Review Roundup: Did CATS Make The Critics Purr With Delight?

There's no better way to introduce your family to the wonders of live theatre than with the magic, the mystery, the memory of Cats. What began as a musical about cats after Andrew Lloyd Webber picked up a book of poems in an airport bookshop has become one of the longest running shows in Broadway's history. Winner of seven Tony Awards including Best Musical, Cats features 20 of Andrew Lloyd Webber's timeless melodies, including the hit song "Memory."

What did the critics think of Drew McOnie's new production?

Cats runs at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre until 19 September

Photo credits: Mark Senior

Louise Penn, BroadwayWorld: Some changes have inevitably been made by the new creative team, notably the removal of "The Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles", and a different staging for "Macavity" and Grizabella's ascent to the Heavyside Layer. Happily, though, Rum Tum Tugger (Jaydon Vijn) is back to being sexy rock star rather than rapper, and all the better for it.  The other iconic characters - Jennyanydots (Charlotte Riby), Bustopher Jones (Elliot Broadfoot), Gus the Theatre Cat, crooked Macavity (Dianté Lodge), magical Mr Mistoffelees (Jet Yau) - are beautifully portrayed.  Jenny and Bustopher are light and fun, while Gary Wilmot brings pathos and pluck to the old timer, Macavity offers impressive dance moves - bar a stumble that looked accidental - and Mr Mistoffelees is appropriately, well, magical.

James Hall, The Telegraph: Back on the terra fur-ma of a stage, this rebooted Cats repaired some of the reputational damage done by the Hollywood folly. Directed by Drew McOnie, the artistic director of Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, who was also behind the current acclaimed production of Jesus Christ Superstar starring Sam Ryder, this version of Cats wisely focused on the dancing and the darkness. And so it should have. Because the big issue with Cats, and it’s sadly an intractable one, is its plot. Or, should I say, lack of it.

Sarah Crompton, WhatsOnStage: The mischievous Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are, in the hands of Danny Nattrass and Briana Craig, sparkly, swift-footed acrobats; Bustopher Jones (Elliot Broadfoot), who likes his food, has a hoop skirt of roundness beneath a pristine satin shirt; Matthew Caputo’s Skimbleshanks, the railway cat, has a sequin-highlighted orange uniform and a real train. Most excitingly, Jet Yau’s Mister Mistoffelees is a boneless breakdancer, turning on his head while throwing fireworks into the sky, while Diante Lodge’s Macavity actually sets the stage alight with real fire.

Andrzej Lukowski, TimeOut: The titular Jellicle Cats are both familiar but also grungier and less cosy than their leg warmer-clad 1981 forbears. The biggest difference between the two incarnations of Cats probably lies in the choreography – high energy and aerobic in the original (by Gillian Lynne), sinuous and twitchy under McOnie. It’s very telling that he’s a director-choreographer: if it is of course never even slightly believable that you’re watching a group of actual cats, but there’s a real unity between the leaner, edgier look of the performers and the leaner, edgier choreo.

Marianka Swain, London Theatre: Gillian Lynne’s virtuosic choreography was a landmark moment for British musical theatre. McOnie honours her legacy while finding his own fresh language: earthier, infused with commercial, contemporary, street dance and acrobatics, as well as feline touches, from undulating, slinking bodies to the dancers curling up in a big sleepy pile. Tellingly, his company wear knee pads rather than leg warmers, and there’s no fur here: the costumes are more like sleek running gear, plus quirky character touches such as flat caps with ears. Throughout McOnie mixes astute details with athletic ensemble tableaux.

Tom Wicker, The Stage: McOnie leans most heavily into the show’s potential for spectacle, which is as much about movement as music. He, Ebony Molina and Josh Baker create a sinewy, sensual choreography that has the talented ensemble cast practically purring off the stage. The show’s inevitable catsuits and whiskers are ripe for send-up, but Sami Fendall’s raffish costumes feel scruffier and earthier, while her set design – like the ribs of a junkyard emerging from the ground – are atmospherically picked out by Jessica Hung Han Yan’s lighting among the enclosing trees. It’s a visual feast with a hint of wildness that blends well with the darkening skies of the open-air theatre.

Donald Hutera, The Times: Lloyd Webber’s score, which ranges from pop-rock with boogie and jazz inflections to jaunty music hall numbers, plus the poignant, sweeping ear-worm that is Memory, sounds great. Fendall’s work is wonderful, including costumes and wigs that play attractive games with a gamut of textures. But it is the slithery, gymnastic actor-dancers inside and behind the fuzzy, sparkly garb and make-up that animate the action. They are an outstanding ensemble. Thanks to them, and McOnie’s flair for theatrical movement, this is a musical that is not just sung but also danced through.

Donald Hutera, The Times: Lloyd Webber’s score, which ranges from pop-rock with boogie and jazz inflections to jaunty music hall numbers, plus the poignant, sweeping ear-worm that is Memory, sounds great. Fendall’s work is wonderful, including costumes and wigs that play attractive games with a gamut of textures. But it is the slithery, gymnastic actor-dancers inside and behind the fuzzy, sparkly garb and make-up that animate the action. They are an outstanding ensemble. Thanks to them, and McOnie’s flair for theatrical movement, this is a musical that is not just sung but also danced through.

Average Rating: 77.5%