat"). He is the cat who is unofficially in charge of the night train to Glasgow. Skimbleshanks is considered vital to the rail operations, as without him "the train can't start". Within his song, a whole steam train engine is assembled out of objects in the junkyard. With a third crash and an evil laugh, the "most wanted" cat Macavity appears. He is the so-called "
Napoleon of Crime Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
" who always manages to evade the authorities. Macavity's henchmen capture Old Deuteronomy and take off with the patriarch in tow. As Munkustrap and his troop give chase,
Demeter In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter (; Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. Although s ...
and Bombalurina explain what they know about Macavity ("Macavity: The Mystery Cat"). When they are finished, Macavity returns disguised as Old Deuteronomy, but his cover is blown by Demeter and he ends up in a fight with Munkustrap and Alonzo. Macavity holds his own for a time, but as the rest of the tribe begin to gang up and surround him, he shorts out the stage lights and escapes in the resulting confusion. After the fight, Rum Tum Tugger calls upon the magician
Mr. Mistoffelees Mr. Mistoffelees is a character in T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' and its 1981 musical adaptation, Andrew Lloyd Webber's '' Cats''. Mistoffelees is a young black-and-white tuxedo cat with magical powers ...
for help ("Magical Mr. Mistoffelees"). Known as the "original conjuring cat", Mr. Mistoffelees can perform feats of magic that no other cat can do. He displays his magical powers in a dance solo and uses them to restore the lights and bring back Old Deuteronomy. Now, the "Jellicle choice" can be made. Before Old Deuteronomy can make his decision, Grizabella returns to the junkyard and he allows her to address the gathering. Her faded appearance and lonely disposition have little effect on her song ("
Memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...
"). With acceptance and encouragement from Jemima and Victoria, her appeal succeeds and she is chosen to be the one to go to the Heaviside Layer and be reborn into a new Jellicle life ("The Journey to the Heaviside Layer"). A tyre rises from the piles of junk, carrying Grizabella and Old Deuteronomy partway towards the sky; Grizabella then completes the journey on her own. Finally, Old Deuteronomy gives an address to the audience, closing the show ("The Ad-dressing of Cats"). Notes:


Music


Musical numbers

;Act I * "Overture" – Orchestra * "Prologue: Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats" – The Company * "The Naming of Cats" – Asparagus, Munkustrap, The Company * "The Invitation to the Jellicle Ball" – Victoria, Quaxo, Munkustrap, Company * "The Old Gumbie Cat" – Jennyanydots, Munkustrap, Bombalurina, Jellylorum, Demeter, Company * "The Rum Tum Tugger" – Rum Tum Tugger, Quaxo, Bombalurina, Company * "Grizabella: The Glamour Cat" – Grizabella, Demeter, Bombalurina, Company * "Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town" – Bustopher Jones, Jennyanydots, Bombalurina, Jellylorum, Company * "Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer" – Mungojerrie, Rumpleteazer, Company * "Old Deuteronomy" – Munkustrap, Rum Tum Tugger, Old Deuteronomy, Company * "The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles"† – Munkustrap, Rumpus Cat and Company * "The Jellicle Ball"‡ – The Company * "Grizabella: The Glamour Cat (Reprise)" – Jellylorum and Jemima * "Memory (Prelude)" – Grizabella ;Act II * "The Moments of Happiness" – Old Deuteronomy, Jemima, Company * "Gus: The Theatre Cat" – Asparagus, Jellylorum * "Growltiger's Last Stand" (including "The Ballad of Billy M'Caw" or "In Una Tepida Notte")† – Growltiger, Griddlebone, Genghis, The Crew, Company * "Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat" – Skimbleshanks and Company * "Macavity: The Mystery Cat" – Demeter, Bombalurina, Girls * "Mr. Mistoffelees" – Mr. Mistoffelees, Rum Tum Tugger, and Company * "
Memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...
" – Grizabella, Jemima * "The Journey to the Heaviside Layer" – The Company * "The Ad-Dressing of Cats" – Old Deuteronomy and Company : †"Growltiger's Last Stand" has been dropped from US and UK productions since 2016, with "The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles" moving to Act II to replace it. : ‡Also credited as "Song of the Jellicles and the Jellicle Ball".


Orchestration

Based on the definitive 16-piece licensed version. * Woodwind I:
flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
,
tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...
,
soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, sop ...
* Woodwind II: B♭ clarinet,
baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...
, flute * Woodwind III:
oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...
,
cor anglais The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto ...
* Horn I * Horn II * Trumpet I: B♭
trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
,
piccolo trumpet The piccolo trumpet is the smallest member of the trumpet family, pitched one octave higher than the standard B trumpet. Most piccolo trumpets are built to play in either B or A, using a separate leadpipe for each key. The tubing in the B piccol ...
* Trumpet II: B♭ trumpet,
flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...
* Trombone: B♭ * Keyboard I * Keyboard II * Keyboard III * Percussion * Cello * Guitar: electric, acoustic * Electric upright bass * Drums


Characters

''Cats'' is an ensemble show with a large supporting cast and no
lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
s.


Featured

Characters who are featured singers and/or dancers: * Asparagus (Gus) a.k.a. the Theatre Cat – A frail elderly cat who used to be a famous stage actor. * Bombalurina – A flirty and confident red queen; she is best friends with Demeter and the two share an intense hatred for Macavity. *
Bustopher Jones ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' (1939) is a collection of whimsical light poems by T. S. Eliot about feline psychology and sociology, published by Faber and Faber. It serves as the basis for Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical '' Cat ...
a.k.a. the Cat About Town – A fat upper-class cat with a "fastidious black coat and white spats". Respected by all, he is a man of leisure who frequents gentlemen's clubs for their
fine dining Fine may refer to: Characters * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (penalty), money to be paid as punishment for an offe ...
. In most productions, the actor playing Gus also plays Bustopher, though in early productions the part was handled by the actor playing Old Deuteronomy. *
Demeter In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter (; Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. Although s ...
– A troubled and skittish queen; she is best friends with Bombalurina and the two share an intense hatred for Macavity. *
Grizabella Grizabella the Glamour Cat is a main character in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical ''Cats''. Lonely and decrepit, Grizabella seeks acceptance from the other Jellicle cats but is initially ostracised. She sings the most famous song from the musical ...
– A former Glamour Cat, ostracised by the Jellicles, who has lost her sparkle and now only wants to be accepted. *
Jellylorum Jellylorum is a principal character in the musical ''Cats (musical), Cats''. One of the Jellicle cats, she is usually portrayed as a motherly caretaker and is principally a vocalist. The musical is based on the 1939 collection of poems by T. S. ...
– A motherly caretaker who watches out for the kittens and looks after Gus. * Jemima/Sillabub – The youngest kitten. Idealistic and jovial, she is sympathetic to Grizabella's plight. *
Jennyanydots Jennyanydots is a fictional character from T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats''. She is also a principal character in the 1981 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical ''Cats'', which is based on Eliot's work. Jennyanydots is ...
a.k.a. the Old Gumbie Cat – She sits around all day and is seemingly very lazy, but at night, she becomes very active as she rules the mice and cockroaches, forcing them to undertake helpful functions and creative projects to curb their naturally destructive habits. *
Macavity Macavity the Mystery Cat, also called the Hidden Paw, is a fictional character in T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats''. He also appears in the Andrew Lloyd Webber 1981 musical ''Cats'', which is based on Elio ...
a.k.a. the Mystery Cat – A notorious criminal known as the "Napoleon of Crime". Usually played by the actor playing Admetus/Plato. *
Mr. Mistoffelees Mr. Mistoffelees is a character in T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' and its 1981 musical adaptation, Andrew Lloyd Webber's '' Cats''. Mistoffelees is a young black-and-white tuxedo cat with magical powers ...
– A young black-and-white
tuxedo Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element fo ...
tom learning to control his magical powers. He is a featured dancer, performing his signature "Conjuring Turn" (twenty-four consecutive fouettés en tournant) during his number. Mistoffelees' chorus identity is sometimes known as Quaxo. *
Mungojerrie Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are fictional characters in T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats''. The Jellicle cat duo are mischievous petty thieves who often cause trouble for their human family. Although origi ...
– A mischievous troublemaker, he is one-half of a notorious duo of cat-burglars along with Rumpleteazer. *
Munkustrap Munkustrap is a Jellicle cat from T. S. Eliot's 1939 poem "The Naming of Cats". He is a principal character and the main narrator in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical ''Cats'', which is based on Eliot's poems. Munkustrap is the storyteller and ...
– A grey tabby tomcat who is the storyteller and protector of the Jellicle tribe. He is Old Deuteronomy's second-in-command and the show's main narrator. *
Old Deuteronomy Old Deuteronomy is a character in T. S. Eliot's 1939 ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' and its 1981 musical adaptation, '' Cats''. He is a wise and beloved elderly cat, further serving as the Jellicle patriarch in the musical. The role of O ...
– The wise and benevolent elderly Jellicle leader who is beloved by his tribe. *
Rumpleteazer Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are fictional characters in T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats''. The Jellicle cat duo are mischievous petty thieves who often cause trouble for their human family. Although origi ...
– A mischievous troublemaker, she is one half of a notorious duo of cat-burglars along with Mungojerrie. *
Rum Tum Tugger Rum Tum Tugger is one of the many feline characters in the 1939 poetry book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' by T. S. Eliot, and in the 1981 musical '' Cats'' which is based on Eliot's book. Rum Tum Tugger is a rebellious Jellicle cat wh ...
– A flashy and unappeasable cat who loves to be the centre of attention. *
Skimbleshanks Skimbleshanks is a character in T. S. Eliot's 1939 book of poetry ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' and in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical ''Cats'', which is based on Eliot's book. The character is portrayed as a bright and energetic ora ...
a.k.a. the Railway Cat – An upbeat and active orange tabby cat, who lives on the
mail train Many countries have had dedicated railway services for the delivery of postal mail. Examples include: * In Australia, the Travelling post office, Queensland * In Austria, the (1850–2004) * In France, the (1984–2015) were rail cars built sp ...
s and acts as an unofficial chaperone to such an extent he is considered rather indispensable to the train and station employees. *
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
– A demure and graceful white kitten. She is a featured dancer, opening with a ballet solo after "The Naming of the Cats" and is the first character to touch Grizabella.


