‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’ Broadway Review: A Queer, Radiant Reinvention Makes A Lasting Memory

An entirely convincing how-to guide in transforming (rescuing, even) well-trod, beloved material (and, yes, the musical that gave us “Memory” is beloved, every bit as much as it is mocked) into something bracing and resplendent, Cats: The Jellicle Ball is that rare thing: A classic stage property reimagined not as stark and gloomy minimalism (see Daniel Fish’s Oklahoma or Jamie Lloyd’s Sunset Blvd.) but as a big, joyous glitter bomb.

Dressing up the “Now and Forever” Cats in the accoutrement of the Harlem queer ball scene celebrated in the documentary Paris Is Burning and reflected in every last sequin of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Cats: The Jellicle Ball opens at Broadway‘s Broadhurst Theatre tonight. Its reputation preceding heralded by an acclaimed, award-winning 2024 Off Broadway staging, Jellicle Ball is already packing the venue, and audience reaction at the reviewed performance – whoops and claps and the click-clacking of souvenir folding fans – suggests the new take certainly fulfills the “Now” part of the old slogan, with “Forever” a possibility.

Production-designed to a fare-thee-well – costumes (Qween Jean), lighting (Adam Honore), sound (Kai Harada), sets (Rachel Hauck) and all the wigs (Nikiya Mathis), make-up (Rania Zohny) and descending staircases therein – Jellicle Ball is so flat-out fun it smothers every slight ever suffered by Lloyd Webber’s 1980s mega-musical, from snickers layered into Tony Kushner’s Angels In America and Paul Rudnick’s Jeffrey to the travesty of that uncanny valley film in 2019. There’s probably a joke to be had about cats really having nine lives.

The Jellicle Ball begins with a lone DJ (Ken Ard) on stage, flipping through a stash of vintage LPs including Michael Jackson and, inevitably, the original Cats cast album with the iconic yellow eyes logo. Taking his place in one of the Broadhurst Theatre’s box seats, DJ Griddlebone wastes no time pumping up the crowd and welcoming all and sundry Jellicles to the stage. Dressed in gloriously vivid and eccentrically shaped costumes, these cats (only passing attempts are made to mimic actual felines, a crucial mistake of that movie) stride individually about the stage before coming together as a thrilling, pulsing whole.

As with the original musical, Jellicle Ball is structured largely as discreet, individual showcases, with each cat (or two) taking the spotlight at any given time to display dance moves, visual flair and, perhaps most crucially, personality. Vibe might be a better word, and Jellicle Ball is loaded with it.

Once the ensemble finishes up with the introductory “Jellicle Songs For Jellicle Cats” and “The Naming of the Cats,” the stage is set for the solo(ish) turns from members of the various ball “Houses.” We’re soon in full gear, with Rum Tum Tugger (Sydney James Harcourt), ever the crowd pleaser, taking the spotlight in sexy black and see-through attire to highlight his rock star/male stripper moves. His runway competition category? “Butch Queen Realness.”

The rest of the familiar names are present and accounted for, all arriving in wonderfully varied shapes, sizes, ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations: Munkustrap (Dudney Joseph Jr.), Jennyanydots (Xavier Reyes), Tumblebrutus (Primo Thee Ballerino), Bustopher Jones (Nora Schell), Mungojerrie (Jonathan Burke), Rumpleteazer (Dava Huesca), the mysterious Macavity (Leiomy) and the conjuring Magical Mister Mistoffelees (Robert “Silk” Mason).

As always, the showstoppers are the showstoppers: the entrance of Old Deuteronomy (the incomparable André De Shields, outfitted in purples and a glorious great gray mane) brings the audience to its feet, and every hint of “Memory,” the song that just might be Lloyd Webber’s greatest achievement, is nearly overwhelmed with thunderous applause. Portrayed by “Tempress” Chasity Moore, Grizabella delivers “Memory” with enough power to take her place alongside greats like Betty Buckley and Elaine Paige, those old school Grizabellas who inhabited the glamour cat with undiminished perfection.

Directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch have made sure to pay joyous, respectful homage not only to the original musical but to the ball culture that receives its well-deserved Broadway spotlight, from casting (trailblazing M.C. Junior LaBeija, of Paris Is Burning fame, plays the old theater cat Gus) to visual design (at one point, vintage photographs of actual ballroom denizens throughout the decades are projected for all to see).

From start to finish, Jellicle Ball‘s thoroughly modern music – dance beats, hip-hop, all suitable for voguing, and the choreography, by turns slinky and athletic, of Omari Wiles (House of NiNa Oricci) and Arturo Lyons (House of Miyake-Mugler) – keeps the show’s energy level at a 10, ably assisted by Kai Harada’s top-notch sound design and the orchestrations by Lloyd Webber and David Wilson (musical supervision and music direction is by William Waldrop). Somehow, every musical number is entirely recognizable yet completely fresh (only “Memory” is left, wisely, largely intact and unbothered).

If all of this seems, in description, strained or on-the-nose, it isn’t. The parallel between subcultures – Eliot’s fictional Jellicles, Harlem’s self-invented House denizens – is an easy match, seemingly ready-made, with cats and queers celebrating fierce independence, pride and showmanship as a hallmark of both communities. Moving the action from alley to runway, the competition now involving trophies as well as an opportunity to ascend, as always, to the Heaviside Layer, is an idea that seems all but preordained.

What wasn’t preordained is just how beautifully executed the entire venture turns out to be. You’d have to be a real stickler for tradition to begrudge Jellicle Ball its innovations, and one suspects even the stickliest will find joy in the tunes and story that remain in this show’s DNA. It’s all still here, fueling yet another life, familiar as an old tabby yet fresh as a kitten.

Title: Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Venue: Broadway’s Broadhurst Theatre
Directors: Zhailon Levingston, Bill Rauch
Book & Lyrics: Based On Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats By T.S. Eliot
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Cast: André De Shields, Ken Ard, Kya Azeen, Bryson Battle, Sherrod T. Brown, Jonathan Burke, Baby Byrne, Tara Lashan Clinkscales, Bryce Farris, Sydney James Harcourt, Dava Huesca, Dudney Joseph, Jr., Junior LaBeija, Leiomy, Robert “Silk” Mason, “Tempress” Chasity Moore, Primo Thee Ballerino, Xavier Reyes, Nora Schell, Bebe Nicole Simpson, Emma Sofia, Phumzile Sojola, Kendall Grayson Stroud, B Noel Thomas, Kalyn West, Donté Nadir Wilder, Garnet Williams, Teddy Wilson Jr.
Running time: 2 hr 25 min (including intermission)