US Tour 1

The first US Tour of Cats ran from December 17, 1983, to November 7, 1987. This production was groundbreaking as it introduced the concept of "Slow Tours" that are designed to only play large cities for relatively long runs. Now a staple of big Broadway shows, this concept allows producers to put on expensive large-scale touring productions and still recoup their investment.

The tour was produced by Cameron Mackintosh, The Really Useful Company Limited, David Geffen and The Shubert Organization.

Unlike the fore-running Broadway production, Rumpus Cat was played by Alonzo instead of Plato, and Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer were their own characters, thus bringing the tour in line with most worldwide productions. The rest of the production however, was based on the Broadway version of the show. Published photos of this production are rare: the Souvenir Program sold for the opening months of this production featured the original Broadway Cast photography.

Creative Team

 * Composer - Andrew Lloyd Webber
 * Executive producers - R. Tyler Gatchell Jr. and Peter Neufeld
 * Director - Trevor Nunn
 * Associate Director and Choreographer - Gillian Lynne
 * Costume and Set Designer - John Napier
 * Musical Directors - Stanley Lebowsky and Thomas Helm
 * Orchestrations - David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber
 * Lighting Designer - David Hersey
 * Sound Designer - Martin Levan
 * Make-up Design - Candace Carrell
 * Production Manager - David Taylor

1987

 * Additional February 1987 Cast (Detroit, MI): Marybeth Abel, Tom Guerra, Dan Hild

Media Coverage

 * June 1984 - Washington Post
 * March 1986 - "The Year of the Cats" - Chicago Tribune
 * May 1986 - "Entering on Copy 'Cat' Feet" - Chicago Tribune
 * May 1987 - The Morning Call, Philadelphia