Others

Other characters who have appeared in multiple notable productions include: *
Admetus In Greek mythology, Admetus (; Ancient Greek: ''Admetos'' means 'untamed, untameable') was a king of Pherae in Thessaly. Biography Admetus succeeded his father Pheres after whom the city was named. His mother was identified as Periclymene or ...
/
Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
– The chorus identity of Macavity. He is a teenage ginger-and-white young tom, and is typically paired with Victoria in a
pas de deux In ballet, a pas de deux (French language, French, literally "step of two") is a dance duet in which two dancers, typically a male and a female, perform ballet steps together. The pas de deux is characteristic of classical ballet and can be fo ...
during the Jellicle Ball. *
Alonzo Alonzo is both a given name and a Spanish surname. Notable people with the name include: Mononym *Alonzo (rapper), French singer and hip hop artist, formerly Segnor Alonzo of Psy 4 de la Rime Given name *Alonzo de Barcena, 16th-century Spani ...
– A black-and-white tom. He is vain, insecure and full of bravado. * Bill Bailey/ Tumblebrutus – A playful tom kitten, often performing acrobatics as well as being a strong dancer. His costume consists of brown patches (including a brown eye patch) on a white base. * Carbucketty/ Pouncival – A playful and acrobatic brown-and-white tom kitten. *
Cassandra Cassandra or Kassandra (; Ancient Greek: Κασσάνδρα, , also , and sometimes referred to as Alexandra) in Greek mythology was a Trojan priestess dedicated to the god Apollo and fated by him to utter true prophecies but never to be believe ...
– An elegant and aloof brown pointed queen. * Coricopat and Tantomile – Mysterious twin brother and sister with psychic abilities. *
Electra Electra (; grc, Ήλέκτρα) is one of the most popular mythological characters in tragedies.Evans (1970), p. 79 She is the main character in two Greek tragedies, '' Electra'' by Sophocles and '' Electra'' by Euripides. She is also the centra ...
– A reserved and solemn tortoiseshell kitten. Her costume is brown, red and black. *
Etcetera ''Et Cetera'' ( or (proscribed) , ), abbreviated to ''etc.'', ''etc'', ''et cet.'', ''&c.'' or ''&c'' is a Latin expression that is used in English to mean "and other similar things", or "and so forth". Translated literally from Latin, means 'an ...
– An exuberant and immature tabby kitten. Her costume is white, black and brown. * Griddlebone – Growltiger's lover in "
Growltiger's Last Stand Growltiger is a fictional character appearing in both T. S. Eliot's ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical '' Cats'' which is based on Eliot's book. He is described as a "bravo cat who lived upon a barge", one ...
", in which she sings "The Ballad of Billy M'Caw" or the mock Italian aria "In Una Tepida Notte" (depending on production). Usually played by the actress playing Jellylorum. *
Growltiger Growltiger is a fictional character appearing in both T. S. Eliot's ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical '' Cats'' which is based on Eliot's book. He is described as a "bravo cat who lived upon a barge", one ...
– A theatrical character Gus recalls playing in his youth, and who appears in Gus' memory during "Growltiger's Last Stand". In some productions he is portrayed as a vicious pirate; in others, he is more comical. Usually played by the actor playing Gus. *
Rumpus Cat The Great Rumpus Cat is a fictional character from T.S. Eliot's 1939 book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' and in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical, '' Cats''. The Great Rumpus Cat appears in the poem " Of the Awefull Battle of the Peke ...
– A spiky-haired cat with glowing red eyes, seen as a sort of superhero figure in "The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles" despite his ineptness. Usually played by one of the male ensemble characters in the play within the musical.


Notable cast

Notes:


Additional film cast

* 1998 film:
Femi Taylor Femi Taylor (born 8 April 1961) is a Nigerien-born British dancer and actress best known for portraying Jabba the Hutt's Twi'lek slave dancer List of Star Wars characters#O, Oola in the 1983 Film, motion picture ''Return of the Jedi''. Career ...
as Exotica; Tony Timberlake as Asparagus (chorus cat) * 2019 film:
Les Twins Laurent and Larry Nicolas Bourgeois (born December 6, 1988), professionally known as Les Twins, are French dancers, choreographers, producers, models, designers, and creative directors of their brand "Eleven Paris". Often referred to by their r ...
as Socrates and Plato


Notable replacements

Notable replacements from the musical's West End and Broadway runs:


West End

* Admetus/Macavity: Richard Armitage (1994–1995) * Alonzo:
Warren Carlyle Warren Carlyle is a British director and choreographer who was born in Norwich, Norfolk, England. He received Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Director of a Musical for the 2009 revival of '' Finian's Rai ...
(1992), Steven Houghton (1993),
Jason Gardiner Jason Gardiner (born 6 November 1971) is an Australian choreographer, singer, and theatre producer best known for his role as a caustic and controversial judge on the ITV shows '' Dancing on Ice'', '' Born to Shine'' and '' Stepping Out''. ...
(1997), Chris Jarvis (2001–2002) * Asparagus/Growltiger:
Paul Bentley Paul Richard Bentley (born 25 July 1942) is a British stage, film and television actor, perhaps best known for playing the High Septon in the television series ''Game of Thrones''. He is also a writer. Early life Bentley was born in Sheffiel ...
(1988),
Mark Wynter Mark Wynter (born Terence Sidney Lewis; 29 January 1943) is an English singer and actor, who had four Top 20 singles in the 1960s, including "Venus in Blue Jeans" and "Go Away Little Girl". He enjoyed a lengthy career from 1960 to 1968 as a po ...
(1990–1992),
Peter Polycarpou Peter Polycarpou is an English-Cypriot actor, best known for playing Chris Theodopolopodous in the television comedy series '' Birds of a Feather'' and Louis Charalambos in ''The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies''. Early life Polycarpou w ...
(2001–2002) * Bill Bailey: Michael Sundin (1982) * Bombalurina:
Femi Taylor Femi Taylor (born 8 April 1961) is a Nigerien-born British dancer and actress best known for portraying Jabba the Hutt's Twi'lek slave dancer List of Star Wars characters#O, Oola in the 1983 Film, motion picture ''Return of the Jedi''. Career ...
(1984–1985),
Janie Dee Janie Dee (born 20 June 1962) is an English actress and singer. She won the Olivier Award for Best Actress, Evening Standard Award and Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Play, and in New York the Obie and Theatre World Award ...
(1990),
Donna King Donna King (born 1957) is an American dancer and musical theatre performer who appeared in Broadway musicals in the 1970s and 1980s and has lived and worked mostly in England since the 1980s. She is also an actress and has appeared in theatre ...
(1992), Heather Douglas (1999) * Coricopat:
Danny John-Jules Daniel John-Jules (born 16 September 1960) is a British actor, singer and dancer. He is best known for playing Milton Wordsworth in The Story Makers and ''Red Dwarf'', Barrington which are both children's series. Also he played in ''Maid Maria ...
(1983) * Demeter:
Erin Lordan Erin Lordan (8 November 1963 – 26 February 2005) was a British singer and dancer who had hits in the UK with BBG, Bamboo, Ascension and Shut Up and Dance. She was a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip. Erin was also "The Bride" in the Elto ...
(1985), Louise Fribo (1994–1995) * Electra:
Sarah-Jane Honeywell Sarah-Jane Honeywell (born 5 January 1974) is an English actress, writer, TV and radio presenter, blogger and singer. She is best known for her work on the CBeebies television channel. As well as appearing on pre-school TV, Honeywell is a suppor ...
(1993–1994) * Etcetera:
Sarah-Jane Honeywell Sarah-Jane Honeywell (born 5 January 1974) is an English actress, writer, TV and radio presenter, blogger and singer. She is best known for her work on the CBeebies television channel. As well as appearing on pre-school TV, Honeywell is a suppor ...
(2001–2002) * Grizabella:
Angela Richards Angela Richards (born 18 December 1944 in London) is an English actress. A graduate of RADA, she is also known for her body of work in musical theatre. Biography Theatre Richards has starred in several West End productions such as ''Robert a ...
(1982),
Marti Webb Marti Webb (born 13 December 1943) is an English actress and singer, who appeared on stage in '' Evita'', before starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's one-woman show '' Tell Me on a Sunday'' in 1980. This included her biggest hit single, " Take T ...
(1983),
Anita Harris Anita Madeleine Harris (born 3 June 1942) is an English actress, singer and entertainer. Harris sang with the Cliff Adams Singers for three years from 1961 and had a number of chart hits during the 1960s. She appeared in the ''Carry On'' film ...
(1985–1986),
Clare Burt Clare Burt is an English actress and singer, best known for her stage work and for her appearance on the television series ''The Bill''. Biography As a child she attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School. Burt is a member of the National Theat ...
(1993),
Rosemarie Ford Rosemarie Ford (born Rosemarie Poundford; 5 March 1962) is an English actress, dancer and television presenter. Television and film Ford is best known for her stint as the co-host of the BBC 1 game show ''The Generation Game'' with Bruce Forsyt ...
(1995),
Diane Langton Diane Langton (born 31 May 1947) is an English actress and singer, known for playing Marlena "Nana" McQueen in ''Hollyoaks'' from 2007 to 2009 and 2012 onwards. Career Langton has appeared in numerous television series. In the 1980s, she appear ...
(1996), Stephanie Lawrence (1997),
Sally Ann Triplett Sally Ann Triplett (born 15 April 1962, London, England) is a British singer and actress. She participated in two editions of the Eurovision Song Contest and West End productions. Career Triplett first represented the United Kingdom in the Eu ...
(1998),
Chrissie Hammond Cheetah were an Australian hard rock band, active between 1976 and 1984. The mainstay members and co-lead vocalists were English-born sisters, Chrissie and Lyndsay Hammond. They released their only album, ''Rock & Roll Women'', in April 1982. ...
(1999–2002),
Kerry Ellis Kerry Jane Ellis (born 6 May 1979) is an English actress and singer who is best known for her work in musical theatre and subsequent crossover into music. Born and raised in Suffolk, Ellis began performing at an early age before training at L ...
(revival; 2015),
Madalena Alberto Madalena Alberto is a Portuguese actress, singer and composer who has developed her career in the West End. Alberto received rave reviews for her role as Eva Perón in ''Evita'' in the West End (16 September - 1 November 2014), where the show arr ...
(revival; 2015–2016) * Jellylorum/Griddlebone: Rebecca Lock (2000–2001) * Jemima:
Ruthie Henshall Valentine Ruth Henshall (born 7 March 1967), known professionally as Ruthie Henshall, is an English actress, singer and dancer, known for her work in musical theatre. She began her professional stage career in 1986, before making her West End d ...
(1987–1989), Louise Fribo (1996), Veerle Casteleyn (1998–1999) * Jennyanydots:
Ann Emery Ann Emery (12 March 1930 – 28 September 2016) was a British actress. She was the half-sister of actor and comedian Dick Emery. Educated at Mrs Smith's School for Young Ladies and the Cone Ripman School, she excelled in tap dancing, which le ...
(1983–1986) * Mistoffelees:
Gen Horiuchi Gen Horiuchi ( ja, 堀内 元) is a Japanese ballet dancer and choreographer. He was a principal dancer of the New York City Ballet and is artistic director of the Saint Louis Ballet Company. Biography Gen Horiuchi (Hajime Gen Horiuchi) was born ...
(1998),
Louie Spence Louie Spence (born 6 April 1969) is an English dancer, choreographer and television personality, best known for the TV show ''Pineapple Dance Studios''. He was a professional dancer in his youth, performing in West End musicals including ''Miss ...
(1999), Jacob Brent (2001) * Munkustrap:
David Burt David Burt (1953) is a British actor, known primarily for his many and wide-ranging West End performances. David Burt is the son of Pip Hinton, better known for her role in '' Crackerjack'' alongside Eamonn Andrews and later Leslie Crowther. ...
(1982), Gary Martin (1987–1990), Steven Houghton (1994) * Old Deuteronomy:
John Turner John Napier Wyndham Turner (June 7, 1929September 19, 2020) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Canada from June to September 1984. He served as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and leader of t ...
(1983–1985),
John Rawnsley John Rawnsley (born 14 December 1950) is an English actor and opera singer. He is a baritone and has sung in the San Diego Opera. He sang the title role of Figaro in the 1981 film adaptation of Rossini's ''The Barber of Seville'', and also the ti ...
(1995–1997),
Dave Willetts Dave Willetts (born 24 June 1952) is an English singer and actor known for having leading roles in West End musicals. Early life Born in Marston Green, Birmingham, in 1952 and then brought up in Acocks Green. He first went to Cottesbrooke ...
(2001),
Junix Inocian Junix Inocian (born Rufino Duran Inocian, Jr.; March 17, 1951 – June 13, 2015) was a Filipino actor and comedian. He starred in various plays, such as ''Miss Saigon'', '' Fiddler on the Roof'', the film version of the Swedish crime novel ''Tatue ...
(2001–2002) * Rum Tum Tugger: John Partridge (1995, 2001–2002), Tommie Earl Jenkins (1997–1998) * Rumpleteazer:
Anna-Jane Casey Anna-Jane Casey (born 15 February 1972) is an English singer, dancer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre. Personal life Casey was born in Salford, Lancashire, England. Casey married fellow actor Graham MacDuff in 1998. The p ...
(1988–1990),
Jo Gibb JoAnn Gibb is a Scottish theatre actress best known for her role of Rumpleteazer in the 1998 film of Andrew Lloyd Webber's '' Cats'', and as the replacement Pearl the Observation Car in the original production of ''Starlight Express''. She al ...
(1996–1997) * Skimbleshanks: Neil Fitzwiliam (1984–1985) * Victoria:
Phyllida Crowley Smith Phyllida Crowley Smith (born 9 December 1967) is an English ballerina, theatre actress and choreographer. Born in Stoke and grew up in the Isle of Wight and studied at the Bush Davies School of Theatre Arts, she won The Cosmopolitan Magazine A ...
(1992–1993)


