This article was published on February 16th, 2023
Calling all Canadian theater fans and Jellicle cats alike, Andrew Lloyd Weber’s camp classic CATS is returning to stages across Canada to captivate audiences. Whether theatergoers are longtime fans, or their feline fancies were piqued after the 2019 film adaptation by Tom Hopper, it’s sure to be a show of a lifetime. Tickets for Broadway Across Canada’s CATS! are on sale now through ticketmaster.ca.
CATS opened in London’s West End in 1981. Stateside, CATS originally premiered on Broadway on October 7, 1982, garnering $6.2 million in advanced ticket sales before it even opened to the public. During its initial run on Broadway, CATS won seven Tony awards. It was the longest-running musical until another Andrew Lloyd Weber hit, Phantom of the Opera. The initial Broadway run closed on September 10, 2000. CATS is currently the fourth longest-running show in Broadway history.
Composer Andrew Lloyd Weber found his source material via T.S. Elliot’s whimsical poetry manuscript, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. Eliot published the manuscript in 1939 via Faber and Faber where he also worked as an editor. The silly and often fantastical poems originated in letters that Eliot wrote to his godchildren. Weber adapted characters that Eliot created, such as the rapscallion Skimbleshanks the railway cat, for song and stage.
The musical adaptation features no spoken dialogue, providing audiences with a transportive experience into the uncanny valley where the cats not only land on their feet but walk upright.
Internet naysayers are quick to declare that CATS has no plot, but they are sorely mistaken. Alan Henry explained for broadwayworld.com, “The musical CATS is about a tribe of Jellicle cats (all cats are Jellicle cats, anyone who says otherwise is mistaken) who come together once a year under the Jellicle moon to pick which cat amongst them will be reborn to a new Jellicle life and ascend to the Heaviside Layer.”
The cats in question present their pleas for kitty karma via a variety of elaborate musical numbers, including the beloved Broadway ballad “Memory.” The characters that populate CATS are a wily bunch of fantastical felines such as Rum Tum Tugger and JennyAnyDots. This production features original scenic and costume design by John Napier, who also worked on Les Miserables.
The latest iteration of the Canadian run of CATS has been revamped thanks to the brilliant new creative team including Natasha Katz (lighting design), and Mick Potter (sound design). Choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler, who also worked on choreography for Hamilton revitalized the original Gillian Lynne choreography for a modern audience, aided by associate choreographer Kim Craven, and associate choreographer/ director. Chrissie Cartwright.
The original run of CATS was produced on Broadway by Cameron Mackintosh, The Really Useful Company Limited, David Geffen, and The Shubert Organization. The 2022/2023 touring production is licensed by The Really Useful Group and produced by TROIKA.
Worldwide, CATS has enchanted audiences totaling 75 million people. The initial Broadway run produced 7,485 performances over the span of 18 years. Shown in over thirty countries and translated into fifteen languages, CATS is a universal tale of redemption set to an unforgettable score. Whether audience-goers are theater veterans or first-timers, an unforgettable evening is guaranteed.
Curious cats can visit www.BroadwayAcrossCanada.ca for information on tour locations, dates, and to purchase tickets. Groups of 10 or more can purchase by calling 1-800-889-8457.
For a complete tour route, please visit www.CatsTheMusical.com.
