“CATS: The Jellicle Ball” Reinvents Andrew Lloyd Webber's Broadway Classic as a Dazzling, Death-Dropping Triumph
“CATS: The Jellicle Ball” Reinvents Andrew Lloyd Webber's Broadway Classic as a Dazzling, Death-Dropping Triumph
Dave QuinnWed, April 8, 2026 at 1:50 AM UTC
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(Top to Bottom): Leiomy as ‘Macavity,’ Kya Azeen as ‘Etcetera,’ and Dava Huesca as ‘Rumpleteazer’ in 'CATS: The Jellicle Ball' on BroadwayCredit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade -
The new Cats revival reimagines the Jellicle tribe as part of the Harlem ballroom scene, celebrating LGBTQ culture
Directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch create an immersive, participatory experience with bold, authentic choreography and design
Performers like André De Shields and Leiomy deliver standout performances, blending history, community, and electrifying energy
There has never been a production of Cats better than the one that officially opened at Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre in New York City on Tuesday, April 7. And there likely never will be again.
That's because CATS: The Jellicle Ball — the fierce and fabulous new revival from directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch — takes Andrew Lloyd Webber’s famously bizarre, plot-light, dance-heavy drama and does something radical: it makes it make sense.
Based on T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, the musical follows a tribe of felines who gather for their annual Jellicle Ball, where one will be chosen to ascend to the Heaviside Layer and be reborn. But rather than staging the action in a literal junkyard with a cast of actors crawling around in elaborate cat makeup and costumes made of leotards and leg warmers, Levingston and Rauch reimagine the Jellicle tribe as members of the Harlem ballroom scene — the electric, deeply influential underground LGBTQ subculture created by Black and Latinx queer and trans communities in the 1980s.
The cast of 'CATS: The Jellicle Ball' on BroadwayCredit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
The move doesn’t just update Cats, it unlocks it, turning this relic of a musical into something more alive than ever.
Suddenly, Cats' once-confounding structure snaps into focus. Of course these characters are competing. Of course they’re introducing themselves one by one. Of course everything builds toward a climactic moment of transformation and transcendence.
In this world, the Jellicle Ball becomes exactly what it sounds like: a ball. A place where houses gather, categories are walked and performers vie for glory.
And what glory it is.
Ken Ard as ‘DJ Griddlebone’ in 'CATS: The Jellicle Ball' on BroadwayCredit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
From the moment the audience enters the house, it’s clear this won't be a polite, sit-back-and-watch evening (and if there's any confusion, a pre-show announcement encourages theatergoers not to sit quietly and hold their reactions in). Fans snap open, cheers erupt and the room hums with the kind of communal energy Broadway rarely captures anymore. By the time the first death drop hits, the crowd is fully locked in, clacking and hollering as if they’re the show's rotating celebrity guest judges themselves.
That immersive, participatory thrill is no accident. Levingston and Rauch, alongside choreographers and ballroom icons Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons, have crafted a production that feels less like a revival and more like a reclamation. Their vision is bold, specific and, most importantly, rooted in authenticity.
This isn't some surface-level aesthetic overlay. Every visual detail of the revival puts center stage the very communities the culture has long drawn from yet left sidelined,
(Left to right): Xavier Reyes as ‘Jennyanydots’ and Dudney Joseph Jr as ‘Munkustrap’ in 'CATS: The Jellicle Ball' on BroadwayCredit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
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Nowhere is that clearer than in Qween Jean’s costumes.
The visionary designer — also represented this season with Liberation — outfits the cast in lush, textured, feline-inspired looks that blend ballroom opulence with sharp, contemporary edge. Fur, sculptural layers and catlike accents appear throughout, but with a sense of intention and pride rather than pastiche. The effect is a world that doesn’t just borrow from ballroom culture — it uplifts it, honoring the generations who built it while letting this cast embody that legacy in real time.
André De Shields as ‘Old Deuteronomy’ in 'CATS: The Jellicle Ball' on BroadwayCredit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
Those very performers rise to meet the moment at every turn.
