Happy Tails: CATS Takes Final Jellicle Pounce on Broadway Tonight!
By: Nicole Rosky Dec. 30, 2017
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The Heaviside Layer will welcome a few more Cats than usual today.
As BroadwayWorld previously reported, the first-ever Broadway revival of Cats will play its final performance at 8 PM tonight, December 30, 2017 at the Neil Simon Theatre (250 W 52nd Street) after 16 previews and 593 regular performances.
The Cats National Tour will officially open at the Providence Performing Arts Center in Providence, Rhode Island, in January 2019 before traveling to additional cities throughout the country, including Chicago, Durham, and Los Angeles. The full tour schedule and other information will be announced shortly.
Composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and based on T.S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats," the original Broadway production opened in 1982 at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre (currently home to Lloyd Webber's newest hit, School of Rock - The Musical), where it ran for 7,485 performances and 18 years. Cats was originally produced on Broadway by Cameron Mackintosh, The Really Useful Company Limited, David Geffen, and The Shubert Organization.
Before our feline friends take their final leap on the Neil Simon stage, we're looking back at the revival's road to Broadway.
In January 2016 it was announced the beloved musical would return to Broadway after a sixteen-year absence.
The marquee went up at the Neil Simon Theatre in May 2016:
And the cast started rehearsals soon after:
Preview performances of Cats began Thursday, July 14, 2016
Followed by a Sunday, July 31, 2016 opening night.
In Fall 2016, Mamie Paris took over for Leona Lewis as Grizabella:
The cast celebrated one year on Broadway in August 2017:
And 500 performances in October!
Happy trails tails, Cats!
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