Broadway

* Alonzo:
Scott Wise Scott Wise (born October 30, 1958) is an American theatre actor and dancer. He is known for his performances in the 1989 musical ''Jerome Robbins' Broadway'', which earned him a Tony Award, and in the 2002 film ''Chicago''. Wise was nominated f ...
(1984) * Bustopher Jones/Asparagus/Growltiger:
Tim Jerome Timothy Jerome (born December 29, 1943, Los Angeles, California) is an American stage, film, and television actor.Willis, John (1991)''Theatre World, 1989-1990'' p. 204. Crown Publishers. Biography After attending Cornell University, Ithaca ...
(1984–1986),
Gregg Edelman Gregg Edelman (born September 12, 1958) is an American movie, television and theatre actor. Biography Edelman was born in Chicago, Illinois, attended Niles North High School, where he starred as Li'l Abner opposite future soap star Nancy Lee Gra ...
(1986) * Cassandra:
Charlotte d'Amboise Charlotte d'Amboise (born May 11, 1964) is an American actress and dancer. She has played starring roles in musical theatre, and has been nominated for two Tony Awards and won the Los Angeles Ovation Awards for Best Leading Actress in a Musica ...
(1984–1985) * Demeter:
Lena Hall Celina Consuela Gabriella Carvajal (born January 30, 1980), known professionally as Lena Hall, is an American actress and singer. She originated the role of Nicola in the Broadway theatre, Broadway musical ''Kinky Boots (musical), Kinky Boots'' ...
(1999–2000) * Grizabella:
Laurie Beechman Laurie Hope Beechman (April 4, 1953 – March 8, 1998) was an American actress and singer, known for her work in Broadway musicals. She also had a career as a cabaret performer and recording artist. After her death, the West Bank Cafe Downstairs T ...
(1984–1988, 1997),
Loni Ackerman Loni Ackerman (born April 10, 1949) is an American Broadway musical theatre performer and cabaret singer. Career Born in New York City, she made her Broadway debut in ''George M!'' in 1968, then, in the hit Off-Broadway production of ''Dames a ...
(1988–1991),
Lillias White Lillias White (born July 21, 1951) is an American actress and singer. She is particularly known for her performances in Broadway musicals. In 1989 she won an Obie Award for her performance in the Off-Broadway musical ''Romance in Hard Times''. In ...
(1991–1992),
Liz Callaway Liz Callaway (born April 13, 1961) is an American actress, singer and recording artist, who is best known for having provided the singing voices of many female characters in animated films, such as Anya/Anastasia in ''Anastasia'', Odette in ''Th ...
(1993–1999),
Linda Balgord Linda Balgord (born February 18, 1960) is an American Broadway actress and singer, most notable for playing Norma Desmond in the 1996 United States tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical ''Sunset Boulevard'', being the last actress to portray Gr ...
(1999–2000) * Jennyanydots:
Sharon Wheatley Sharon Wheatley (born December 7, 1967) is an American actress, singer, and writer known for her work on the Broadway stage and in the New York theatre scene. She is performing in the Tony Award winning Broadway musical ''Come from Away'' through ...
(1999–2000) * Mistoffelees:
Gen Horiuchi Gen Horiuchi ( ja, 堀内 元) is a Japanese ballet dancer and choreographer. He was a principal dancer of the New York City Ballet and is artistic director of the Saint Louis Ballet Company. Biography Gen Horiuchi (Hajime Gen Horiuchi) was born ...
(1991–1993, 1995–1996), Jacob Brent (1996–1999),
Christopher Gattelli Christopher Gattelli is an American choreographer, performer and theatre director. Early life and career Gattelli grew up in Bristol, Pennsylvania. He started dancing at the age of 11 and is a "Star Search" Grand champion.
(1999) * Munkustrap:
Rob Marshall Robert Doyle Marshall Jr.http://www.alumni.cmu.edu/s/1410/images/editor_documents/alumnirelations/getinvolved/alumniawards/all_honorees_2018june1.pdf (born October 17, 1960) is an American film and theater director, producer, and choreographer. ...
(1987),
Bryan Batt Bryan Batt (born March 1, 1963) is an American actor best known for his role in the AMC series ''Mad Men'' as Salvatore Romano, an art director for the Sterling Cooper agency. Primarily a theater actor, he has had a number of starring roles in mo ...
(1991–1992), Michael Gruber (1996–1997, 1999),
Jeffry Denman Jeffry Denman is an American actor, director, choreographer and author. Early life Denman was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, and graduated from the University of Buffalo as a Musical Theatre Dance major. Career He made his Broadway debut in ...
(1999–2000) * Old Deuteronomy:
Walter Charles Walter Charles (born April 4, 1945 in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania) is an American actor and singer. Charles made his Broadway debut in '' Grease'' in 1972. Additional Broadway credits include '' 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue'' (1976), ''Sweeney Tod ...
(u/s) * Plato/Macavity/Rumpus Cat:
Scott Wise Scott Wise (born October 30, 1958) is an American theatre actor and dancer. He is known for his performances in the 1989 musical ''Jerome Robbins' Broadway'', which earned him a Tony Award, and in the 2002 film ''Chicago''. Wise was nominated f ...
(1983) * Pouncival: Robert Montano (1985–1987),
Christopher Gattelli Christopher Gattelli is an American choreographer, performer and theatre director. Early life and career Gattelli grew up in Bristol, Pennsylvania. He started dancing at the age of 11 and is a "Star Search" Grand champion.
(1996–1998, 1999–2000) * Rum Tum Tugger: David Hibbard (1993–1996, 1997–1999),
Stephen Bienskie Stephen Bienskie is an American actor and singer, known for his role on the web series '' Submissions Only''. Career While trying to find work at the beginning of his acting career, Bienskie worked as a janitor. His earlier gigs include workin ...
(1999–2000) * Rumpleteazer: Jennifer Cody (1994) * Tumblebrutus:
Randy Bettis Raymond Randall Bettis (born March 10, 1959 in Jacksonville, Illinois) is an American DJ, remixer, and producer of dance music. History Randy Bettis's family consists of country singer and former shipping department manager for the defunct J. C ...
(1990–1991, 1996–1998)


Artistic elements


Musical treatment

''Cats'' is completely told through music with no dialogue in between the songs, although there are occasions when the music accompanies spoken verse. Lloyd Webber's compositions employ an eclectic range of musical styles so as to magnify the characters' contrasting personalities. For example, the rebellious Rum Tum Tugger is introduced with a
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
song ("The Rum Tum Tugger"); the fallen Grizabella is accompanied by a dramatic operatic
aria In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...
("Grizabella: The Glamour Cat"); Old Deuteronomy makes his grand entrance to a
lullaby A lullaby (), or cradle song, is a soothing song or piece of music that is usually played for (or sung to) children (for adults see music and sleep). The purposes of lullabies vary. In some societies they are used to pass down cultural knowled ...
-turned-
anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...
("Old Deuteronomy"); and Gus' nostalgia for the past is reflected through an old-fashioned
music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...
number ("Gus: The Theatre Cat"). Many of the songs are
pastiche A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking it ...
s of their respective genres, which Snelson attributes to the show's origins as a song cycle: Lloyd Webber also employs various techniques to help connect the pieces. Namely, the score relies heavily on recurring motifs as well as the use of preludes and
reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any repea ...
s. For instance,
melodic A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combinat ...
fragments of "Memory" are sung by Grizabella and Jemima at several points in the show before the song is sung in full, serving to characterise Grizabella and foreshadow her final number. Similarly, Lloyd Webber introduces a
fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...
in the overture, and variations of this theme are then repeated throughout the musical until it is finally resolved as Grizabella ascends to the Heaviside Layer. The musical also features an unusual amount of "group-description" numbers. According to musicologist Jessica Sternfeld, such numbers are usually relegated to the
prologue A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...
and nothing more, as seen in "
Another Op'nin', Another Show "Another Op'nin', Another Show" is the opening number of Cole Porter's 1948 musical ''Kiss Me, Kate''. Sung by a band of players performing a musical adaption of Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'', the song has become regarded as a show b ...
" from ''
Kiss Me, Kate ''Kiss Me, Kate'' is a musical written by Bella and Samuel Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and the conflict on and off-s ...
'' and "
Tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
" from ''
Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in or around 1905. It is based on ''Tevye and his Daughters'' (or ''Tevye the ...
''. ''Cats'' on the other hand features four Jellicle-defining songs: "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats", "The Naming of Cats", "The Jellicle Ball" and "The Ad-Dressing of Cats". These numbers allow the cats to celebrate their tribe and species as a whole, in between the ones that celebrate individual members.


