After a critically acclaimed, record-breaking, Obie-winning Off-Broadway debut at the PAC in 2024, CATS: The Jellicle Ball – a queer Ballroom-culture reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1982 musical (based on T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats of 1939), which ran for 21 years in London and 18 years on Broadway – is now sashaying and shantaying on the catwalk and all through the House for an open-ended engagement at Broadway’s Broadhurst Theatre. Obie Award winners Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch direct a cast of 23, featuring a combination of performers from the stage, screen, and drag Balls, along with two guest judges brought up from their seats (2023 Tony winners Wendell Pierce and Alex Newell on the night I attended), in a lively, immersive, participatory extravaganza, with the audience encouraged throughout the show to express themselves by cheering, clapping along, and snapping their fans to the vibrant proceedings.
As with Webber’s original, the story, with continuous breaks through the fourth wall, takes place over one night, when the tribe of Jellicle cats (Eliot’s invented contraction of “dear little cats”) gather at their annual Jellicle Ball, where their leader Old Deuteronomy decides which of the contenders will be selected to ascend to the Heaviside Layer (their heaven) and be reborn into a new life (a reference to a cat’s proverbial nine lives), after presenting themselves and the reasons why they should be chosen. But here they sing, dance, pose, and compete through segments of award-winning choreography (by Ballroom megastars Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles) that combines the electrifying moves of voguing, acrobatics, and some playful partial stripping with ballet and other theatrical forms, set to Webber’s classic musical numbers that have been reinvented and infused with DJ rhythms and Ballroom stylings (with music direction and supervision by William Waldrop), in an ebullient self-described mix of “Broadway meets Runway.”
In keeping with the new vision, the scenic design (by Rachel Hauck) resets the production from a junkyard full of felines to a dazzling genderful Ballroom, with a central runway and additional audience seating on both sides, a descending throne for Old Deuteronomy, a staircase on which the older and raggedy, then chosen and transformed, Grizabella the Glamour Cat ascends to Heaviside Layer, and a rotating mirrored disco ball, enhanced with theatrical haze and smoke, strobe lights and spotlights (by Adam Honoré) in a full rainbow of colors, and projections (by Brittany Bland) that welcome everyone (“COME ONE COME ALL”), identify the categories and participants in the competition, and pay homage to the iconic 20th-century founders of NYC drag Ball culture and its Houses, just as the show’s characters honor their elders (Deuteronomy, Gus the Theatre Cat, and ultimately Grizabella).
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Ballroom extravaganza if it didn’t have a spectacular array of fabulous fashions, and so it does. Costumes (by Qween Jean) encompass everything from a sparkling silver gown, purple velvet suit, sheer glittering unitard, eye-popping headpiece, and rainbow-colored leggings to an S&M harness, with larger-than-life and longer-than-ever wigs (by Nikiya Mathis), and cisgender-defying make-up (by Rania Zohny), all creating a flamboyant spectacle, without a tail or whiskers in sight (though there are some animal-print fabrics and a headpiece with cat’s ears).
Each member of the large company brings their individual background and expertise to the musical, beginning with Ken Ard (the original Macavity in Cats) as the DJ Griddlebone, who pulls out a vinyl OBC album, holds it up for the audience to see and to react, and takes it up to a mezzanine box, where he spins it on a turntable to a new beat (there’s actually a live eleven-piece orchestra, conducted by Waldrop, playing the music, and sound by Kai Harada) and encourages the audience to “come out tonight.” Among the production’s many other standouts are Dudney Joseph Jr. as the emcee Munkustrap, who addresses us directly, introduces the competitors and the categories of their playoffs, elicits the judges’ scores (on paddles in the shape of a cat’s head), and leads us through the scenes; Junior LaBeija (50-year member of the House of LaBeija and emcee in the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning) as Gus, who recounts his past glories to the captivated younger performers; Bryson Battle as his grandchild Jellylorum, delivering amazing crystal-clear falsetto vocals; Sydney James Harcourt (a Broadway veteran from Hamilton) as the sexually alluring Rum Tum Tugger, dropping his pants and astonishing with his physical prowess and athletic moves; and Robert “Silk” Mason (founder of the Royal House of Silk) as Magical Mister Mistoffelees, bringing long-limbed grace and elegance, extraordinary balletic and acrobatic mastery, and self-possessed attitude to the competition. And the inimitable “Broadway deity” André De Shields as Old Deuteronomy has the regal bearing and command of the stage required for the majestic role.
Rounding out the cast are “Tempress” Chasity Moore as Grizabella, Jonathan Burke as Mungojerrie, Baby Byrne as Victoria, Dava Huesca as Rumpleteazer, Primo Thee Ballerino as Tumblebrutus, Xavier Reyes as Jennyanydots, Nora Schell as Bustopher Jones, Bebe Nicole Simpson as Demeter, Emma Sofia doubling as Cassandra and Skimbleshanks, Garnet Williams as Bombalurina, Teddy Wilson, Jr. as Sillabub, Kya Azeen as Etcetera, Leiomy as Macavity, and Tara Lashan Clinkscales, Phumzile Sojola, and Kalyn West appearing as booth singers, police officers, and servers. While not all of the vocalists are as polished as others and the group dances are not always completely in sync, the performers all manifest their own unique skills and embrace their individual roles, from a white cat to a virgin voguer, cat burglers to an aspiring House mother, and contribute to the overall mood of fun and joy, and the resounding themes of identity and community, respect and pride, with an exuberance that radiates throughout the theater and makes all humans feel a part of The Jellicle Ball.
Running Time: Approximately two hours and 35 minutes, including an intermission.
CATS: The Jellicle Ball plays an open-ended run at the Broadhurst Theatre, 235 West 44th Street, NYC. For tickets (priced at $58-321, including fees), go online, or find discount tickets at TodayTix.
