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Cats Anniversary Tour Prowls into Chicago, Sept. 13-25
By: BWW News Desk Aug. 31, 2005
On May 11, 1981, Cats, which is based on T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats and features music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, opened at the New London Theatre in the West End. Eight years later it celebrated its first important milestone: after 3,358 performances Cats became the longest running musical in the history of British theatre. Cats played its final London performance on its 21st birthday, May 11, 2001.
In 1982, Cats opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway and on June 19, 1997, became the longest running musical on Broadway. It ended its 18-year run on September 10, 2000. Running for 7,485 performances, the show remains the largest single generator of jobs in Broadway history with an estimated economic impact of over $3.12 billion on the city of New York. Cats won seven 1983 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Lighting and Best Costumes.
In October of 1991, Cats became the longest continuously touring show in American theatre history. Five continents, 26 countries, over eight and a half million audience members and twenty five years later Cats is still going.
Lloyd Webber won a Tony Award for Best Score for Cats. He is also the composer of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, By Jeeves, Song & Dance, Evita, Starlight Express, The Phantom of the Opera (which will soon beat Cats as the longest-running Broadway musical), Aspects of Love, Sunset Boulevard and Whistle Down the Wind, among others. He has won six Tony's, three Grammy's and an Oscar in 1997 for Evita's You Must Love Me.
The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University is located at 50 E. Congress Parkway. The performance schedule is as follows: Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Wednesdays at 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 & 8 p.m.; and Sundays at 2 p.m. Please note: The performance on Tuesday, September 13 will begin at 8 p.m.
Tickets for Cats range in price from $20 to $70 and are available at The Auditorium Theatre Box Office, all Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (22 W. Monroe St., 24 W. Randolph St. and 151 W. Randolph St.), through the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (312) 902-1400, at all Ticketmaster ticket centers (including all Carson Pirie Scott stores, Tower Records, Hot Tix, select Coconuts and fye stores) or online at ticketmaster.com. Groups of 20 or more can receive a discount by calling (312) 977-1710.
For more information, go to www.broadwayinchicago.com.
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