Posted: 7/7/21 at 2:13pm
blaxx said: "SouthernCakes said: "I’m not sure how’d they pull this off in a Broadway house. But a similar thing happened in the original Cats on Broadway, right? So it is possible! "
No, the Winter Garden stage wasn't a rotating one like the West End's Cats."
They removed the first few rows of orchestra street (up to about row L, I think), then built a semicircular extension of the stage about halfway through the open space, They then replaced the removed seats (or at least what would fit), wrapping them around the extension (the orchestra was off-stage). Essentially the fist few rows were like a thrust stage theatre. The "junkyard" set itself extended into the auditorium (including up into the mezzanine). From what I understand, the staircase for Grizabella's exited came down from the back of the stage in London. On Broadway it came out of the ceiling above the stage extension.
You are correct, though. Neither the stage nor any seats moved or resolved. I believe the Winter Garden was chosen because it is a fairly wide theatre, so more people could be close to the action (though the cats went out into the audience anyway).
ETA found this picture. The creative team is sitting in the area where the seats were not removed and then reinstalled around the extension: https://catsmusical.fandom.com/wiki/The_Sets?file=Broadway_set_1.jpg
Updated On: 7/7/21 at 02:13 PM
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