A timeline of 'Cats' in the West End and beyond

Ahead of Andrew Lloyd Webber's iconic musical coming to Regent's Park Open Air Theatre this summer, revisit its purr-fect production history.

Summary

• Musical Cats is being revived at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
• Andrew Lloyd Webber's show had record-breaking runs in the West End and on Broadway
• The show has also played in numerous countries around the world
• Other recent revivals include a radical Off-Broadway interpretation

You’re officially invited to an al-fresco Jellicle Ball as Andrew Lloyd Webber’s legendary musical Cats returns to London in an intriguing revival directed and choreographed by Drew McOnie, artistic director of Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.

How will the show, based on T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, fare in the great outdoors – and how will this production compare with the versions of Cats we’ve seen before in the West End and beyond? That certainly gives us paws for thought.

As you plan your trip to this new Regent’s Park version, revisit the production history of this iconic musical.

Check back for Cats tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

1981: Cats premieres in the West End

The musical was first unveiled to the world at the New London Theatre – now known as the Gillian Lynne Theatre – in May 1981, directed by Trevor Nunn, choreographed by Gillian Lynne, and produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Lloyd Webber. It was an instant sensation, running for 21 years at the venue, until 2002, and totalling 8,949 performances.

The original cast of Cats included Brian Blessed, Sarah Brightman, Wayne Sleep, Bonnie Langford, Stephen Tate, John Thornton, Geraldine Gardner, Jeff Shankley, Finola Hughes, Paul Nicholas, and, as Grizabella, Elaine Paige.

Cats won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical, and another Olivier for Lynne’s remarkable choreography. It also won an Ivor Novello Award for the standout song “Memory”.

1982: Cats opens on Broadway

Broadway audiences were just as eager to experience the show which had quickly become a phenomenon, and the Winter Garden Theatre transfer took a record-breaking $6.2 million in ticket pre-sales. Cats soon became the longest-running show in Broadway history, and ran until 2000, totalling 7,485 performances.

The new Broadway cast featured Betty Buckley as Grizabella, plus Timothy Scott, Harry Groener, Ken Page, Terrence Mann, Kenneth Ard, Cynthia Onrubia, Stephen Hanan, and Donna King. The production won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Direction, and an award for Buckley’s performance. The cast album also won a Grammy.

1983: Cats opens in Japan

The show went truly global with a Japanese-language version by the Shiki Theatre Company, premiering in Tokyo – and it has been playing continuously ever since. The producers spent 300 million Yen to construct a purpose-build theatre, now known as CATS Theatre, and the musical has delighted more than 10 million audience members.

1983: Cats plays in Vienna

Cats demonstrated yet more international appeal with a premiere in Austria at the Theater an der Wien. It continued to play for several years (and to more than 2.3 million people), transferring to the Ronacher Theater in 1988. Lead cast members included Ute Lemper, Steve Barton, Robert Montano, Angelika Milster, and Pia Douwes.

Cats has also played in numerous other countries around the world, including Germany, Hungary, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, South Africa, Turkey, and Australia. Additionally it has been a staple of the Royal Caribbean International’s cruise ship Oasis of the Seas since 2014.

1989: Cats begins a UK and Ireland tour

The show toured the country, beginning with a box office record-setting stint in Blackpool, with a cast featuring Marti Webb as Grizabella, plus John Partridge and Rosemarie Ford. The tour proved so popular that the show went out on the road again soon after completing its run, from 1993, with Robin Cousins, Simon Rice and Tony Monopoly joining the cast.

1998: Cats is released on video

Happily for musical theatre fans, the musical was captured in a direct-to-video filmed version that was based on the original production, but with a few tweaks to make it suitable for screen. The cast included performers from various Cats productions around the world, including Elaine Paige reprising her Grizabella, plus John Partridge, Jason Gardiner, John Mills, Jason Barron, Bryn Walters, Jacob Brent, and Ken Page.

2014: Cats is revived in the West End

Nicole Scherzinger, who later reunited with Lloyd Webber for her award-winning Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, starred as Grizabella in this major West End revival at the London Palladium. The original creative team reunited, and Lloyd Webber took the opportunity to write a new version of “The Rum Tum Tugger”.

The hugely successful run was extended, with Kerry Ellis and then Beverley Knight succeeding Scherzinger as Grizabella. Other cast members included Zizi Strallen, Jack Butterworth, Paul F. Monaghan, Charlene Ford, Joseph Poulton, Nicholas Pound, Antoine Murray-Straughan, and Hannah Kenna Thomas.

The production received two Olivier Award nominations: for Best Musical Revival, and for Scherzinger’s performance.

2016: Cats returns to Broadway

Once again Cats crossed the pond for its first Broadway revival, this time at the Neil Simon Theatre, and featuring new choreography from Andy Blankenbuehler (a Tony winner for In the Heights and Hamilton). Scherzinger was due to reprise her role, but in the end it was X Factor winner Leona Lewis who played Grizabella.

The Broadway revival, which also featured performers such as Ahmad Simmons, Christopher Gurr, Ricky Ubeda, Quentin Earl Darrington, Tyler Hanes, and Georgina Pazcoguin, ran until 2017. It was nominated for multiple Drama Desk, Drama League and Chita Rivera awards.

2019: Cats is turned into a movie

The infamous big-screen version of Cats was a pretty strange misfire, mainly due to the overly literal, verging on nightmarish, CGI. A shame as Tom Hooper’s film featured a stacked cast, including Judi Dench (who had pulled out of the original West End production of Cats when she was injured), Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson, Idris Elba, James Corden, Rebel Wilson, and Francesca Hayward.

2019: A wartime staging at Kilworth House

Nick Winston helmed a fascinatingly different version of Cats at the Kilworth House Theatre, setting the action in a dilapidated Tube station during the Second World War. This well-received production featured Emma Hatton as Grizabella, plus Helen Anker, Robbie McMillan, Adrian Grove, and Jeremy Secomb.

2024: Cats is reborn again Off-Broadway

This familiar musical got an even more radical updating in the hit show Cats: The Jellicle Ball, which soon became a phenomenon. Directed by Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, with choreography by Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles, it took inspiration from queer ballroom culture.

Starring André De Shields, Jonathan Burke, Sydney James Harcourt, Antwayn Hopper, Junior LaBeija, “Tempress” Chasity Moore, and Nora Schell, this extraordinary passion project captured audience’s imaginations, and is set to transfer to Broadway in 2026.

2026: Cats comes to Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Another day is dawning as this legendary musical returns to London in a fresh open-air revival directed and choreographed by Drew McOnie, who previously choreographed Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar at Regent’s Park.

McOnie is also a former cast member of Cats, so this show is clearly close to his heart. As for its composer, Lloyd Webber has said: “I am very excited to see a totally new production of Cats back on the stage where it belongs. I can think of no one better than Drew McOnie to bring a new vision to the world of the Jellicles.”

Main photo credit: Nicole Scherzinger in Cats (photo by Alessandro Pinna). Inset: Elaine Paige in Cats, Cats: The Jellicle Ball (courtesy of the Really Useful Group, Matthew Murphy)