CATS: THE JELLICLE BALL Reviews — Page 10

quizking101 said: "I could cry right now.

They said they could and they F*****G DID!

Watching CATS: THE JELLICLE BALL basically give a full chop to RAGTIME’s Best Musical Revival Tony aspirations is food for my gay soul.

Ain’t no wheels left on that dream. PERIOD"

LOL give us a break - RAGTIME!!! I guess the cauliflower didn't like it.

Updated On: 6/7/26 at 10:32 PM

quizking101 said: "

Ain’t no wheels left on that dream. PERIOD"

Robbie said:

LOL give us a break - RAGTIME!!! I guess the cauliflower didn't like it.

His ass got clowned on THREE different platforms for that racist, despicable statement. Comparing a song with THOSE themes and THOSE characters to a f*cking nomination was so disgusting. Sorry Quiz!!!! 

I see them using the classic 'Cats' logo in conjuction with the yellow 'The Jellicle Ball' lettering over the last week. 

An Aside, I know she's had her statements regarding her time in Cats with the makeup but do you think we could get Lillias White playing Old Deuteronomy at some point?

TheatreFan4 said: "An Aside, I know she's had her statements regarding her time in Cats with the makeup but do you think we could get Lillias White playing Old Deuteronomy at some point?"

YAAAASSS!

TheatreFan4 said: "An Aside, I know she's had her statements regarding her time in Cats with the makeup but do you think we could get Lillias White playing Old Deuteronomy at some point?"

It’s funny you mentioned that because she was the judge at the performance on Tony Sunday (with Judy Gold).

Personally, I don’t see it for two reasons - I’m not sure she would be up for the choreography (she isn’t as limber as André) and this production leans into the mythos of OD and Gus being in a long committed relationship.

I actually would love Ken Ard to take over once André leaves. Having seen his OD performance and his dancing in the regular track, he is exactly what I envision if this production was 20 years ago and André did it then. He’s basically primed and ready for the role. I worry about the idea of Star/stunt casting for this show because of the potential for it to go very sideways. (I do keep jokingly suggesting Megan thee Stallion for Bustopher Jones though).

Wow, wow, WOW! That was INCREDIBLE. I need to see this again and again but wow I am on such a high right now. I have tickets to see Death Becomes Her on Thursday and thinking I should ditch them and return to the ball. 
 

Strangely this made me feel like I NEED to see Ragtime, because I want to understand what could have been better than this. 

TheatreFan4 said: "An Aside, I know she's had her statements regarding her time in Cats with the makeup but do you think we could get Lillias White playing Old Deuteronomy at some point?"

 

I know this comment was a week ago, but I would doubt it would happen in this production.  I think there would be a lot of pushback if you were to cast a non-LGBTQ-identifying performer in either of those roles, since this production has been so thoughtful in its casting and vision.  With Andre, you have an elder of the LGBTQ community who has been living with HIV for over 40 years, defying the odds of what was once thought medically possible.  Similarly, Junior's casting as Gus captures Junior's lived experience in many ways as he regales "these kittens" with tales of "the days when Victoria [Crystal Labeija] reigned."  Their characters are two elders in the world of the "Jellicle Ball," just as their performers are two elders in our community of a generation that was largely decimated.  Their roles don't even require good singers per se, so it would seem odd to cast a Broadway legend from outside the LGBTQ community based on the casting decisions made thus far.

Your love for this production is so joyful and pure on a board with so much negativity and malice. 

Updated On: 6/16/26 at 02:15 PM

quizking101 said: "binau said: "Your love for this production is so joyful and pure on a board with so much negativity and malice."

Thank you! I try.

Also, for those looking to attend this week, Leiomy will be out all week because of a torn knee (per Insta), and Nora Schell is still out for an injured foot.

Most likely, it will be Kya Azeen on for Macavity, B. Noel Thomas on for Bustopher (who is FANTASTIC!), and then Kya’s Etcetera track could be filled by any number of people (usually Bryce or Kendall)"

I actually saw Kya Azeen as Macavity and thought she was FANTASTIC!!! I definitely wanna see B.'s take on Bustopher as Ive seen Nora on Broadway and Garnett Williams at PAC. also quizking101, I'm very impressed with your repeat attendance

Nolan LuPone said: "quizking101, thanks for your notice!I'm going to the ball on Saturday afternoon and amactually quite looking forward to seeing the Bustopher Jones cover now, thanks to your message :) I take your opinion as that of aconnoisseur considering your love for this production!

Re: Kya Azeen as Macavity, what should I expect? I had hoped to seeLeiomy and am sorry to hear about her injury."

Well having seen Kya, she brings the same amount of bad bitch energy that Leiomy brings to Macavity...

Nolan LuPone said: "quizking101, thanks for your notice!I'm going to the ball on Saturday afternoon and amactually quite looking forward to seeing the Bustopher Jones cover now, thanks to your message :) I take your opinion as that of aconnoisseur considering your love for this production!

Re: Kya Azeen as Macavity, what should I expect? I had hoped to seeLeiomy and am sorry to hear about her injury. "

B. Noel is truly one of those great up and coming performers. Her performance in SATURDAY CHURCH paved the way to CATS and she plays BJ with the requisite sass. 

Kya is not Leiomy for sure, so I won’t hold your breath for a lot of the signature tricks, but she acquits herself very nicely with the character work. Definitely has more “mean girl” than “scheming mother” energy, but both work.