Love it or hate it, the musical 'Cats' is coming to Tucson

“Cats” is coming.

Now, depending on your attitude toward the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, that may delight or disgust you.

There are extreme reactions on both sides. We’ll illustrate that in a minute.

First, the basics:

“Cats,” based on T.S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” first hit Broadway in 1982 and was a megahit, running for 18 years.

The story is thin: A clowder of cats has gathered for its annual ball. The big event of the night is to decide which feline gets to be reborn.

In 2016, the director of the original, Trevor Nunn, remounted the musical. It ran on Broadway for about 18 months. It is the revival that Broadway in Tucson is bringing to Centennial Hall.

Now, “Cats” is a spectacle. Actors in elaborate makeup portray the kitties. They crawl and leap over the stage, often over the audience, and they sing songs that you can’t get out of your head. Songs like “Memory.” And “Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats” (really, it’s hard to get lyrics like “Jellicles do and Jellicles can/Jellicles can and Jellicles do” out of your head once you hear the song; go figure).

There’s no dialogue and there’s not really a story. Almost all of the songs introduce a different cat. Examples: “Grizabella: The Glamour Cat,” “Gus: The Theatre Cat” and “Macavity: The Mystery Cat.”

Some people just love it. Others, not so much.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

When we threw out the love/hate question on Facebook, we found folks who were passionate about it on both sides.

“The only thing good about that show was watching the actors being cats,” says Tucson actress Peg Peterson. “Music and story boring and forgettable.”

Los Angeles-based actress Sarah Wolter definitely disagrees.

“I love Cats!” she wrote. “It was my introduction to musical theatre when I was 6 years old and it sparked a lifelong love of the art form. Unlike other musicals I revered in my youth … I still regard ‘Cats’ fondly. Is it a revelation? No, of course not. But the music is catchy, the lyrics are clever, the dancing is fantastic.”

Tucsonan Jim Purdy feels just the opposite:

“‘Cats’ is turgid and interminable with uninspiring music and an unctuous spiritual premise — plus you get accosted in your seat by those grotesque beasts.”

Former Tucsonan Cathy Morrison has a completely different take on it.

“I loved the music, but it was much more,” she wrote.

“It was the feeling of hope! That there is always a brighter side of despair, the heavy side layer was the point of rejuvenation, a new beginning. Life springs eternal. We will rise above the weights holding us earthbound.”