A new production of the musical Cats slated to open in New York will reimagine the popular musical in a new setting, the queer ballroom scene.

The film version of Cats was a bit of a flop, but the stage musical remains one of the most success Broadway productions of all time.

The original Broadway production ran from 1982 until 2000, playing 7,485 performances. The West End production fared even better running from 1981 until 2002, a whopping 8,949 shows.

The casting call for the new production, which is set to run at the soon to be completed Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center located at the site of the World Trade Centre, outlines new takes on the show’s much loved characters.

The workshop production will see Cats reimagined within the context of the Ballroom Scene. The reimagination will take place at a Ball: a competition that, through multiple categories, invites an unapologetic celebration of the self.

“All characters in this production will be human, not literal “cats”.” producers explain.  The audition notes say that many roles may have flexibility with gender including throughout the show.

“Ballroom was created as something that is for everyone. Although not every character is listed as such, it is important to this creative team that people of the global majority (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) are represented across this cast.” the audition notice states.

Old Deuteronomy is envisaged as a drag elder, while Gus – the theatre cat- is described as  a devoted theatre Queen who lived through the AIDS crisis. Rum Tum Tugger is described as a Freddie Mercury type, while Mistopffelees is non-binary.

There’s no word on how (or if) Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s memorable score will be transformed to suit the world of ballroom.

OIP Staff

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