AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Ballet Star Robert Fairchild Joins CATS Film

By: Nov. 29, 2018
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AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Ballet Star Robert Fairchild Joins CATS Film

It has been announced that ballet star Robert Fairchild has been added to the cast of the upcoming film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's CATS. Fairchild will portray Munkustrap.

The cast for Cats also includes Jennifer Hudson (Grizabella), Taylor Swift, James Corden, Ian McKellen (Gus the Theatre Cat), Judi Dench(Deuteronomy), Idris Elba (Macavity), Rebel Wilson (Jennyanydots), Jason Derulo (Rum Tum Tugger), and Royal Ballet principal dancers Steven McRae (Skimbleshanks) and Francesca Hayward (Victoria).

The cast has been rehearsing at Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire, UK for a December 20, 2019 theatrical release.

Tom Hooper will direct the project for Working Title pictures which is set to begin shooting in November in London.

Cats made its return to Broadway last summer at the Neil Simon Theatre and was also recently staged at the London Palladium for a limited 12-week run, starring former Pussycat Doll singer Nicole Scherzinger in the role of 'Grizabella'.

Composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and based on T.S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats," the original Broadway production opened in 1982 at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre, where it ran for 7,485 performances and 18 years. Cats was originally produced on Broadway by Cameron Mackintosh, The Really Useful Company Limited, David Geffen, and The Shubert Organization.

Since its world premiere, Cats has been presented in over 30 countries, has been translated into 15 languages, and has been seen by more than 73 million people worldwide. Originally directed by Trevor Nunn with choreography and associate direction by Gillian Lynne, scenic and costume design by John Napier, lighting design by David Hersey, and sound design by Martin Levan, Cats opened in the West End in 1981. The same creative team brought the musical to Broadway in 1982 where it won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Both the original London and Broadway cast recordings won GRAMMY AWARDS for Best Cast Album. Cats hit song "Memory" has been recorded by over 150 artists from Barbra Streisand and Johnny Mathis to Liberace and Barry Manilow.

Robert Fairchild made his Broadway debut in 2015 with his breakout role as "Jerry Mulligan" in the Tony Award-winning musical AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, which he reprised in London in 2017. He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance By An Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical and the Evening Standard Award for Outstanding Performance, and won the 2015 Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, the 2015 Astaire Award for Best Male Dancer, the 2015 Theatre World Award, and the National Dance Award UK. He was also nominated for the 2015 Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance.

As one of the world's preeminent dancers, Robert Fairchild began dancing at the age of four in Salt Lake City. He began his balletic training at the School of American Ballet at the age of 15 and shortly after rose through the ranks of the prestigious New York City Ballet. He became an apprentice with NYCB in June 2005. The following June, he joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet, was PROMOTED to Soloist in May 2007 and to Principal Dancer in October 2009. He recently performed his farewell performance with the company last October.



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