New UK Tour of CATS Crosses the Channel and Play Belgium, Now thru Aug 18

The UK touring company of CATS will play the Kursaal in Oostende, Belgium, from today, July 30th to August 18th 2013. The show will be performed in English with surtitles in French and Dutch.

Belgium is the only country on the European continent to host the tour, which will have its premiere at the Edinburgh Playhouse on 9th February 2013. Among the UK venues visited by the tour are Aberdeen, Wolverhampton, Manchester, Bradford, Hull, Sunderland, Southampton, Milton Keynes, Woking, and Dublin. Further dates and venues are to be announced.

CATS opened at the New London Theatre in 1981, winning that year's Olivier Award for best musical. It closed in 2002, after 9,000 performances. On Broadway it was the winner of 7 Tony Awards (including Best Musical and Best Director) and ran for 18 years making it second only to THE PHANTOM THE OPERA as Broadway's longest running musical.

The last time CATS was staged specifically for the Belgian market was in 1996, in the stadsschouwburg Antwerpen. In 2007, the same theatre briefly hosted the Dutch touring cast of CATS.

Musicals playing the Kursaal during the summer period is becoming something of a tradition: in 2011, the theatre welcomed the international tour of MAMMA MIA, reportedly selling 50.000 seats.

Photo credit: KursaalOostende.be