CATS to Claw Into the London Palladium This Winter

The Jellicle moon must be shining bright! The Daily Mail reports that Andrew Lloyd Webber's CATS is scratching its way back into the West End for a run at the London Palladium, beginning this December for a 12-week run.

Lloyd Webber told the Mail that he is rewriting at least a couple of the songs: "For instance, today Rum Tum Tugger should be a street cat and so that gives us a great dance opportunity, and I must say that I never liked what I did with Growltiger's Last Stand. I hated it, so we're having a go at that."

The "original A-team" will be returning for the production, with Trevor Nunn in the director's chair, John Napier on designs and Gillian Lynne doing choreography.

CATS, based on T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, originally debuted in the West End in 1981, produced by Cameron Mackintosh, and followed by a Broadway run in 1982. It won Best Musical at both the Oliviers and the Tony Awards. The London show ran for 21 years, and the Broadway production played for 18 -- the second longest-running show in Broadway history (PHANTOM OF THE OPERA takes the No. 1 slot). CATS is the West End's fourth longest-running musical.