Opinion: Why 'Cats' is the show of the moment

The legendary Andrew Lloyd Webber musical is making a big comeback, with an exciting revival at Regent's Park Open Air following New York's Cats: The Jellicle Ball.

Summary

• Cats is getting a big revival at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
• The show also enjoyed Tony-winning success in New York with The Jellicle Ball
• It's part of an Andrew Lloyd Webber renaissance
• The show also has incredible movement opportunities and potent themes

It’s a purr-fect time to be a fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s feline musical. Cats is making an exciting return in London, with a fresh revival at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, following a resurgence on the other side of the pond thanks to the Tony Award-winning Cats: The Jellicle Ball.

Based on T. S. Eliot’s poems in Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, the musical originally premiered in 1981, delighting audiences with its catchy songs (including the breakout hit “Memory”), vivid staging, and innovative choreography. It was a famously long-runner both in the West End and on Broadway, as well as playing around the world.

But Cats was absent in New York since 2017 until Jellicle Ball burst onto the scene, while London hasn’t seen it since 2015, making this a major Cats moment. Another day is dawning for the show that really does have nine lives.

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The Andrew Lloyd Webber revival is on

The composer is having an incredible renaissance, with numerous shows getting a thoughtful reclamation from directors such as Timothy Sheader and Jamie Lloyd, plus eye-catching new casting. In recent years we’ve seen revelatory revivals of Evita (starring Rachel Zegler), Sunset Boulevard (starring Nicole Scherzinger), and, currently playing at the London Palladium after starting life at Regent’s Park, Jesus Christ Superstar (starring Sam Ryder).

While Lloyd Webber’s music has always endured – and he’s had long-lasting West End hits like The Phantom of the Opera – there was a sense that he had fallen out of fashion. That’s been robustly refuted by these recent productions, which employ slick, often stripped-back staging and feature performers with a contemporary profile, both of which help the material connect with modern audiences.

The trend continued with Cats: The Jellicle Ball, which turned the show into an empowering, vivid and immersive celebration of the ballroom movement. Next up, we’ll get to see the brilliant director and choreographer Drew McOnie’s take on Cats at Regent’s Park – a venue closely associated with revitalising Lloyd Webber.

Movement in theatre is more vital than ever

The conception of British theatre used to be that it was much more static and text-based than its American counterpart. That has certainly changed in recent years, with British directors beginning to incorporate movement into the very foundation of their shows, rather than consigning it to set dance numbers. We’ve seen that in plays as well as musicals, such as the National Theatre’s recent Les Liaisons Dangereuses.

But the show that helped kickstart the dance revolution in the UK was Cats. Gillian Lynne’s choreography was truly the star: a jaw-dropping blend of jazz, ballet, modern, tap, acrobatic elements and realistic cat-like movement, which was present throughout the entire show. It wasn’t just mesmerising to watch; it conveyed the very essence of this poetic, sensual, sometimes strange and always expressive production. Along with Lloyd Webber’s music, dance drives the story in Cats.

We saw a new version of that in The Jellicle Ball, thanks to the exuberant, authentic ballroom chorography by Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles. I’m just as excited to see what McOnie comes up with: the Olivier-winning choreographer has an impressive track record, with shows including In the Heights, Jesus Christ Superstar, Jekyll and Hyde, and On the Town, and he has a real gift for captivating narrative dance. Cats is a golden opportunity for him to put his stamp on a classic, and reimagine it for a new generation.

Cats has potent themes

While you can certainly enjoy Cats as more of an abstract theatrical experience – it has a looser narrative structure than other musicals, leaving elements deliberately ambiguous – there are definitely some potent themes. Just as recent Lloyd Webber revivals have proved to have resonant ideas, whether ageism in show business, the complexity of protest movements, or the cult of celebrity, so Cats can also chime with modern audiences.

That was definitely the case with The Jellicle Ball, which spoke eloquently to queer culture and its history, and which made surprising but pertinent connections between the feline characters and their LGBTQ+ counterparts. McOnie may not have such an overt framing for his production, but some of those same themes might well come to the surface again, such as identity, community, and the longing to be accepted or to have a second chance, which is exemplified in Grizabella’s journey.

But part of why directors are surely drawn to Cats is that there is so much freedom to explore. Unlike most shows, Cats isn’t anchored to a specific time or place; it is by nature stylised, poetic, riffing off the witty absurdity of characterising felines like humans. You can draw out all kinds of different themes, or shift its meaning through your own creative interpretation. Simply by using the al-fresco setting of Regent’s Park, McOnie will give us a version of this show that we have never seen before. It could well be the cat’s whiskers.

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Main photo credit: Cats in rehearsal at Regent's Park Open Air (Photo by Mark Senior). Inset: Cats in rehearsal, Cats at the London Palladium, Cats: The Jellicle Ball (Photos by Mark Senior, Alessandro Pinna, Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade)