Cats (1982). An English musical first presented in London in 1981, it set many of T. S. Eliot's poems from Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats to music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. All the characters were cats, and, although there was a slim plot about selecting a cat to ascend to heaven to be reborn, there was no spoken dialogue. Its most popular song was “Memory.”
The American production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre and ran for 7,485 performances, a new Broadway record. Trevor Nunn directed, while Gillian Lynne recreated her highly praised dances.
How to cite this entry: "Cats" The Oxford Companion to American Theatre, 3rd edn., Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak, eds., Oxford University Press 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. 31 January 2012