Choreography

Regarded as "one of the most challenging shows to dance in musical theatre history", dance plays a major role in ''Cats'' as the original creative team had specifically set out to create "England's first dance musical". Before ''Cats'', the industry-wide belief was that British dancers were inferior to their Broadway counterparts. The risky hiring of a British choreographer, Lynne, for a British dance musical was described by one historian as "a vivid and marvellous gesture of transatlantic defiance". Making Lynne's job more challenging was the fact that the music in ''Cats'' is unceasing and the majority of the cast remains on-stage throughout nearly the entire show. Lynne choreographed the original London production with a dance crew consisting of her assistant Lindsay Dolan, the dance captain Jo-Anne Robinson, and cast members Finola Hughes and John Thornton. The resulting choreography blends
ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
,
modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th ...
,
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
and tap, interspersed with acrobatic displays. Lynne also trained the cast to evoke the movement, physicality and behaviour of actual cats. These feline traits were incorporated into the movement and choreography so as to create an "
anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
illusion". Lynne considered the 13-minute "Jellicle Ball" dance to be the crux of the show, noting that in order to work as a dance-driven musical, ''Cats'' "had to succeed there or die". She recalled the difficulty she faced in persuading Lloyd Webber to add the extended dance break, culminating in her and her dance crew having to dance all the parts in the "Jellicle Ball" to convince him.


Staging

The original staging of ''Cats'' at the
New London Theatre The Gillian Lynne Theatre (formerly New London Theatre) is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden. The Winter Garden Theatre formerly occupied the site until 196 ...
was considered revolutionary and "one of the first truly immersive theatrical experiences". Instead of a conventional
proscenium A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...
, the theatre was quasi- in-the-round with a central
revolving stage A revolving stage is a mechanically controlled platform within a theatre that can be rotated in order to speed up the changing of a scene within a show. A fully revolving set was an innovation constructed by the hydraulics engineer Tommaso Francin ...
. Nunn and Napier had sought to create "an environment rather than a set", and around $900,000 was spent remodelling the New London in preparation for the show. This included mounting sections of the Stalls (theatre), stalls onto the theatre's revolve such that the audience moved along with the stage. When the show was brought to Broadway, the
Winter Garden Theatre The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre at 1634 Broadway in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It opened in 1911 under designs by architect William Albert Swasey. The Winter Garden's current design dates to 1922, when ...
was given a similar $2 million makeover; its proscenium stage was converted into a Thrust stage, thrust, and a part of its roof was torn through to allow for the effects of Grizabella's ascension to the Heaviside Layer. Nunn was also adamant that the orchestra for ''Cats'' be hidden backstage — out of the audience's view — so as not to break the immersion. Adding to the experience, the show usually includes a lot of audience interaction, such as during the overture when the cast don flashing "green eyes" as they make their way through the audience in the darkened theatre. In the original Broadway production, Catwalk (theater), catwalks were built to connect the stage to the Box (theatre), boxes and balcony so as to give the cast access to the entire auditorium during the show.


Set and costume design

Napier began designing the set in November 1980, wanting "a place where cats might congregate together, which also included maximum room for dancing". The set of ''Cats'' consists of a junkyard filled with oversized props to give the illusion that the cast are the size of actual cats; it remains the same throughout the show without any scene changes. Over 2,500 of these scaled-up props were used to fill the whole auditorium in the original Broadway production. Napier also designed the costumes, combining cat and human features based on "hints" given in Eliot's poems, while ensuring that they did not impede the dancers' movements. The costumes generally consist of a unitard, a wig that is fashioned to suggest the presence of feline ears, patches resembling body fur, and arm warmer, arm and leg warmers to give the performers' hands and feet a more paw-like appearance. As with the contrasting music and dance styles, the costumes and make-up are used to bring out each character's distinct personality. For example, the costume for the flirtatious Bombalurina is designed to accentuate her sensuality, while the markings on the costume for Jemima — the youngest of the tribe — resemble crayon scribbles. Every character's design Motif (visual arts), motif is custom-painted by hand onto a plain unitard to line up with their performer's individual body. In order to reproduce the "hand-drawn aesthetic" of Napier's original design sketches, costume painters in the original Broadway production used squeeze bottles to apply the paint. Due to the amount of dancing in ''Cats'', most of the costumes did not last longer than a few months.


Heaviside layer

The plot of ''Cats'' revolves around a tribe of cats vying to go to the "Heaviside Layer", which is used as a metaphor for rebirth. The concept and the corresponding song "Journey to the Heaviside Layer" are based on an unpublished poem fragment by T. S. Eliot. (The physical Kennelly–Heaviside layer is a layer of ionized gas in the upper reaches of the Earth's atmosphere that reflects some radio waves.)


Productions

''Cats'' has been translated into over 15 languages and produced professionally in more than 30 countries.


London

''Cats'' premiered in the West End at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, New London Theatre on 11 May 1981. The musical was produced by Mackintosh and Lloyd Webber's
Really Useful Group The Really Useful Group Ltd. (RUG) is an international company set up in 1977 by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is involved in theatre, film, television, video and concert productions, merchandising, magazine publishing, records and music publishing. ...
, with direction by Nunn, choreography by Lynne (who also served as the associate director), set and costume design by Napier, lighting design by David Hersey, sound design by Abe Jacob and music direction by
Harry Rabinowitz Harry Rabinowitz MBE (26 March 1916 – 22 June 2016) was a South African-British conductor and composer of film and television music. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, he was the son of Israel and Eva Rabinowitz. He was educated at the Univ ...
. It played a total of 8,949 performances before closing on its 21st anniversary, 11 May 2002. The final performance was broadcast live on a large outdoor screen in Covent Garden for fans who could not acquire a ticket. ''Cats'' held the record as London's longest-running musical from 1989, when it surpassed ''Jesus Christ Superstar'', until 8 October 2006, when it was surpassed by ''Les Misérables (musical), Les Misérables''. The musical returned to the West End in 2014 for a planned 12-week limited run at the London Palladium. Beginning on 6 December, the revival starred Nicole Scherzinger as Grizabella, and featured the original creative team, with direction from Nunn, choreography by Lynne and design by Napier. Lloyd Webber was also involved and rewrote "The Rum Tum Tugger" for the revival. The run was later extended through April 2015 and an additional 100,000 tickets were released, with
Kerry Ellis Kerry Jane Ellis (born 6 May 1979) is an English actress and singer who is best known for her work in musical theatre and subsequent crossover into music. Born and raised in Suffolk, Ellis began performing at an early age before training at L ...
replacing Scherzinger as Grizabella. The musical returned once again to the London Palladium for another limited run lasting from 23 October 2015 to 2 January 2016, starring Beverley Knight as Grizabella.


Broadway

''Cats'' debuted on Broadway on 7 October 1982 at the
Winter Garden Theatre The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre at 1634 Broadway in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It opened in 1911 under designs by architect William Albert Swasey. The Winter Garden's current design dates to 1922, when ...
with a record-breaking $6.2 million in ticket pre-sales. The musical was co-produced by the original London production team, along with David Geffen and The Shubert Organization. Most of the original creative team remained, with Martin Levan replacing Jacob as the sound designer and Stanley Lebowsky replacing Rabinowitz as music director. It was the most expensive Broadway show ever mounted at the time with a production cost of $5.5 million, though it recouped its investment in less than 10 months. On 19 June 1997, ''Cats'' overtook ''
A Chorus Line ''A Chorus Line'' is a 1975 musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is centered on seventeen Broadway dancers ...
'' to become the List of the longest-running Broadway shows#Timeline of longest-running Broadway shows, longest-running show in Broadway history with 6,138 performances. At the time, the musical was found to have had an economic impact of $3.12 billion on New York City and had generated the most theatrical jobs of any single entity in Broadway history. In early 2000, the show's closing was scheduled for June but it was subsequently pushed back after a resulting surge in ticket sales. The show closed on 10 September 2000 after a total of 15 previews and 7,485 performances. One actress, Marlene Danielle, performed in the Broadway production for its entire 18-year run. Its Broadway-run record was surpassed on 9 January 2006 by ''The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical), The Phantom of the Opera'', and ''Cats'' remains Broadway's List of the longest-running Broadway shows, fourth-longest-running show of all time. Overall, the original Broadway production grossed approximately $388 million in ticket sales. Encouraged by the reception to the first West End revival, producers began looking to bring ''Cats'' back to Broadway in early 2015. The Broadway revival opened on 31 July 2016 at the Neil Simon Theatre. It featured new choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler, with Nunn and Napier from the original creative team returning to direct and design respectively. Scherzinger, who played Grizabella in the 2014 West End revival, had originally agreed to reprise the role on Broadway but later withdrew. Leona Lewis was cast as Grizabella instead, and was succeeded by Mamie Parris three months later in October 2016. The Broadway revival closed on 30 December 2017 after 16 previews and 593 performances.


