For fans of Broadway musicals, it’s safe to say that there’s nothing quite like Cats. It’s truly one of the most unique musicals ever created and some of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s best work. Before the world was shut down in 2020, Cats was the fourth longest-running-show on Broadway and the sixth-longest-running show in London’s West End. It’s one of the few shows that audiences never tire of seeing, and that will never go out of style. Even after a feature film of Cats was released in 2019, there’s nothing that can compare to seeing it performed live on stage.

Feline Poetry

One fun fact about Cats that is often overlooked is that Webber based it on a book of poetry by T.S. Eliot. The 1939 book Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats became the basis for the musical. Knowing this will help you understand why the musical is so unique. Cats doesn’t follow a narrative the way a novel or play might. Rather, it’s full of poetry and whimsy, focusing more on music and dance than telling a story. In fact, there are large chunks of the musical that Webber barely altered from the poems in Eliot’s book.

International Sensation

It’s almost impossible to fathom that a silly musical about a tribe of cats has turned out to be one of the great musicals of our time. After all, the cats have crazy names and break the fourth wall by acknowledging that there are humans in the audience watching their every move. When you think about it, there’s very little about Cats that makes a lot of sense. But in a way, that’s the beauty of it, and it’s why it’s become a sensation in all corners of the globe. Not only have audiences in New York and London gone crazy over it for the last few decades, but audiences throughout Europe, Japan, Australia, Asia, and everywhere in between have gravitated to it. The musical has been performed in over a dozen languages and seen by nearly 80 million people. It’s almost as if one’s life isn’t complete until seeing Cats in person.