Cats

The story of Cats

The show has little conventional plot in the traditional sense; instead it presents the Jellicle Cats, a colorful assortment of feline characters, as they gather for their annual ball to determine which of them will be chosen to ascend to a new life. Each number introduces a different cat and their distinct personality, from the glamorous to the mischievous to the world weary, building an atmosphere and a sense of ritual rather than a linear story.

Because it exists outside any specific time period, the setting feels timeless and dreamlike, a junkyard transformed into a stage for one extraordinary night of music, movement, and transformation.

The music and the makers

Andrew Lloyd Webber composed the score, setting it almost entirely to music with very little spoken dialogue, which makes Cats a defining example of the sung through musical form. The songs range from sweeping ballads to playful character pieces, each shaped to fit the personality of the cat being introduced.

That structure, along with its heavy reliance on dance and physical performance, gives the show a distinctive, almost operatic feel that set it apart from more book driven musicals of its era.

Cats on Broadway

Cats opened on Broadway in 1982 and became a defining phenomenon of the decade, running for eighteen years and helping usher in an era of large scale, spectacle driven British musicals on Broadway. Its striking makeup, costumes, and choreography made it instantly recognizable well beyond theatre circles.

Its enduring appeal comes from that very spectacle: audiences are drawn to the immersive design, the athleticism of its dance heavy staging, and the sheer scale of its ambition, qualities that have kept it in constant production around the world for decades.

Cats: frequently asked questions