Royal Ballet's Wayne McGregor Will Choreograph Tom Hooper's Big Screen Adaptation of CATS

The stage is being set for the Jellicle Ball! According to The Stage, the Royal Ballet's resident choreographer, Wayne McGregor, has signed on to choreograph Tom Hooper's big screen adaptation of Cats. Filming is set to begin in London this November. Casting is now underway.

The original production of Cats featured choreography by Gillian Lynne. Tony winner Andy Blankenbuehler re-imagined her choreography for the 2016 Broadway revival.

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, where it ran for 7,485 performances and 18 years.

Since its world premiere, Cats has been presented in over 30 countries, has been translated into 15 languages, and has been seen by more than 73 million people worldwide. Originally directed by Trevor Nunn with choreography and associate direction by Gillian Lynne, scenic and costume design by John Napier, lighting design by David Hersey, and sound design by Martin Levan, Cats opened in the West End in 1981. The same creative team brought the musical to Broadway in 1982 where 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 over 150 artists from Barbra Streisand and Johnny Mathis to Liberace and Barry Manilow.

The Tony Award-winning Best Musical held the title of longest-running musical in Broadway history until it was surpassed in 2006 by Lloyd Webber's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. The original Broadway production closed on September 10, 2000 and is currently the fourth longest-running show in Broadway history.

McGregor was appointed Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet in 2006, becoming the first contemporary choreographer to hold the post. His many works for The Royal Ballet include Yugen, Multiverse, Obsidian Tear, Woolf Works, Tetractys, Raven Girl, Ambar, 'Machina' (Metamorphosis: Titian 2012), Carbon Life, Live Fire Exercise, Limen, Infra, Nimbus, Chroma, Engram, Qualia and Symbiont(s). He directed and choreographed Dido and Aeneas and Acis and Galatea for The Royal Ballet and The Royal Opera. He curated Deloitte Ignite 2008, and directs Draft Works, an annual celebration of developing choreographic talent within the Company.

McGregor was born in Stockport and studied at Bretton Hall, West Yorkshire, and the José Limón School, New York. In 1992 he founded Studio Wayne McGregor, a resident company of Sadler's Wells and now based in Here East in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. His interest in cross-discipline collaboration has seen him work across dance, film, music, visual art, technology and science. McGregor has created works for Paris Opera Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, New York City Ballet, Australian Ballet, English National Ballet, NDT1 and Rambert, among others. His works are also in the repertories of such leading companies as the Bolshoi, Royal Danish Ballet, Boston Ballet and Joffrey Ballet. He has directed movement for theatre and film, including HARRY Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themand Sing, and music videos, including the Grammy-nominated Lotus Flower for Radiohead.

In 2012 McGregor delivered a TED talk on the choreographic process and in 2013 presented the exhibition Thinking with the Body at the Wellcome Collection. He was appointed a CBE in 2011.