The 1981 West End musical that turned T.S. Eliot's feline poetry into a theatrical phenomenon.
If you want to understand Cats, listen to "Jellicle Songs For Jellicle Cats" for the setup, then "Grizabella: The Glamour Cat" for the emotional center. That's the show in two songs.
Cats matters because it took T.S. Eliot's whimsical cat poems and gave them a theatrical life nobody expected. Songs like "Gus, The Theatre Cat" and "Skimbleshanks, The Railway Cat" aren't just show tunes, they're character portraits set to music. The whole thing works because Webber treated Eliot's words as lyrics, not just source material.
It started in London in 1981 with Elaine Paige as Grizabella and Ken Page as Old Deuteronomy. The show built its world through specific cat songs, "Mungojerrie And Rumpleteazer" for the mischievous pair, "Growltiger's Last Stand" for the pirate cat, until the Jellicle Ball became a familiar theatrical event.
Keep it compact: a lyric you come back to, a live memory, or the part of the catalog you would point someone toward first.
Sign in to post the first listener note. Reporting stays open to everyone.