In the first week of May, the touring production of Cats the Musical opened for its week long stint in Chicago. For a little bit of history, Cats the Musical is based off a collection of poems from Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot, the musical itself was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber with Lyrics by Trevor Nunn. On the Great White Way, Cats is currently the second longest running musical, surpassed only by Phantom of the Opera (another Andrew Lloyd Webber musical).
When Cats was on Broadway, I never got a chance to see it live, and I don’t believe I ever saw it live on stage. When the video of a stage production came out in 1998, I was more than content with that version that I could watch on my leisure, that is until I realized that there was a scene/song cut from the original production that was not in the film production. If you are a huge fan of Cats then you would know that I am referring to: Growltiger’s Last Stand, incorporating either ‘The Ballad Of Billy M’Caw’ or the Italian aria ‘In Una Tepida Notte’.
My understanding is that Cats is such a long show that most groups that even attempt to put this production together are likely to cut and carve and snip away to make it easier for either their cast, or the audience wouldn’t think that this was such a long show to bear through. This is such an intensive dancing and singing production that it requires a very strong cast that can do both efficiently and brilliantly. This touring production did just that.