North America

Following its Broadway debut, ''Cats'' has been staged extensively across North America. The first US national tour, Cats National I, launched at the Shubert Theatre (Boston), Shubert Theatre in Boston in December 1983 and closed in November 1987. The opening night cast included
Laurie Beechman Laurie Hope Beechman (April 4, 1953 – March 8, 1998) was an American actress and singer, known for her work in Broadway musicals. She also had a career as a cabaret performer and recording artist. After her death, the West Bank Cafe Downstairs T ...
playing Grizabella and
Charlotte d'Amboise Charlotte d'Amboise (born May 11, 1964) is an American actress and dancer. She has played starring roles in musical theatre, and has been nominated for two Tony Awards and won the Los Angeles Ovation Awards for Best Leading Actress in a Musica ...
playing Cassandra; later replacements included Victoria Clark and Jessica Molaskey both playing Jellylorum/Griddlebone. This production was a "slow tour" that had lengthy engagements lasting for several months in each of the nine cities it visited. Cats National II, a separate sit-down production at the Shubert Theatre (Los Angeles), Los Angeles Shubert Theatre, ran from January 1985 to November 1986, and starred Kim Criswell and George de la Peña in the roles of Grizabella and Mistoffelees respectively. A third US touring company, Cats National III, ran for two years from September 1986 to September 1988. Notable performers in the third tour included Jonathan Cerullo as Skimbleshanks (1986) and Bill Nolte as Old Deuteronomy (1987). The fourth national company, Cats National IV, toured the United States for 13 years from March 1987 to December 1999. It overtook the first national tour of ''Oklahoma!'' in November 1997 to become the longest-running tour in theatre history, and played its 5,000th performance in July 1999. Notable performers in the fourth tour included Amelia Marshall as Sillabub (1988), Jan Horvath as Grizabella (1990),
Bryan Batt Bryan Batt (born March 1, 1963) is an American actor best known for his role in the AMC series ''Mad Men'' as Salvatore Romano, an art director for the Sterling Cooper agency. Primarily a theater actor, he has had a number of starring roles in mo ...
as Munkustrap (1991–1992), Jennifer Cody as Rumpleteazer (1992), David Hibbard as Rum Tum Tugger (1992–1993), Natalie Toro as Grizabella (1992, 1997),
Christopher Gattelli Christopher Gattelli is an American choreographer, performer and theatre director. Early life and career Gattelli grew up in Bristol, Pennsylvania. He started dancing at the age of 11 and is a "Star Search" Grand champion.
as Mistoffelees (1993), John Treacy Egan as Old Deuteronomy (1993–1994), J. Robert Spencer as Rum Tum Tugger (1995), Bart Shatto as Bustopher Jones/Gus/Growltiger (1996),
Linda Balgord Linda Balgord (born February 18, 1960) is an American Broadway actress and singer, most notable for playing Norma Desmond in the 1996 United States tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical ''Sunset Boulevard'', being the last actress to portray Gr ...
as Grizabella (1998), Andy Karl as Rum Tum Tugger (1998), and
Lena Hall Celina Consuela Gabriella Carvajal (born January 30, 1980), known professionally as Lena Hall, is an American actress and singer. She originated the role of Nicola in the Broadway theatre, Broadway musical ''Kinky Boots (musical), Kinky Boots'' ...
as Demeter (1998). By June 1997, the North American touring companies had grossed over $400 million. After the show's closure on Broadway in 2000, Troika Entertainment obtained the touring rights for ''Cats'' and launched the show's first non-Actors' Equity Association, Equity national company. After a try-out at Harrah's Atlantic City in July 2001, the production toured North America for 11 years from August 2001 to June 2012. Performers in the non-Equity tour included Julie Garnyé as Jennyanydots (2001) and Dee Roscioli as Grizabella (2002). In January 2019, a new North American Equity tour based on the 2016 Broadway revival opened at the Providence Performing Arts Center in Rhode Island, and is scheduled to run through June 2020. Meanwhile, the first Canadian national production premiered in March 1985 at the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres in Toronto, Ontario. It moved to Montreal two years later and then toured other parts of Canada. By the time the production closed in August 1989, it had become the most successful Canadian stage production of all time with a box office of $78 million from nearly 2 million tickets. A second All-Canadian company began at Toronto's former Panasonic Theatre in May 2013 and ran for four months & 128 performances, 28 years after the original production. The musical first played in Mexico from April 1991 to November 1992; the Spanish-language production performed over 400 shows and starred María del Sol as Grizabella, Manuel Landeta as Munkustrap, Susana Zabaleta as Jellylorum, Maru Dueñas as Sillabub and Ariel López Padilla as Macavity. A revival premiered at the Teatro San Rafael in May 2013, with an opening night cast that included Filippa Giordano as Grizabella, Landeta, and Maru Dueñas. After a total of 350 performances, the show closed at the Teatro San Rafael in June 2014, and then toured over 36 cities in Mexico until December 2014. Other performers who later joined the production included Lisset, Rocío Banquells, Lila Deneken and Myriam Montemayor Cruz, all of whom played Grizabella. Another Mexican revival was launched at the Coyoacán Centennial Theater in October 2018, with Yuri (Mexican singer), Yuri as Grizabella and Landeta as Old Deuteronomy. The revival marked its 200th performance in May 2019.


United Kingdom

The first UK and Ireland tour opened in May 1989 at the Opera House Theatre, Blackpool, Opera House Theatre in Blackpool. The cast for this tour included
Marti Webb Marti Webb (born 13 December 1943) is an English actress and singer, who appeared on stage in '' Evita'', before starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's one-woman show '' Tell Me on a Sunday'' in 1980. This included her biggest hit single, " Take T ...
as Grizabella,
Rosemarie Ford Rosemarie Ford (born Rosemarie Poundford; 5 March 1962) is an English actress, dancer and television presenter. Television and film Ford is best known for her stint as the co-host of the BBC 1 game show ''The Generation Game'' with Bruce Forsyt ...
as Bombalurina and John Partridge as Alonzo. Following a six-month engagement in Blackpool that broke the theatre's box office record and was seen by around 450,000 people, the production moved to the Edinburgh Playhouse for three months, before closing in May 1990 after another two months at the Point Theatre in Dublin. A second national tour launched in June 1993 at the Bristol Hippodrome, featuring Rosemarie Ford as Grizabella, Robin Cousins as Munkustrap, Simon Rice as Mistoffelees and Tony Monopoly as Old Deuteronomy. The tour closed at the Manchester Opera House in December 1995. Following the closure of the original West End production, a nationwide tour embarked in 2003 with
Chrissie Hammond Cheetah were an Australian hard rock band, active between 1976 and 1984. The mainstay members and co-lead vocalists were English-born sisters, Chrissie and Lyndsay Hammond. They released their only album, ''Rock & Roll Women'', in April 1982. ...
starring as Grizabella, until Dianne Pilkington took over the role in 2006. Hammond reprised the role on tour again from 2007 to 2008. A UK and Ireland tour of ''Cats'' launched in February 2013 at the Edinburgh Playhouse with Joanna Ampil as Grizabella. Susan McFadden took over the role from Ampil during the tour's three-week stop in Dublin. The production ran through 2014 before transferring to the West End. In between its limited West End runs, the musical returned to the Blackpool Opera House Theatre in 2015, this time starring Jane McDonald as Grizabella. After the second West End revival, the production toured the UK in 2016 with Anita Louise Combe as Grizabella and Marcquelle Ward as Rum Tum Tugger.


Japan

The Japanese-language production of ''Cats'' by the Shiki Theatre Company has been playing continuously since it premiered in Shinjuku, Tokyo, in November 1983. This production is a "slow tour" with engagements lasting for several years in each of the nine cities it has visited. An initial investment of ¥800 million (US$3.4 million in 1983) was required to bring ''Cats'' to Japan, including ¥300 million for the construction of a purpose-built theatre tailored to the needs of the musical. This was a big financial risk for the Shiki Theatre Company as it meant that a long run was needed to turn a profit; however, stage productions in Japan ran on a monthly basis at the time and open-ended runs were unheard of. The resulting success of this production led to what the local media termed a "musical boom" in the 1980s, with other Broadway musicals quickly following suit and opening in Japan. , the show is performed at the purpose-built CATS Theatre in Tokyo. The production has played over 10,000 performances to over 10 million audience members. Similar to the original London staging, the set of the 1,200-capacity CATS Theatre is built on a revolving stage floor such that during the overture, the stage and sections of the stalls revolve approximately 180 degrees into place. In 1998, the Japanese production underwent major revisions to the choreography, staging and costume designs. Following further revisions in 2018, the current incarnation features 27 named cats, including both Jemima and Sillabub (who have evolved into two separate characters), and an original character named Gilbert. There have been numerous notable performers in the Japanese production, including Shintarō Sonooka as Munkustrap (original 1983 cast), Kanji Ishimaru as Skimbleshanks (1992), Masachika Ichimura, and Mayo Kawasaki. Yoshiko Hattori (:ja:服部良子) holds the production's record for the longest-appearing cast member; she played Jennyanydots in the original 1983 cast and remained in the role for 20 years with a final performance tally of 4,251.


Vienna

Under the direction of Peter Weck, the first German-language production of ''Cats'' opened in September 1983 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, Austria. In 1988, the show transferred to the newly renovated Ronacher Theatre where it ran for another two years before closing on its seventh anniversary in September 1990. The Vienna production played a total of 2,040 performances to more than 2.3 million audience members. The original Viennese cast included Ute Lemper who played Bombalurina, Steve Barton who played Munkustrap, Robert Montano who played Pouncival, and Angelika Milster who played Grizabella. Pia Douwes was also a member of the cast from 1987 to 1989, covering several different characters including Grizabella. The Vienna production also performed limited runs at the Komische Oper Berlin in East Germany in 1987, and at the Moscow Operetta Theatre in the Soviet Union in 1988. An ongoing revival by the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien production company opened at the Ronacher Theatre in September 2019.


Germany

Influenced by the show's success in Vienna, a German production by Stella Entertainment premiered in April 1986 at the newly renovated
Operettenhaus Operettenhaus ''(Stage Operettenhaus)'' is a performing arts theatre in Hamburg, owned and operated by Stage Entertainment Stage Entertainment is an international operating live entertainment company, a subsidiary of Advance Publications. The co ...
in
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. It closed in January 2001 after 15 years, having played over 6,100 performances to 6.2 million audiences. ''Cats'' was the first stage production in the country to be mounted without public funding and was also the first to run for multiple years; its success established the medium as a profitable venture in Germany. The musical was also a huge boost for tourism in Hamburg, particularly the subdivision of St. Pauli where it accounted for 30% of all tourists. The number of overnight visitors to the city increased by over one million per year within the first five years of the show's premiere. ''Cats'' redefined musical theatre in the German-speaking part of the world, turning an industry which consisted of repertory theatre at the time towards privately funded commercial productions. The success of the Vienna and Hamburg productions sparked a "musical boom" in the region that saw numerous musicals being launched not just in Germany but also in Switzerland. It also led to a "construction boom" in Germany as new theatrical venues such as the Schmidt Theater were enacted all around the country. Germany has since grown to become the third largest musical market after the US and UK, with Hamburg as its "musical capital". After Hamburg, the German production transferred to Stuttgart where it played from 2001 to 2002. Stage Entertainment took over the production mid-2002 and moved the show to Berlin (2002–2004) and later Düsseldorf (2004–2005), before touring other cities until 2006. Mehr-Entertainment launched a separate tour of ''Cats'' that ran from December 2010 to June 2013, performing in a travelling purpose-built tent theatre. Besides Germany, this company also made stops in cities in Luxembourg, Switzerland and Austria.


Europe

Beyond the UK, Vienna, and Germany, ''Cats'' is also produced frequently in the rest of Europe.


