Cats

When T. S. Eliot wrote a collection of poems about cats for his godchildren, I doubt he had in mind the sensory overload that is the revival of the musical, Cats.

Eliot’s individual poems, published nearly a hundred years ago as ‘Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats’ have been combined into a kind of narrative of how one chosen from a tribe of cats – the Jellicle Cats – is ascended to feline-heaven.

The original musical opened in London’s West End in 1981, after a difficult journey from concept to stage, involving creatives from the Royal Shakespeare Company, a script that evolved significantly during rehearsals, and its cornerstone star, Dame Judi Dench, injuring herself a week out from previews, to be replaced by her understudy.

Its composer, Andrew Lloyd-Webber, risked everything (including the mortgage on his house) to finance the production, but with Cameron Mackintosh as producer, it became hugely successful, grossing billions of dollars worldwide and was one of the shows that brought modern musicals back to mainstream entertainment.

Original direction from Trevor Nunn and choreography by Gillian Lynne gave the first production a giant lift to the London stage and with Lloyd-Webber, Mackintosh, and witty lyricist Richard Stilgoe, this combined to win the show an Olivier award in the West End and then three Tony awards on Broadway.

The question is, does a forty-year-old musical still have what it takes to energise 2025 audiences?

It looks amazing – the set, lighting, costumes, the dancing that moves seamlessly from tap to ballet to contemporary – true talent in the performers in doing all this whilst singing pitch perfect too.

The set is gloriously detailed, only finely tweaked from the original 1981 John Napier design, with the oven, the clouds across the moon – and even the reference to the designer’s name on the car boot. Napier also designed the original costumes, and the unitard base is retained, with more modern flourishes of cats’ hair, ears and tails, but still allowing the performers to move sleekly around the stage. The Gillian Lynne choreography and movement remains superb to observe, the cat movements and positions perfectly recreated by the humans on stage.

Paul White’s orchestra is fabulous, and the sound design is really, really good: so often the balance isn’t quite right, or the vocals aren’t clear, but you could hear everything just right, even when the cast use the whole theatre and interact with the audience.

Whilst it is very much an ensemble piece, there are stand-outs: Todd McKenney’s theatre cat Gus is a real showman, with brilliance in acting and vocals – a class act, and a clear highlight in the show. Des Flanagan is so wonderfully over-the-top sexy as Rum Tum Tugger, and Gabriyel Thomas as Grizabella is superb, transforming from a nervous outcast in the tribe to lifting the roof with the most famous song from this show, ‘Memory’.

The other songs are much, much less memorable, whilst the visuals are much more so – and the story? There are themes of belonging and diversity, but the narrative is a loose thread. If you don’t know the premise before the show starts, you’re not likely to be wiser at the final curtain. Audiences might be expecting the strong stories of twenty-first century musicals, but this is sheer spectacle from a very talented team.

What the audience gets is a showcase of Australian triple-threat talent on the stage, note-perfect musicians under the stage, and incredible technicians behind it: it’s a great night of entertainment.

Review by Mark Wickett

Photographer: Daniel Boud