Cats – The Musical at Keller Auditorium

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s record-breaking musical spectacular that has captivated audiences in over 30 countries and 15 languages, is now on tour across North America! Come and rediscover this beloved musical with breathtaking music and stunning choreography. Winner of 7 Tony Awards® including Best Musical, Cats tells the story of one magical night when an extraordinary tribe of cats gathers for its annual ball to rejoice and decide which cat will be reborn.

It’s kitschy and fun, sometimes quite touching, and marvelously well done. – NorthJersey.com

An explosion of music and lights reveals the larger-than-life junkyard, with probing car lights tearing across the darkened landscape of bottles and boxes, briefly catching the darting image of a running feline. Tonight, is the one special night each year when the tribe of Jellicle Cats reunites to celebrate who they are. However, this year will not be going quite so peaceful as before. Their wise old leader, Old Deuteronomy, is starting to look more old than wise, and the villainous Macavity has decided that this is going to be his year, and ‘the Napoleon of crime’ is gathering his henchmen to cat-nap Old Deuteronomy.

The megahit that opened the door for the invasion of European pop operas – Vulture

The original score by Andrew Lloyd Webber, original scenic and costume design by John Napier, all-new lighting design by Natasha Katz, all-new sound design by Mick Potter, new choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler based on the original choreography by Gillian Lynne and direction by Trevor Nunn make this production a new CATS for a new generation!

Cats was first presented as an album of music by Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1980, based on the 1939 poetry collection Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. Then producer Cameron Mackintosh along with director Trevor Nunn and choreographer Gillian Lynne turned the songs into a complete musical.

The show opened on London’s West End in 1981, winning two Laurence Olivier Awards, including Best Musical. Two years later it opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway and won seven Tony Awards, also including Best Musical, the cast recording won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Cats is the fourth-longest-running Broadway show and the sixth-longest-running West End show, it has traveled to over 30 countries, performed in 250 cities, and been translated into 15 languages.

In 2019 a film of Cats was created, starring James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson, and Francesca Hayward. It is widely regarded as one of the worst films ever made, making a combined loss of approximately $114 million, and taking home seven Golden Raspberries in 2020, however the single “Beautiful Ghosts” by Taylor Swift and Andrew Lloyd Webber was nominated for both a Grammy Award and a Golden Globe Award.

Review of Cats the Musical by Charles Isherwood for The New York Times.
“Does ‘Cats’ Have Nine Lives on Broadway? Two, certainly. The overriding spirit of the revival appears to be the familiar motto: Don’t mess with success. Once again, the production is directed by Trevor Nunn, with sets and costumes by John Napier. Once again, a Broadway theater has been transformed into a grungy London junkyard, where trash piles up against the walls and spills out into the auditorium – albeit on a somewhat smaller scale. That levitating tire, as famous a set piece as a certain falling chandelier, presides once again at the back of the stage. (Apparently the license plate on the battered car, which reads “NAP 70,” is an in-joke indicating how many productions Mr. Napier has designed. Imagine how many leg warmers have been involved.)”

Don’t mess with success. – The New York Times