1980s and 1990s

The first non-English production of ''Cats'' premiered in March 1983 at the Madách Theatre in Budapest, Hungary, with direction by Tamás Szirtes and choreography by László Seregi. Since then, the Hungarian-language production has continued to be staged intermittently as part of the Madách Theatre's repertoire and, as of 2017, has been performed nearly 1,500 times. November 1985 saw the premiere of a Norwegian-language production at Det Norske Teatret in Oslo. It closed in January 1987 and included performers such as Øivind Blunck, Brit Elisabeth Haagensli and Øystein Wiik. Jorma Uotinen directed and choreographed a Finnish production at the Helsinki City Theatre that ran for over two years from September 1986 to December 1988, and featured Monica Aspelund as Grizabella, Heikki Kinnunen as Gus, and Kristiina Elstelä as Jennyanydots/Griddlebone. A Swedish version of the musical opened in 1987 at the Chinateatern in Stockholm. The production was seen by 326,000 audiences before it transferred to the Scandinavium in Gothenburg two years later. Meanwhile, the Carré Theatre in Amsterdam, Netherlands, staged the musical in 1987 (with Ruth Jacott as Grizabella), 1988 and from 1992 to 1993. ''Cats'' made its French debut at the Théâtre de Paris from February 1989 to April 1990, with an original cast that included Gilles Ramade as Old Deuteronomy. The show was also produced in Zürich at the ABB Musical Theatre from 1991 to 1993, while a production by Joop van den Ende and the Royal Ballet of Flanders was staged at the Stadsschouwburg Antwerpen in Belgium in 1996. An English/German-language "Eurotour" production also toured the region from May 1994 to December 1995.


21st century

The show was staged at the Det Ny Teater in Copenhagen, Denmark, in the 2002–2003 season. This Danish production was translated by Adam Price (screenwriter), Adam Price and was one of the largest theatrical productions ever mounted in the country at the time with 100 performers, musicians and stagehands. The first non-replica production of ''Cats'' was approved for a Polish production at the Teatr Muzyczny Roma in Warsaw. Set in an abandoned film studio instead of a junkyard, the Polish version opened in January 2004 and closed in 2010. The Gothenburg opera house staged a production with a Swedish-language script by Ingela Forsman; this version was reimagined to take place in an abandoned fairground and played from September 2006 to February 2007. Other productions were also staged at the Divadlo Milenium in Prague from 2004 to 2005, and a Norwegian revival at the Chat Noir in Oslo in 2009. The first Italian-language production began touring Italy in 2009. The Dutch live entertainment company Stage Entertainment has been responsible for several European productions of ''Cats''. The company produced the musical at the Coliseum Theatre in Madrid from December 2003 to January 2005, with a cast that included Víctor Ullate Roche as Mistoffelees. They then staged a Russian-language production at the Moscow Palace of Youth from 2005 to 2006, with a cast that included Ivan Ozhogin as Munkustrap. A Dutch production under the same company toured the Netherlands and Belgium from 2006 to 2007, featuring several performers in the role of Grizabella including Pia Douwes and Anita Meyer. A Paris revival by Stage Entertainment ran at the Théâtre Mogador from October 2015 to July 2016. This production was based on the 2014 London revival and also featured a new song written especially for the French show by Lloyd Webber. English-language touring companies have also toured the European region extensively. International tours in the early to late 2000s included stops in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Greece, Portugal,
"'Cats' Mais Tempo em Lisboa"
[More 'Cats' in Lisbon]. ''Correio da Manhã'' (in Portuguese). 11 July 2004. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
"Cats the musical returns to Portugal"
. ''Portugal Resident''. 23 August 2006. Retrieved 18 April 2019. Germany, and Italy. The 2013–2014 UK tour visited cities in Belgium, Greece, Italy, Monaco, and Portugal. Most recently, a UK production played in numerous European cities from 2016 to 2019, with tour stops in Switzerland, Croatia, Belgium, Poland, Bulgaria, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, and Luxembourg. * * * These European tours have featured several notable performers in the role of Grizabella, including Pernilla Wahlgren (Sweden; 2003), Katarína Hasprová (Slovakia; 2016) and Jenna Lee-James (Netherlands; 2018–2019).


Oceania

The first Australian production ran from July 1985 to August 1987 at the Theatre Royal, Sydney, Theatre Royal in Sydney. The original cast included Debra Byrne as Grizabella, John Wood (actor, born 1946), John Wood as Old Deuteronomy, Marina Prior as Jellylorum, Jeff Phillips (singer), Jeff Phillips as Rum Tum Tugger, David Atkins as Mistoffelees, and Anita Louise Combe as Sillabub. The Sydney production cost $3 million to mount and grossed a record $28 million. It was credited with revitalising the then-stagnant musical genre in Australia. After closing in Sydney, an additional $1.8 million was spent transferring the production to Melbourne, including $725,000 to refurbish the old Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, Her Majesty's Theatre. The Melbourne run played from October 1987 to December 1988, with an opening night cast that included Megan Williams (actress), Megan Williams as Grizabella, Wood as Old Deuteronomy, Phillips as Rum Tum Tugger, Linda Hartley-Clark as Demeter,
Femi Taylor Femi Taylor (born 8 April 1961) is a Nigerien-born British dancer and actress best known for portraying Jabba the Hutt's Twi'lek slave dancer List of Star Wars characters#O, Oola in the 1983 Film, motion picture ''Return of the Jedi''. Career ...
as Bombalurina, Rachael Beck as Rumpleteazer and Seán Martin Hingston as Plato/Macavity. From 1989 to 1990, the company toured the Adelaide Festival Centre, Festival Theatre in Adelaide, His Majesty's Theatre, Perth, His Majesty's Theatre in Perth, Newcastle Civic Theatre, Civic Theatre in Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Lyric Theatre in Brisbane, and the Aotea Centre in Auckland. This was followed by a second national tour from 1993 to 1996,
"Cats, Princess Theatre (1886– ), Melbourne, VIC, 28 August 1993, 6 November 1993"
AusStage. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
"Cats, Lyric Theatre, South Brisbane, QLD, 28 July 1994, 3 September 1994"
AusStage. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
"Cats, Newcastle Civic Theatre, Newcastle, NSW, 10 September 1994, 1 October 1994"
AusStage. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
"Cats, Her Majesty's Theatre (1973–2001), Sydney, NSW, 31 December 1994"
AusStage. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
"Cats, Festival Theatre, Adelaide, SA, 30 December 1995, 27 January 1996"
AusStage. Retrieved 14 April 2019. during which Delia Hannah made her debut as Grizabella in 1994. A professional circus adaptation of ''Cats'', titled ''Cats Run Away to the Circus'', had a national tent tour from 1999 to 2001, with Hannah once again starring as Grizabella.
"Cats Run Away to the Circus, Australia, Australia, 11 December 1999, 24 February 2001"
AusStage. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
"Cats Run Away to the Circus, Samuel Sherlock Reserve, Frankston, VIC, 3 January 2001"
AusStage. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
"Cats Run Away to the Circus, Amphitheatre, Gateway Island, Wodonga, VIC, 10 January 2001"
AusStage. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
"Cats Run Away to the Circus, Bolton Park, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 17 January 2001"
AusStage. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
"Cats Run Away to the Circus, Aerodrome Ovals, Mildura, VIC, 24 January 2001"
AusStage. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
"Cats Run Away to the Circus, Weroona Oval, Bendigo, VIC, 31 January 2001"
AusStage. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
"Cats Run Away to the Circus, North Gardens, Ballarat, VIC, 7 February 2001"
AusStage. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
"Cats Run Away to the Circus, Vansittart Park, Mt Gambier, SA, 14 February 2001"
AusStage. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
"Cats Run Away to the Circus, Harris Street Reserve, Warrnambool, VIC, 21 February 2001"
AusStage. Retrieved 14 April 2019. Hannah reprised her role for another production that toured Australia and Asia in 2009 and 2010. In July 2014, Australia's Harvest Rain Theatre Company staged the biggest production of ''Cats'' in the Southern Hemisphere with over 700 performers. Produced by Tim O'Connor (actor/director), Tim O'Connor, the production was performed at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre. Callum Mansfield directed and choreographed it, and its cast included Marina Prior as Grizabella and Steven Tandy as Bustopher Jones and Gus. From October 2015 to May 2016, a revival toured Australia with stops in Sydney, Hobart, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth. The revival featured singer-songwriter Delta Goodrem as Grizabella, before Delia Hannah took over the role during the Adelaide and Perth seasons. The musical played in Auckland from 1989 to 1990, and for a limited run in 2015. A New Zealand national tour played across 16 cities in 2019, with a reimagined setting in a derelict Victorian era, Victorian theatre that was inspired by post-earthquake Christchurch.


Asia

Besides Japan, ''Cats'' is also produced regularly in other parts of Asia. The region has hosted numerous English-language productions of the musical, beginning with a tour from 1993 to 1994 when it played in Singapore (with local actress Jacintha Abisheganaden as Grizabella), Hong Kong and South Korea. ''Cats'' returned to Asia from 2002 to 2004, when an international touring company performed in Malaysia, South Korea, Shanghai, Taipei and Beijing; the 2004 cast included Slindile Nodangala in the role of Grizabella. A touring company visited Asia again between 2007 and 2010, including stops in the region of Taiwan, Macau, and Thailand in 2007; South Korea from 2007 to 2008;
"캣츠 – 대구 CATS (2007/05/31 ~ 2007/07/01)"
(in Korean). 플레이 DB. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
"캣츠 CATS (2007/07/06 ~ 2007/09/02)"
(in Korean). 플레이 DB. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
"캣츠 Cats (2008/05/30 ~ 2008/08/31)"
(in Korean). 플레이 DB. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
"캣츠 – 대구 Cats (2008/09/05 ~ 2008/09/21)"
(in Korean). 플레이 DB. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
"캣츠 – 부산 Cats (2008/09/27 ~ 2008/10/26)"
(in Korean). 플레이 DB. Retrieved 19 April 2019 . China in 2008; Singapore and Hong Kong in 2009 (with Delia Hannah playing Grizabella); and Manila in 2010 (with Lea Salonga as Grizabella). ''Cats'' toured Asia again from 2014 to 2015, making stops in South Korea, Singapore and Macau. Two years later, another Asian tour was launched and is scheduled to run through 2020, with visits to South Korea from 2017 to 2018, Hong Kong and Taiwan in 2018, China in 2018 (with Joanna Ampil as Grizabella) and 2019, and planned stops in the Philippines and Singapore in 2019, and Malaysia in 2020.
"Tour Dates (2019) p.1"
catsthemusical.com (official website). Archived fro
the original
on 15 April 2019. Retrieved on 15 April 2019.
"Tour Dates (2019) p.2"
catsthemusical.com (official website). Archived fro
the original
on 19 June 2019. Retrieved on 20 June 2019. ''Cats'' was China's highest-grossing musical in 2018, accounting for over 20% of the total grosses from all musicals staged in the country that year. The musical has also been translated and staged nationally in Asia. From September 2008 to May 2009, a Korean-language production toured South Korea, with Shin Youngsook and Ock Joo-hyun alternating as Grizabella, Kim Jin-woo (actor), Kim Jin-woo and Daesung alternating as Rum Tum Tugger, and Kim Bo-kyung (actress), Kim Bo-kyung as Rumpleteazer. This production was revived and toured South Korea from 2011 to 2012, with Insooni and Park Hae-mi taking turns to portray Grizabella.
"캣츠 – 이천 CATS (2011/08/26 ~ 2011/08/28)"
(in Korean). 플레이 DB. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
"캣츠 – 전주 CATS (2011/09/02 ~ 2011/09/04)"
(in Korean). 플레이 DB. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
"캣츠 Musical Cats (2011/09/17 ~ 2011/12/31)"
(in Korean). 플레이 DB. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
"캣츠 – 부산 Musical CATS (2012/01/13 ~ 2012/01/29)"
(in Korean). 플레이 DB. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
"캣츠 – 광주 Musical CATS (2012/02/03 ~ 2012/02/05)"
(in Korean). 플레이 DB. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
"캣츠 – 창원 Musical CATS (2012/02/10 ~ 2012/02/12)"
(in Korean). 플레이 DB. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
"캣츠 – 대전 Musical CATS (2012/02/17 ~ 2012/02/19)"
(in Korean). 플레이 DB. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
"캣츠 – 인천 Musical CATS (2012/02/24 ~ 2012/02/26)"
(in Korean). 플레이 DB. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
"캣츠 – 진주 Musical CATS (2012/03/09 ~ 2012/03/11)"
(in Korean). 플레이 DB. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
"캣츠 – 청주 Musical CATS (2012/03/17 ~ 2012/03/18)"
(in Korean). 플레이 DB. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
"캣츠 – 군포 Musical CATS (2012/03/23 ~ 2012/03/25)"
(in Korean). 플레이 DB. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
"캣츠 – 대구 Musical CATS Musical CATS (2012/04/06 ~ 2012/04/08)"
(in Korean). 플레이 DB. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
"캣츠 – 제주 Musical CATS (2012/04/20 ~ 2012/04/22)"
(in Korean). 플레이 DB. Retrieved 19 April 2019 . The first Chinese-language production began touring various cities in China in 2012.


