CATS to Return to Australia in 2015

CATS the show to Return to Australia in 2015

Following its triumphant season in London’s West End, the acclaimed revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s record-breaking musical CATS comes to Australia for a strictly limited season, opening in Sydney on 30 October 2015 then touring to Hobart, Melbourne and Brisbane. Tickets go on sale on Friday 24 April. CATS is touring to Adelaide and Perth in 2016 with dates and booking information to be released at a later date.

The hit revival, which was reworked for the most recent season in the West End by the original creative team - Director Trevor Nunn, Choreographer & Associate Director Gillian Lynne, Set Designer John Napier and Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber – received excellent reviews and extended its season due to overwhelming demand.

The 2015 Olivier Award-nominated CATS introduces a rapping ‘street cat’ in the famous Rum Tum Tugger role, who performs some serious breakdancing moves.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that having read Eliot again, maybe Eliot was the inventor of rap”, says Lloyd Webber.

Based on T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, the show is set amongst a larger-than-life junkyard playground and is alive with our favourite feline characters including Rum Tum Tugger, Mr. Mistoffelees, Macavity, Jennyanydots, Old Deuteronomy, Grizabella and Skimbleshanks.

The Jellicle Cats come out to play on one special night of the year – the night of the Jellicle Ball. One by one they tell their stories for the amusement of Old Deuteronomy, their wise and benevolent leader, who must choose one of the Cats to ascend to The Heaviside Layer and be reborn into a whole new Jellicle life.

CATS, one of the longest-running shows in West End and Broadway history, received its world premiere at the New London Theatre in 1981 where it played for 21 record-breaking years and almost 9,000 performances. The production was the winner of the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Musical. In 1983 the Broadway production became the recipient of seven Tony awards including Best Musical, and ran for 18 years.

Since its 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. Both the original London and Broadway cast recordings won Grammy Awards for Best Cast Album.

The musical score composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, includes the hit song ‘Memory’, which has been recorded by over 150 artists from Barbra Streisand and Johnny Mathis to Liberace and Barry Manilow.

CATS Australian Tour 2015

Sydney, Capitol Theatre from 30 October, 2015
Hobart, Derwent Theatre from 10 December, 2015
Melbourne, Regent Theatre from 18 December, 2015
Brisbane, Lyric Theatre from 29 January, 2016

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Mary Poppins Tops Helpmann List

DISNEY musical Mary Poppins leads the 2011 Helpmann Awards nominations, announced tonight, with 12 nods including Best Musical.

Following closely behind is Love Never Dies, the sequel to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s acclaimed musical Phantom of the Opera, with 10 nominations.

Dr Zhivago, which opens in Brisbane on Thursday, and Hairspray received seven nominations each, rounding out the Best Musical nominations alongside Mary Poppins and Love Never Dies.

Performers Anthony Warlow as Dr Zhivago and Lucy Maunder on stage after a dress rehearsal of the new musical Dr Zhivago. Photo: AAP.

Wicked, which swept the 2009 awards with six wins including Best Musical, received two nominations for new male and female leads Jemma Rix (Elphaba) and David Harris (Fiyero).

Victorian actor and dancer Alinta Chidzey was nominated for Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical for her stand-out performance as Anita in West Side Story.

Chidzey clearly impressed selectors when she performed in the number America at last year’s Helpmann Awards.

Last year’s Best Comedy Performer Wil Anderson has once again been nominated for his stand-up, along with Denise Scott, Hannah Gadsby and Tom Gleeson.

Offspring star Eddie Perfect was also nominated for two awards for his cabaret shows Misanthropology and Songs from the Middle.

On the live music front, last year’s Splendour in the Grass and Bluesfest events were nominated for Best Contemporary Music festival.

Brisbane rock band Powderfinger was nominated for Best Australian Contemporary Concert for their Sunsets Farewell Tour alongside The Church’s 30^th Anniversary Concert at the Sydney Opera House, Regurgitator’s Akira concert and Triple J Hottest 100 winners Angus & Julia Stone for their Down the Way Tour.

To see the full list of nominees go to the Helpmann Awards website