The show opened to great acclaim on Broadway in '82, won all the awards, and found significant appeal with a wide audience that was multigenerational. I was late to the game when I saw a tour that hit Chicago in '89. My future partner (who was 20 years younger than I) wanted to see it.
A number of years later I was dating this young twink, who was obsessed with the show, but had never seen a stage production. We ended up catching another tour which came to the burbs in Oct., '95 -- the cast included J. Robert Spencer as the Rum Tum Tugger.
In Oct., 2003 I took my sister and niece to see a local production of Cats at the Lincolnshire Marriott. It was an excellent staging and probably my favorite of the 3 times I have seen this musical.
Because it ran so long on Broadway, Cats became a joke, especially to most people who post on a message board like ATC. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed to admit I that I do like the show -- it's slight, but enjoyable. However, I rarely listen to the cast recording and have no interest in ever seeing it again. |