Others

Spanish and Portuguese-language productions of ''Cats'' have been staged in South America, with productions in Argentina in 1993 (with Mexican actress Olivia Bucio as Grizabella), in Chile in 2006 (at the Arena Santiago) and 2014, in Colombia in 2009, and in Brazil in 2010 (with Paula Lima as Grizabella). Other countries that the musical has been performed in include South Africa (2001–2002), Lebanon (2002), Qatar (2003, 2017), Turkey (2013), Israel (2014), and the United Arab Emirates (2017). A full-length production of ''Cats'' has been performed regularly for guests aboard Royal Caribbean International's cruise ship ''Oasis of the Seas'', starting in autumn 2014, with a cast rotating every nine months.


Regional and amateur

''Cats'' has been produced by various professional regional theatre companies. Broadway Sacramento staged the musical in 2003 and 2009 at the Wells Fargo Pavilion. Both productions featured Ken Page reprising his role as Old Deuteronomy from the original Broadway production, along with Jacquelyn Piro Donovan as Grizabella and
Jeffry Denman Jeffry Denman is an American actor, director, choreographer and author. Early life Denman was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, and graduated from the University of Buffalo as a Musical Theatre Dance major. Career He made his Broadway debut in ...
as Munkustrap. A 2010 amphitheatre production at The Muny starred Page as Old Deuteronomy, Stephanie J. Block as Grizabella and Lara Teeter as Munkustrap. The La Mirada, California, La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts staged the musical in 2014, with a cast that included Todrick Hall as Rum Tum Tugger. Nick Winston directed and choreographed a production at the Kilworth House Theatre in 2019 with a cast that included Emma Hatton and Helen Anker. Set in a dilapidated London Underground station during World War II, this production was given a 5-star review by ''The Stage'' for its "radical" reimagining of ''Cats''. The musical is also available for school and amateur licensing through The Musical Company. On 24 March 2013, the largest-ever staging of ''Cats'' was performed by 3,000 students from Stagecoach Theatre Arts schools at the Arena Birmingham, National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, UK.


Film adaptations

Steven Spielberg's former animation studio Amblimation had planned an animated adaptation of the musical in the 1990s. The film was to be set in war-torn London during World War II, but the project was abandoned with the studio's closure in 1997. The following year, a
direct-to-video film Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was ...
was released. The film was directed by David Mallet (director), David Mallet and was shot at the Adelphi Theatre in London. It starred
Elaine Paige Elaine Jill Paige (née Bickerstaff; born 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, making her first professiona ...
as Grizabella, John Mills as Gus, Ken Page as Old Deuteronomy, and Michael Gruber as Munkustrap. A Cats (2019 film), film adaptation directed by
Tom Hooper Thomas George Hooper (born 5 October 1972)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005''. 5d: 2485. is a British-Australian filmmaker. Hooper began making short films as a teenager and had his first professional short, ...
for Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment and Working Title Films was released on 20 December 2019. The film starred James Corden as Bustopher Jones,
Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...
as Old Deuteronomy, Jason Derulo as Rum Tum Tugger, Idris Elba as Macavity, Jennifer Hudson as Grizabella, Ian McKellen as Gus, Taylor Swift as Bombalurina, Rebel Wilson as Jennyanydots and Francesca Hayward as Victoria. Swift collaborated with lauded composer Andrew Lloyd Webber for a new song called “Beautiful Ghosts.” It was poorly received by both critics and audiences and was also a box-office bomb, massive flop at the box office. Andrew Lloyd Webber disowned the film, claiming that it convinced him to get a therapy dog.


Reception


Box office

''Cats'' is a commercial blockbuster (entertainment), blockbuster. Its worldwide box office gross of over US$2 billion by 1994 made it the highest grossing musical in history at the time. In 2012, the ''New York Post'' reported that the musical's grosses had reached $3.5 billion.


Critical reception


London

The original London production received mostly rave reviews, with critics hailing it as a watershed moment in British musical theatre. Michael Billington (critic), Michael Billington of ''The Guardian'' lauded ''Cats'' as "an exhilarating piece of total theatre". Billington praised the show's "strong framework" and the ease in which the poems were integrated. He was also very impressed by Lloyd Webber's fitting compositions, Napier's environmental set, Lynne's effective and at times brilliant choreography, and Nunn's "dazzling staging" that makes use of the entire auditorium. The show received similarly glowing reviews from ''The Sunday Times'' Derek Jewell and ''The Stage''s Peter Hepple. Jewell proclaimed it to be "among the most exhilarating and innovative musicals ever staged", while Hepple declared that with ''Cats'', "the British musical has taken a giant leap forward, surpassing in ingenuity and invention anything Broadway has sent us". There were a few lukewarm reviews, most notably from Irving Wardle of ''The Times''. Wardle enjoyed Lloyd Webber's compositions but found the visual spectacle too overwhelming. Robert Cushman's review for ''The Observer'' concluded that ''Cats'' was flawed but unmissable. The reviews for the 2014 and 2015 London revivals were positive as well, with critics giving both productions an average of 4 out of 5 stars. Critics generally found the revivals to be enjoyable and invigorating, though Mark Shenton was disappointed that the new staging lacked the immersiveness of the original.


Broadway

Reactions to the original Broadway production were mixed. In his review for ''The New York Times'', Frank Rich noted that the main draw of the show was that it "transports the audience into a complete fantasy world that could only exist in the theater". He attributed much of this "wondrous spectacle" to Nunn's direction, Napier's set and costume designs, as well as the talented cast. Rich found many of Lloyd Webber's songs to be "cleverly and appropriately" pastiche, and was impressed with how Lynne and Nunn distinguished each character through personalised movement. However, he panned Lynne's choreography and felt that the musical failed in its vague attempt to tell a story. Overall, he wished that the show had more "feeling to go with its most inventive stagecraft." Clive Barnes of the ''New York Post'' concluded his review saying: "Its importance lies in its wholeheartedness. It is a statement of musical theater that cannot be ignored, should prove controversial and will never be forgotten." The 2016 Broadway revival received a similarly mixed review by Charles Isherwood of ''The New York Times''. Isherwood concluded that the revival was "fundamentally the ''Cats'' you knew and loved when you were first bit by the musical-theater bug. Or it's the ''Cats'' you knew and snickered at when you first encountered it."


Awards and nominations

''Cats'' has received many international awards and nominations. The original London production was nominated for six Laurence Olivier Awards in 1981, winning two awards including Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical, Best New Musical. Two years later, the original Broadway production won seven
Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...
s, including Tony Award for Best Musical, Best Musical, out of eleven nominations. The London and Cats: Complete Original Broadway Cast Recording, Broadway cast recordings were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, which the latter won. In 2015, the London revival was nominated for — but did not win — two Olivier Awards, including Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival, Best Musical Revival.


Cultural impact and legacy

Despite mixed reviews when ''Cats'' opened in New York in 1982, critics agreed that it was innovative and visually spectacular in ways that Broadway had never seen before. The musical became a cultural phenomenon and has had a profound influence on the medium. ''Cats'' established musical theatre as a global commodity, marking the beginning of a new era in the industry that is characterised by huge global stakes for potentially even huger global profits. It led the shift in the Broadway market towards big-budget Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters and shows that appeal to families and tourists, which in turn left smaller productions struggling to compete. ''Cats'' also ushered in a "Golden age (metaphor), golden age of British musicals" which saw West End exports dominate the industry for nearly two decades. Musical theatre historian Vagelis Siropoulos asserted that in terms of impact, the "seminal Broadway opening" of ''Cats'' was "comparable only to Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''Oklahoma!'' thirty nine years ago." Ultimately, critics are polarized on whether ''Cats'' has changed musical theatre for the better or for the worse. William Grimes (journalist), William Grimes wrote of its detractors: "There are more than a few who see the ''Cats'' phenomenon as the theatrical equivalent of the rise of the megabudget Cinema of the United States, Hollywood action film. For them, ''Cats'' is a soulless money machine."


