CATS broadway revival!!!

[brdwybound04]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 8:00pm

Anyone think that with ALW mounting a "limited" (aka inevitable open ended ) run in the West End this Christmas, that it may transfer to Broadway in spring 2015 and reclaim the Winter Garden theatre once Rocky concludes its run this January? This is shaping up to a redux of Broadway in the early 90s with Les Mis, Phantom, Miss Saigon transferring over, and now potentially Cats, not that there's anything wrong with that. My only hope is that they go back to the original intent of Cats which had a darker less kiddie approach that the show took on over the years and subsequently on tours in order to cater to families. Back in the day, the original show was beautifully dark and haunting and less bright and whimsical...

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 8:46pm

Wait, is ROCKY closing? Did I miss something?

[Susanswerphone]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 8:51pm

Rocky is selling through March 2015 at the moment.

Updated On: 6/26/14 at 08:51 PM

[jnb9872]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 9:15pm

Oh god, no. Please no.

[Wickedmonkey332]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 9:18pm

Cat Hiiiiiisssssss. Stay Away.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 9:30pm

I love Cats and would welcome it to come back, BUT I want a new production, not a remount of the original production. However, I know that's a big part of the selling power with its iconic look so it's not gonna happen. Updated On: 6/26/14 at 09:30 PM

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 9:33pm

I was wondering when this would happen! CATS is one of my guilty pleasures, so I'd love to see this make its way back to Broadway.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 9:46pm

I think "Cats" was a "lightning in a bottle" phenomenon. I'm one of the few around here who saw the OBC and thought it was brilliant. But it was so unusual to have Elliott's poetry set to Webber's music in a junkyard with dancers dressed as cats. On paper, it shouldn't have worked, but a 16-year run, many awards and enough glowing reviews proved otherwise. It felt like "experimental theatre" had gone mainstream.

I just don't see a revival of it capturing anything close to the original production. In fact, I think the only way to consider it would be to re-think the concept and try something completely different with the material. Then, of course, you're risking everything, which the original concept and production(s) did as well.

[blaxx]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 9:49pm

http://www.broadway.com/buzz/176544/let-the-memory-live-again-andrew-lloyd-webbers-cats-prowls-into-the-london-palladium/

...with the composer even altering two of the numbers for the latest West End incarnation. Lloyd Webber said: "today Rum Tum Tugger should be a street cat and so that gives us a great dance opportunity and I must say that I never liked what I did with Growltiger’s Last Stand...so we’re having a go at that."

The Gus / Growltiger segment was my favorite part of the whole thing. The only cat I thought deserved to be the chosen one over the Memory kitty.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 9:51pm

I remember the whole Growltiger scene with the pirate ship on stage. They cut that later in the run, right? It was a wonderful flashback to his "glory days."

(Or am I remembering it wrong after 30 years?)

[blaxx]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 9:52pm

I don't think they cut it from the stage production. It is not part of the DVD.

The ship was amazing. A memory/dream sequence and the only time that they were in a different location.

Updated On: 6/26/14 at 09:52 PM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 9:56pm

A sign Armageddon is approaching.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 9:56pm

I saw Cats for a second time on Broadway late in the run, at least 14 years after I had first seen it, and I'm pretty sure the pirate ship raked set was gone. I remember the thing coming forward, tilting out, and the sails rising from the first time. It was very impressive. That was gone. Maybe it kept breaking down? Who knows. But it wasn't there.

... or so I recall.

[teresa2]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 9:56pm

Totally agree with above poster." Oh God no. Please no". I hated that show!! I am not a huge ALW fan in general, but that was the worst!!!

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 9:58pm

I saw the US tour a couple of years back, and the Growltiger segment was still in there. The part that was not included was the "Peaks and the Pollicles" song with the dogs that we see on the DVD.

[blaxx]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:02pm

I saw Cats for a second time on Broadway late in the run, at least 14 years after I had first seen it, and I'm pretty sure the pirate ship raked set was gone. I remember the thing coming forward, tilting out, and the sails rising from the first time. It was very impressive. That was gone. Maybe it kept breaking down? Who knows. But it wasn't there.

... or so I recall.

Are you sure it wasn't on tour? The tour set for Growltiger was certainly a lot more modest and adapted for travelling purposes.

Maybe someone who was more familiar with the last days of the Broadway run can confirm this but I thought the number was there with the same set until the end.

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:04pm

I'd only go see it again if it starred the cat that got fired from Breakfast at Tiffany's.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:06pm

I never saw Cats on tour. I saw it twice on Broadway. Once right after it opened (full original cast), and once 14 years later.

Marlene Danlelle (an understudy the first time) was still in it.

[haterobics]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:09pm

I'll only go if Shia LaBeouf is sentenced to 6 months of Rum Tum Tugger for his Cabaret infractions.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:10pm

The inevitable bag of Cats cat litter will be available @ the concession stand.

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:15pm

Well, it is what it is. People will always love CATS no matter what. I think there are 3 songs in the show that set this one apart from the majority of ALW's work (POTO and EVITA notwithstanding), but the production of this show always seemed too tacky for me to really enjoy it. I think a minimalist revival could work really well, but this doesn't seem like it will be like that.

[ukpuppetboy]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:15pm

First Lindsay Lohan and now this. Not a good 24 hours for the London Stage.
"If you need me - I shall be in Frankfurt"

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:34pm

Obviously I'm all for this but I wish Webber, with his constant need to fuss with his past scores which worked just fine the first time around, had nothing to do with the production or the decisions being made. The man is senile.

[ukpuppetboy]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:55pm

Mr Roxy - i'll go if the seller is hot.

OR

if Dame Judi makes it safely through rehearsals this time

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/27/14 at 2:02am

Is the pirate ship part in the recorded video of Cats? I hate the show, but I love a big tech element, and I'd love to see how that all works.