London Production

The original West End production of the musical Cats opened on the West End on May 11th 1981. It went on to run for 21 years, giving 8,949 performances and winning numerous awards. The production closed on May 11th 2002 on its 21st birthday.

This production made Cats the longest running musical on the West End until 8th October 2006, when it was surpassed by Les Miserables.

Creative Team

Original Team (1981)

• Director: Trevor Nunn
• Choreographer / Associate Director: Gillian Lynne
• Assistant Choreographer and Choreographer for Wayne Sleep's Tap Solo: Lindsay Dolan
• Set / Costume / Makeup Designer: John Napier
• Lighting Designer: David Hersey
• Sound Designer: Abe Jacob
• Production Musical Director: Harry Rabinowitz
• Dance Captain: Jo-Anne Robinson

Later members

• Artistic Coordinator / Gillian Lynnes Assistant: Chrissie Cartwright (1986-2002)
• Makeup Designer: Karen Dawson (1989-2002)

History

Composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cats is based on T S Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (1939), which the composer recalled as having been a childhood favourite. The songs of the musical comprise Eliot's verse set to music by the composer, the principal exception being the most famous song from the musical, "Memory ", for which the lyrics were written by director Trevor Nunn after an Eliot poem entitled "Rhapsody on a Windy Night". Also, a brief song entitled "The Moments of Happiness" was taken from a passage in Eliot's Four Quartets. Andrew Lloyd Webber began composing the songs in late 1977 and premiered the compositions at the Sydmonton Festival in 1980. The concert was attended by T.S. Eliot's wife, Valerie Eliot and she loved the songs that Webber had composed. She gave her blessing for the songs to be adapted into a musical stage play.

Rehearsals for the musical began in early 1981 at the New London Theatre. Due to the Eliot estate asserting that they write no script and only use the original poems as the text, the musical had no identified plot during the rehearsal process, causing many actors to be confused about what they were actually doing. An unusual musical in terms of its construction, the overture incorporates a fugue and there are occasions when the music accompanies spoken verse. The show is completely told through music with virtually no spoken dialogue in between the songs. Dance is also a key element in the musical especially during the 10-minute Jellicle Ball dance sequence.

The set, consisting of an oversized junk yard, remains the same throughout the show without any scene changes. Lloyd Webber's eclecticism is very strong here; musical genres range from classical to pop, music hall, jazz, rock and electro-acoustic music as well as hymnal songs such as "The Addressing of Cats".

Development

As the original production, the London production was very much experimental in nature. As can be seen from the original cast list, quite a few of the show's tracks (roles) were different - such as Mungojerrie playing Macavity, and Bustopher Jones played by the same actor as Old Deuteronomy, not Gus as is convention now. Several songs have also been modified or replaced completely since the opening of this production; most notably, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, originally a languid jazz number, has since been replaced by a more upbeat version seen in productions worldwide.

After its huge success, the show transferred to Broadway in 1982, where it was considerably overhauled, made brighter, more cheerful and family-friendly than the dark, exotic world created originally. Gradually, some of these changes filtered back to the London production, such as innovations in costume construction and revised arrangements and orchestrations.  The London production served as the main influence on the video production, released in 1998. After the video production's release, further changes to the production were minimal; one of the biggest changes after that point was the character "George" being cut in 2001. The London production also notably introduced spoken dialogue in its later years so as to explain the story more clearly.

Cast

Original London Cast (in alphabetical order)

The original cast included Dame Judi Dench in the roles of Grizabella and Jennyanydots, and Les Saxon as Mungojerrie. Judi Dench suffered a snapped Achilles Tendon in rehearsals, and had to be replaced, at very short notice, by Elaine Paige. This all happened during a crucial development point in the show's rehearsals, resulting in changes such as Jennyanydots becoming a full character (it is speculated that she would originally have appeared only for her song, much as Bustopher Jones does) played by Myra Sands. The costume design for recognisable as Jennyanydots' basic, was originally labelled "Electra", suggesting this is the role Myra Sands was originally cast in.

Further Cast Lists

For complete London Casts see here.

Final Cast, May 2002

Gallery

Extensive galleries available year by year

Promotional Images

Awards and Nominations

1981

• Laurence Oliver Award - Best New Musical - Won
• Laurence Olivier Award - Outstanding Achievement in a Musical - Gillian Lynne - Won

Trivia

• The premiere was interrupted by a bomb hoax.