Influence and innovations

As the "first true
megamusical A megamusical (also known as a "spectacle show", "blockbuster musical", or "extravaganza") is a large-scale musical produced for large commercial profit. Such musicals utilize spectacle and increased technology to "radicalize the imagistic poten ...
", ''Cats'' pioneered a genre of musical theatre that is produced on a grand and global scale. It paved the way for later megamusicals — including ''Les Misérables (musical), Les Misérables'' (1985), ''The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical), The Phantom of the Opera'' (1986) and ''Miss Saigon'' (1989) — that have dominated the industry since. Siropoulos explained: ''Cats'' introduced a marketing strategy that set the template for subsequent megamusicals. Early advertisements for the musical did not feature traditional pull quotes (despite many positive reviews) or any of the cast, instead branding the show itself as the star. It did this by adopting — and then aggressively promoting — a single recognisable image (the cat's-eyes logo) as the face of the show. The cat's-eyes logo was the first globally marketed logo in musical theatre history, and was paired with a tagline ("now and forever") to create what ''The Daily Telegraph'' called "one of musical theatre's greatest posters". Such branding emblems proved equally effective for later megamusicals, as seen with the waif Cosette for ''Les Misérables'' and the Phantom's mask for ''The Phantom of the Opera''. This advertising method had the additional effect of diminishing the importance of critical reviews, popularising the so-called "critic-proof" status of megamusicals. Additionally, ''Cats'' was the first Broadway and West End show to capitalise on merchandising as a major revenue stream. Stalls were set up in the theatre lobbies to sell souvenirs ranging from toys and watches to coffee mugs, all of which were emblazoned with the cat's-eyes logo. The official ''Cats'' t-shirt became the second-best-selling t-shirt in the world in the 1980s, second only to the Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt. Merchandising has since become an important source of income for the industry. Beyond the megamusical, ''Cats'' also led the Broadway trend for musicals aimed at families and tourists, which later took the form of the Disney Theatrical Productions and jukebox musicals. The marketing campaigns for the musical targeted family audiences at a time when this demographic was not a consideration in the industry. Composer Joe Raposo said of family musicals in 1986: "''Cats'' is a wonderful proof of what an audience is out there, untapped. People do want a theatrical experience for their children." Thanks to its easily accessible spectacle, the original Broadway production also tapped into the then-burgeoning tourist boom in New York and its audience shifted increasingly towards foreign visitors in its later years. Billington also specifically traces the rise of the jukebox musical genre back to ''Cats'', citing the latter's disregard for dramatic text in favour of an all-encompassing theatrical experience. The musical's fantasy setting and disregard for Verisimilitude (fiction), verisimilitude allowed for groundbreaking experimentations in lighting and audio technology. The original London and Broadway productions featured David Hersey's pioneering use of automated lighting to produce kaleidoscopic landscapes and complicated optical effects. Hersey also used light in an "architectural manner", with fast-changing configurations to spotlight different performers in rapid succession. This dynamic shifting of the audience's perspective created an effect similar to that of fast cutting in film editing. The original London production of ''Cats'' was also the first known instance in which an entire cast was individually outfitted with radio microphones. The departure from shared ambient microphones meant that the show did not have to depend on the acoustics and architectural design of the theatrical venue, and enabled the sound designer to achieve cinematic levels of sound amplification and studio-quality audio in live theatre. This practice transformed sound design and has since become the norm in live theatre. ''Cats'' opened new regional, touring and international markets that the industry continues to capitalise on. Recognising the global potential of his show, Mackintosh replicated the original production worldwide with an unprecedented degree of standardisation. Paraphrasing theatre historian Alan Filewod, Marla Carlson wrote: In the 1980s, the success of local productions of ''Cats'' in Tokyo, Sydney, Vienna, Hamburg, and Toronto were turning points that established these cities (and their respective countries) as major commercial markets in the global theatrical circuit. The musical was also a boon for the Broadway touring industry. In 1997, ''The New York Times'' credited the regional and touring productions of ''Cats'' with "almost single-handedly reviv[ing] the sagging road business". ''Cats'' revolutionised the touring business by introducing the now commonplace practice of extended touring engagements that can last several weeks or months in a single city, as opposed to the typical one-week or ten-day tour stop. Mackintosh's insistence that all touring productions of ''Cats'' replicate the Broadway production also resulted in the expansion and upgrading of regional theatre venues to accommodate the musical's demanding logistical requirements, as local theatre owners did not want to miss out on the opportunity to host the lucrative show.


"Memory"

"Memory" is the standout hit song from ''Cats''. By 2002, the song had been played over two million times on radio and television stations in the US. It was the most requested song at piano bars and lounges in the 1980s, and was an equally popular choice at weddings, concerts and other gatherings. As of 2006, the song had been recorded around 600 times by artists such as Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow, Judy Collins, and Johnny Mathis, in covers ranging from easy listening to techno. According to Sternfeld, it is "by some estimations the most successful song ever from a musical."


Creators

Despite moderate hits with ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' and ''Evita (musical), Evita'', Lloyd Webber was still relatively unknown to the general public before ''Cats'', especially in the US. With ''Cats'', he became a big celebrity in his own right. The musical also established the theatrical careers of the original creative and production team. Following ''Cats'', they collaborated on other global blockbusters including ''Starlight Express'' (composed by Lloyd Webber, directed by Nunn and designed by Napier), ''Les Misérables'' (directed by Nunn, designed by Napier and produced by Mackintosh), and ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (composed by Lloyd Webber, choreographed by Lynne and produced by Mackintosh). The New London Theatre, where the original London production of ''Cats'' played for 21 years, was officially renamed the Gillian Lynne Theatre in 2018. This made Lynne the first non-royal woman to have a West End theatre named after her. By 2012, the royalty payments from ''Cats'' to the Eliot estate had totalled an estimated $100 million. Valerie Eliot used a portion of this money to establish the literary charity Old Possum's Practical Trust, and to set up the T. S. Eliot Prize which has since become "the most coveted award in poetry". ''Cats'' also turned things around for the independent British publishing house Faber and Faber. As the publisher of ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'', royalties of up to £1 million annually kept the then-struggling Faber afloat during the 1980s. Moreover, the musical led to a surge in the sales of Eliot's book. The success of ''Cats'' led Faber to turn another of their literary properties, Ted Hughes' ''The Iron Man (novel), The Iron Man'', into a 1989 The Iron Man: The Musical by Pete Townshend, musical of the same name.


In popular culture

''Cats'' has been referenced many times on screen; from the films ''Six Degrees of Separation (film), Six Degrees of Separation'' and ''Team America: World Police'', to the sketch comedy ''Saturday Night Live'', and animated series like ''Family Guy'', ''The Simpsons'' and ''BoJack Horseman'', as well as live action comedies including ''The Golden Girls'', ''Caroline in the City'', ''Glee (TV series), Glee'' and ''Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt''. An episode of the musical television series ''Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'', titled "I Need Some Balance", parodied ''Cats'' by having all the songs sung by anthropomorphic cats who "introduce [themselves] over '80s Broadway beats". Stage parodies of the musical have also been mounted in the West End and Off-Broadway. ''CAT – (THE PLAY!!!)'', a one-man show written by Jamie Beamish and Richard Hardwick, is a dark comedy about the fictitious life of Dave, a cat who was fired from the original London production of ''Cats'' on opening night. Starring Gerard McCarthy as Dave and with choreography by Arlene Phillips, the musical premiered at the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe Festival; it performed at various regional venues before making its West End debut at the Ambassadors Theatre (London), Ambassadors Theatre in April 2017. ''Katdashians! Break the Musical!'', a parody mashup of ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' and ''Cats'' by Bob and Tobly McSmith, premiered Off-Broadway at the Elektra Theatre in June 2016. All the song parodies of ''Cats'' were later removed after accusations of copyright infringement from Lloyd Webber's representatives, who claimed the songs were being used "to parody another subject matter entirely". Other stage shows that satirise ''Cats'' include ''Six Degrees of Separation (play), Six Degrees of Separation'', ''Angels in America'', and ''The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!)''. Madame Tussauds New York features wax figures of several characters from the musical, including one of Grizabella that sings "Memory" through the use of projection mapping technology. Similarly, a wax figure of Rumpleteazer is displayed at the Panoptikum Hamburg, Panoptikum wax museum in Hamburg, Germany. A ''Cats'' postage stamp was issued by the United States Postal Service in 2000 as part of its Celebrate the Century series. The musical was chosen as one of fifteen "outstanding artifacts, events and activities" from the 1980s to be commemorated with its own stamp design. Beginning in March 2019, the Rinkai Line in Tokyo, Japan, uses two songs from the musical for its train melody, train departure melodies at the Ōimachi Station; the train to Ōsaki Station uses a jingle of "Memory", while the train to Shin-Kiba Station uses a jingle of "Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat". The visual effects of the 2019 film adaptation were mocked in the 2022 Walt Disney Pictures, Disney film ''Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (film), Chip 'n' Dale: Rescue Rangers'', in a scene where the titular characters notice two alley cats resembling the ones in the film as they venture through an "uncanny valley" part of town.


Recordings and music video


Cast recordings


Music video


Revisions and cut material

The stage production of ''Cats'' has undergone several revisions since its London opening. When the show transferred to Broadway, several cuts and rewrites were made with the intention of appealing more to an American audience. Additionally, a song entitled "Cat Morgan Introduces Himself" was cut during initial development. Lloyd Webber performed this song at the show's 6,138th Broadway performance, when it broke the record to become the longest-running Broadway show.


"Growltiger's Last Stand"

The "Growltiger's Last Stand" sequence has been changed multiple times over the course of the show's history. In the original London production, the "last duet" for Growltiger and Griddlebone was a setting for an unpublished Eliot poem, "The Ballad of Billy M'Caw". For the original Broadway production, the Ballad was replaced with "In Una Tepida Notte", a parody of Italian opera with more slapstick humour. This new version was eventually incorporated into all other productions of ''Cats''. "Growltiger's Last Stand" has been criticised as being racially offensive. The original lyrics, taken directly from the Eliot poem it is based on, included the ethnic slur "Chinks" and this was later replaced with the word "Siamese (cat), Siamese". The number also originally involved the cast putting on "Asian accents" to portray the Siamese cats. In the 1998 video version, the entire scene featuring Growltiger was cut. By 2016, "Growltiger's Last Stand" had been removed completely from the US and UK productions of the show. The 2019 Vienna Revival included the song, but since its closing in June 2022, "Growltiger's Last Stand" is now not present in any replica production of Cats.


Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer

In the original London production, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer were characters in their own right and sang their eponymous song themselves as a singsong-style duet. When the show transferred to Broadway, the song was instead sung in the third-person, with Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer as puppets being magically controlled by Mr. Mistoffelees. Their number was also rewritten to be faster and more upbeat, alternating between vaudeville-style verses and a "manic patter song, patter" section. Eventually, the Broadway version of the song was rewritten to allow Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer to once again sing their own song as full characters.


Rum Tum Tugger

The 2014 London revival introduced several modernisations to the show. Rum Tum Tugger was reworked from a ladies-man rockstar to a breakdancing street cat. His eponymous musical number was also turned into a Rapping, rap. The 2015 Australian tour and 2015 Paris production also used the new version of the character; however, the 2016 Broadway revival did not.


Choreography

The 2016 Broadway revival featured new choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler, who introduced more Hip hop dance, hip hop and cool jazz elements to the movements and dances. Blankenbuehler's choreography for the ensemble numbers did not differ too much from the original by Lynne, but significant changes were made in several solo numbers, including "The Rum Tum Tugger" and "Mr. Mistoffelees".


References


Bibliography

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External links

* * {{Authority control Cats (musical), 1981 musicals Broadway musicals Musicals by Andrew Lloyd Webber Musicals based on poems Sung-through musicals Laurence Olivier Award-winning musicals West End musicals Fantasy theatre Tony Award for Best Musical British musicals Tony Award-winning musicals