The 40th Anniversary Australian tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s record-breaking musical CATS arrives in Adelaide this week, playing at Her Majesty’s Theatre for three weeks only from Saturday 20 September to 12 October, with no extension possible.
The coveted role of Grizabella, the former “glamour cat” ostracised by the Jellicles, is played by Gabriyel Thomas, while audience favourite Todd McKenney plays the dual roles of Bustopher Jones and Asparagus the Theatre Cat, and classical performer Mark Vincent returns to the musical theatre stage as Old Deuteronomy, the patriarch of the Jellicle tribe. Recently seen as Roxie Hart in the sold-out national tour of Chicago, Lucy Maunder has taken on the role of Jellylorum, while the rebellious cat Rum Tum Tugger is Des Flanagan. WAPPA graduate Jarrod Draper has been cast as Munkustrap, and returning to CATS after many years is Leigh Archer as the motherly character Jennyanydots, also known among the tribe as the “Gumbie Cat”.
The remainder of the company includes Sarah Bourke (playing Tantomile), Olivia Carniato (Demeter), Mia Dabkowski-Chandler (Bombalurina), Tom Davis (Skimbleshanks), Ella Fitzpatrick (Jemima), Charlie Follows (Bill Bailey), Joshua Gordon (Coricopat), Chaska Halliday (Cassandra), Dominique Hamilton (swing), Claudia Hastings (Victoria/ White Cat), Aimee Jones (swing), Savannah Lind (Rumpleteazer), Aaron Lynch (swing), Joe Miller (swing), Jake O’Brien (Mungojerrie), Xavier Pellin (Mr Mistoffelees), Guy Pik (Carbuckety), Rania Potaka-Osborne (Alonzo), Edward Smith (Admetus/ Macavity), Thalia Smith (swing) and Tod Strike (swing).
“Adelaide, It’s time to let the memory live again with this iconic production, performed by a purr-fect cast,” said producer John Frost for Crossroads Live. “CATS is at Her Majesty’s for only three weeks so buy your tickets today before they sell out!”
Based on T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats and set to music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, CATS has been captivating audiences around the globe since it opened at the New London Theatre (now known as the Gillian Lynne) in 1981, where it played for 21 record-breaking years and almost 9,000 performances, winning both the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Musical. Since then, CATS has been presented in over 50 countries, translated into 23 languages and has been seen by over 81 million people world-wide. On Broadway, CATS played for 18 years and won seven Tony Awards including Best Musical.
The musical tells the story of the Jellicle cat tribe. On just one special night of the year, all Jellicle cats meet at the Jellicle Ball where Old Deuteronomy, their wise and benevolent leader, makes the Jellicle choice and announces which of them will go up to “The Heaviside Layer” and be reborn into a whole new Jellicle life.
Get your tickets now at catsthemusical.com.au and let the memory live again.
