{"id":199657,"date":"2026-03-20T20:57:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T20:57:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/199657\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T20:57:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T20:57:25","slug":"new-jellicle-ball-broadway-show-not-to-be-confused-with-broadway-palms-cats-wgcu-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/199657\/","title":{"rendered":"New ‘Jellicle Ball’ Broadway show not to be confused with Broadway Palm’s ‘CATS’ | WGCU News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cCATS: The Jellicle Ball\u201d began previews on Broadway March 18 in advance of the show\u2019s April 7 opening. It\u2019s not to be confused with the production of \u201cCATS\u201d that is onstage at Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre through April 4.<\/p>\n

\"Cast<\/p>\n

Courtesy of New York Theatre Guide<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

New York Theatre Guide <\/p>\n

Cast of Broadway production of ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball.’ <\/p>\n

The New York show features people performing on catwalks and runways, not actors portraying cats. Plus, the choreography is totally different. Locally, for \u201cCATS,\u201d Director Amy Marie McCleary infused feline agility and sudden movements into Andrew Lloyd Webber\u2019s dance numbers. The Broadway show features ballroom, a type of dance that originated within the Black and Latino LGBTQ+ community in New York City that includes voguing, posing, runway walks and club beats.<\/p>\n

The current production at Broadway Palm is true to Andrew Lloyd Webber\u2019s original concept for the show.<\/p>\n

\"Scene<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

Scene from Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre’s production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘CATS.’ <\/p>\n

MORE INFORMATION:<\/p>\n

Both \u201cCATS\u201d and \u201cCATS: The Jellicle Ball\u201d are based on T.S. Eliot\u2019s 1939 poetry collection \u201cOld Possum\u2019s Book of Practical Cats.\u201d<\/p>\n

The original \u201cCATS\u201d musical features actors portraying actual cats competing for a chance to ascend to the Heaviside Layer.<\/p>\n

\"Scene<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

Scene from Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre’s production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘CATS.’ <\/p>\n

\u201cCATS: The Jellicle Ball\u201d reframes the story through ballroom culture, a vibrant LGBTQ+ community tradition rooted in New York City. The new musical\u2019s ballroom-inspired choreography includes voguing, runway walks and club beats, reflecting the energy and style of real-life ballroom competitions.<\/p>\n

According to New York Theatre Guide, \u201c\u2019CATS: The Jellicle Ball\u2019 emphasizes queer and BIPOC voices, celebrating resilience, creativity, and self-expression within the ballroom community. This contrasts with the original CATS, which primarily focuses on whimsical feline characters and their personalities without a specific cultural lens. The new production highlights community, competition, and identity, offering a fresh perspective on the classic story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ballroom, or ball, culture as depicted in the show originated in New York City in the 1970s within the LGBTQ+ community, particularly among Black and Latino people excluded from earlier drag balls and other queer spaces. “Houses” of people act as chosen family units.<\/p>\n

The ballroom scene is still thriving today.<\/p>\n

To complement the ballroom aesthetic, Andrew Lloyd Webber\u2019s arrangements have been updated with synthesizers and new beats. \u201cMemory\u201d is still performed, but within the context of the ball rather than as a feline lament.<\/p>\n

The narrative still centers on the competition for a new life, but it is staged as a queer, immersive ball with the performers utilizing the entire theater, moving through the audience during the course of the show.<\/p>\n

Though their names and personalities remain the same (e.g., Grizabella, Rum Tum Tugger, Old Deuteronomy, Mr. Mistoffelees, Macavity, Jennyanydots etc.), the characters in \u201cCATS: The Jellicle Ball\u201d are people competing on catwalks and runways rather than performers portraying real cats.<\/p>\n

The Off-Broadway production in 2024 at the Perelman Performing Arts Center drew praise from theater critics and audiences alike. The Broadway show began previews on March 18 at the Broadhurst Theatre with much of the Off-Broadway cast intact.<\/p>\n

The production team includes John Legend, Michael Harrison and Law Roach, who has a long history with ballroom.<\/p>\n

\"Poster<\/p>\n

Courtesy of New York Theatre Guide<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

New York Theatre Guide <\/p>\n

The production team for ‘CATS: The Jellicle Ball’ includes John Legend, Michael Harrison and Law Roach, who has a long history with ballroom. <\/p>\n

\u201cCATS: The Jellicle Ball\u201d is directed by OBIE Award winners Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch and choreographed by Chita Rivera Award winners and New York City ballroom icons Omari Wiles (House of NiNa Oricci) and Arturo Lyons (House of Miyake-Mugler).<\/p>\n

The creative team for “CATS: The Jellicle Ball” includes Tony Award winner Rachel Hauck (scenic design), OBIE Award winner and Drama Desk Award nominee Qween Jean (costume design), Drama Desk Award nominee Adam Honor\u00e9 (lighting design), Tony Award winner Kai Harada (sound design), Brittany Bland (projection design), Special Tony Award recipient Nikiya Mathis (hair and wig design), Josie Kearns (dramaturg & gender consultant), William Waldrop (music supervisor and music director), Cooper Howell and N’yomi Allure Stewart (associate directors), X Casting: Victor Vazquez, CSA and Sujotta R. Pace, CSA (casting director), and Cody Renard Richard (production stage manager).<\/p>\n

After attending a recent rehearsal, Andrew Lloyd Webber said, \u201c”I just had the most joyous experience that anyone could have as a composer. Just listening to the wonderful cast of the \u2018Jellicle Ball\u2019 in such a different way but so much full of the joy that I know that T.S. Eliot, who wrote the wonderful words, the original poet, he just would have loved that. But it’s just extraordinary for me to hear it like this, which is just a joy.”<\/p>\n

\"Scene<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

Scene from Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre’s production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘CATS.’ <\/p>\n

For a recap on what makes the Broadway Palm production of \u201cCATS\u201d special, visit \u201cBroadway Palm and Cape Coral Animal Shelter join forces to draw attention to Lee County cat crisis.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Support for WGCU\u2019s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cCATS: The Jellicle Ball\u201d began previews on Broadway March 18 in advance of the show\u2019s April 7 opening.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-199657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}