CATS

CATS is the name of more than 1 thing: 1) A Popular Musical 2) A Korean Girl Group 3) A Dutch Group The Cats 4) An 8bit musician 1. CATS is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. CATS was first shown in London's West End, at New London Theatre, on May 11, 1981. It was originally produced onstage by Cameron Mackintosh and ALW's The Really Useful Theatre Company. The show then made its debut on Broadway on October 7, 1982 at the Winter Garden Theatre. On June 19, 1997 CATS became the longest running musical in Broadway history with 6,138 performances. It played a total of 8,949 performances in London and 7,485 in New York. Its New York record was surpassed on January 9, 2006 by The Phantom of the Opera, which was also composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. CATS' final performance on Broadway was on September 10, 2000. Its final performance in London's West End was on its 21st birthday, May 11, 2001 and broadcast on a large screen in Covent Garden to the delight of fans who could not acquire a ticket for the final performance. While CATS is often criticized for its lack of plot, it does have a minimal story used to string its musical numbers together. CATS tells of a particular English feline tribe, the Jellicles, who have come together for their annual Jellicle Ball at a junkyard to make the Jellicle Choice and announce the cat who can be reborn. Each cat "auditions" with a different song and/or dance number. Some minor complications involving the abduction of the Jellicle patriarch, Old Deuteronomy occur before a cat is chosen. It turns out to be Grizabella, "the Glamour Cat," whose now-faded charms do not prevent her from singing "Memory," the show's best-known song. It has been recorded by over 150 artists, and is considered by some to be Webber's signature tune. The lyrics are based on Eliot's poems "Rhapsody on a Windy Night" and "Preludes." In 1998, ALW produced a video version of CATS, based upon the stage performance (augmented for the media of film), starring Elaine Paige, who originated the role of Grizabella in London, Ken Page, who originated Old Deuteronomy on Broadway, Sir John Mills, Michael Gruber, and John Partridge, among other dancers and singers drawn largely from stage productions of the show. It was directed for film by David Mallet in London's Adelphi Theatre, and was released on VHS and DVD, as well as broadcast on Television worldwide. The show's popularity comes despite never being critically acclaimed. Many argue it has a mainstream, family appeal that many other more "prestigious" musicals are lacking. It is and has been one of the most-loved musicals of all time, being translated into over 20 languages. 2. The Cats is a band from the Netherlands (the town of Volendam). The group is 38 times listed in the Dutch charts between [/yearformed]1966[yearformed] and 1987. Their music started as a Merseybeat kind of sound and was many years later characterized by big orchestral arrangements and beautiful vocal harmonies. They had the most influence on a typical music-style from Volendam in Holland, called 'Palingsound'. 4) The fourth Cats is an 8bit musician featured on the odd VA as well as 8bitcollective.