Review: Cats, at the Theatre Royal, Sydney

• The cats out of the bag: Andrew Lloyd Webber made $3.5 billion out of one song and a story about feline felons.
• The new Sydney production has some wonderful performances.
• But not even these can hide the lack of a decent story.

Sydney, you’ve been blessed. In the past two months we’ve seen two of the world’s longest running musicals. And they couldn’t be more different.

In May, we watched enthralled as Les Misérables, from the pen of the man the New York Times called the most powerful producer in theatre, Cameron Mackintosh, took over the ICC Theare.

This week, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats opened its 40^th year tour at the Theatre Royal in Sydney. In terms of longevity, these two have almost eighty years between them.

But while Les Mis has a strong story line and fabulous songs, Cats is the most divisive of stage shows. You will either leave the theatre bemused and confused, or having loved every minute.

We know Andrew Lloyd Webber is the maestro of musical theatre. But is Cats one of his best? Despite its long run and grossing $3.5 billion over four decades – yes, your read that figure right! – probably not.

Lloyd Webber knows how to cleverly use a few chords and a memorable song to create a monster hit. In this show, the cats out of the bag: formula is perfected.

Sydney saw a brilliant cast who filled the stage with energy, great dance and excellent vocals. The sets and makeup are excellent – for some younger members of the audience, even a little too scarily realistic.

But the first half sagged for lack of a plot, only lifting when Gabriyel Thomas as Grizabella sang Memory. Immediately, you recognise Lloyd Webber at his best.

In the second half, things picked up. Some great performances from Todd McKenney as Bustopher Jones, Alex Alverez as Mr Mistoffelees and Mark Vincent as Deuteronomy lift the show, and the story begins to make a little sense.

Cats is based on T.S. Eliot’s 1939 collection of poems, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. Andrew Lloyd Webber, who had a childhood fondness for the poems, began composing music for them in the late 1970s, initially as a challenge to set existing lyrics to original melodies. This evolved into a song cycle called Practical Cats.

The story is about a gang of cats.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. 

There is no dialogue. The entire two-hours is song and dance.

The biggest criticism of Cats is the plot. There isn’t one.

Many acknowledge that Cats is polarising for that very reason. You’ll either love it or hate it. It helps if you like cats.

Cameron Mackintosh worked with Lloyd Webber to develop this full-scale musical. Trevor Nunn as director and Gillian Lynne was choreographer. Cats premiered on May 11, 1981, at the New London Theatre) in London’s West End. It was revolutionary for its time, with no spoken dialogue, a junkyard set, and elaborate cat costumes.

It quickly became a smash hit, running for 21 years in the West End and 18 years on Broadway.

It has featured a string of stars, including Elaine Paige as Grizabella in the West End and Betty Buckley took on the role of Grizabella in the original Broadway production.

Wayne Sleep originated the role of Mr. Mistoffelees, the magical cat, known for his impressive dance sequences, and Sarah Brightman (then married to Andrew Lloyd Webber) was part of the original West End cast as Jemima.

Cats made its Australian debut on July 26, 1985, at the Theatre Royal Sydney, the very same venue where the 40th-anniversary tour is now being shown.

The original Australian production ran successfully for an extended period, and featured Debra Byrne as Grizabella, Marina Prior as Griddlebone/Jellylorum and Todd McKenney as Tumblebrutus in the original Melbourne season of Cats from 1987 to 1988.

Cats is one of the highest-grossing musical theatre productions of all time. As of 2012, its worldwide revenue was reported to be over US$3.5 billion. On Broadway alone, the original production (1982-2000) grossed an estimated $388 million, and the 2016-2017 revival added another $65.6 million.

However, the 2019 film adaptation of Cats was a significant box office flop, earning only around $75 million worldwide against an estimated production budget of $80-100 million.

Is it worth seeing? It’s certainly a spectacle and features some great performances. But if this show has nine lives, this could well be the ninth.

Where: Theatre Royal, Sydney

When: Until September 6

Cost: Tickets from $69

More information: Theatreroyalsydney.com