One of the biggest hits in musical theatrical history, and my personal favorite, CATS will come to Segerstrom Center for the Arts April 9 – 14, 2019 as part of a North American Tour. Composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and based on T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, the record-breaking musical spectacular has captivated audiences in more than 30 countries in 15 languages and is now on tour across North America.
The original Broadway production opened in 1982 at Broadway’s Winter Garden Theatre, where it ran for 7,485 performances and 18 years. The show returned to Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre (250 W 52nd Street) running from July 2016 to December 2017 after 16 previews and 593 regular performances.
During its premiere run on Broadway in 1982, it won seven Tony Awards®, including Best Musical. Both the original London and Broadway cast recordings won Grammy® Awards for Best Cast Album. CATS hit song “Memory” has been recorded by more than 150 artists from Barbra Streisand and Johnny Mathis to Liberace and Barry Manilow. The Tony Awards®-winning Best Musical held the title of longest-running musical in Broadway history until it was surpassed in 2006 by Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera. The original Broadway production closed on September 10, 2000 and is currently the fourth longest-running show in Broadway history. This is the first tour of the first-ever Broadway revival of the iconic musical.
The story is set in what appears to be a dark alley way. One by one, the Jellicle cats make an appearance as they come out to play. They appear on one special night each year, the night of the Jellicle Ball. One by one they tell their stories for the amusement of Old Deuteronomy, their wise and benevolent leader, who must choose one of the Cats to ascend to The Heaviside Layer and be reborn into a whole new Jellicle life. Watch a sneak peek of the performance here:
Experience CATS for the first time as it begins a new life for a new generation… or let it thrill you all over again. I know I am planning on taking my daughter to experience the magic of the Jellicle cats when the tour visits Segerstrom Center. Tickets start at $29 and are available for purchase at SCFTA.org, by calling (714) 556-2787 and at the Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa. The 2:00 p.m. performance on Saturday, April 13, 2019 will include audio description, open captioning and sign-language interpretation.
i love “cats.” it was one of the first broadway soundtracks i listened to. “memory” is one of the best songs in broadway history!