Dudney Joseph Jr. presides over the evening as Munkustrap, the emcee guiding the audience through the spectacle with warmth and authority. By his side is Tony Award winner André De Shields, who anchors the show as Old Deuteronomy with effortless gravitas and a sly sense of play.
“Tempress” Chasity Moore as ‘Grizabella’ in 'CATS: The Jellicle Ball' on BroadwayCredit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
As Grizabella, “Tempress” Chasity Moore delivers the show’s emotional knockout, with a rendition of “Memory” that feels earned in a way the song rarely does — stripped of melodrama and infused with lived experience.
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Recasting the cat as a former ballroom star fallen on hard times, Grizabella's return to the floor now comes charged with history, heartbreak and hard-won dignity. And when the trans actress playing her finally steps forward to claim her moment, her performance feels like a coronation.
Leiomy as ‘Macavity’ in 'CATS: The Jellicle Ball' on BroadwayCredit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
Leiomy — the industry-dubbed “Wonder Woman of Vogue” and a breakout star from HBO Max’s Legendary — is a comedic delight as Macavity, a cat burglar with a flair for the dramatic. Sinister, seductive and deliciously precise in her choices, she stands out every time she's on stage. Macavity is the thief, but Leiomy is the one stealing scenes.
Ballroom pioneer Junior LaBeija brings a lived-in richness to Gus, grounding the show in history and lineage. His presence alone feels like a bridge between worlds, helping remind audiences that what’s unfolding onstage is part of a much larger cultural footprint.
(Left to right): Junior LaBeija as ‘Gus The Theatre Cat’ and Bryson Battle as ‘Jellylorum’ in 'CATS: The Jellicle Ball' on BroadwayCredit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
The rest of the company — Ken Ard as DJ Griddlebone, Kya Azeen as Etcetera, Bryson Battle as Jellylorum, Jonathan Burke as Mungojerrie, Baby Byrne as Victoria, Sydney James Harcourt as Rum Tum Tugger, Dava Huesca as Rumpleteazer, Robert “Silk” Mason as Magical Mister Mistoffelees, Primo Thee Ballerino as Tumblebrutus, Xavier Reyes as Jennyanydots, Nora Schell as Bustopher Jones, Bebe Nicole Simpson as Demeter, Emma Sofia as Cassandra/Skimbleshanks, Garnet Williams as Bombalurina and Teddy Wilson Jr. as Sillabub — are just as thrilling.
This is a deep bench of performers who dance, vogue, spin and stunt with jaw-dropping precision. There isn’t a weak link among them, only a rotating series of standouts, each bringing their own flavor to the floor with razor-sharp control.
To understand just how transformative CATS: The Jellicle Ball is, it helps to remember what Cats has been before.
The original production, with direction by Trevor Nunn and choreography by Gillian Lynne, opened on Broadway in 1982 and quickly became a phenomenon, winning seven Tony Awards including Best Musical and running for more than 7,400 performances over nearly 18 years.
That success catapulted Lloyd Webber's score — featuring lyrics by Eliot, Trevor Nunn and Richard Stilgoe — into one of musical theatre's most treasured compositions. And it helped usher in the era of the British mega-musical, paving the way for juggernauts like The Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables.
Emma Sofia as ‘Skimbleshanks’ in 'CATS: The Jellicle Ball' on BroadwayCredit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
But for all its influence, Cats has long been an easy punchline. The original production's eccentric visual style made it ripe for parody, with everyone from The Simpsons to Saturday Night Live to Caroline In the City mocking it. And it became even more of a joke with Tom Hooper's starry 2019 feature film adaptation, which blended human actors like Jennifer Hudson, Idris Elba, Judi Dench, Rebel Wilson, Jason Derulo and Taylor Swift with CGI feline features using "digital fur technology."
Broadway has staged a Cats revival before, in 2016 — 16 years after the original production closed in 2000. But it tried to recreate so much of the original that critics and audiences alike rejected it.
Sydney James Harcourt as ‘Rumtumtugger’ in 'CATS: The Jellicle Ball' on BroadwayCredit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
This revival changes all that.
By stripping away the whiskers, fur and leotards and replacing them with the language and structure of ballroom, The Jellicle Ball reveals Cats' beating heart.
It’s not nonsense. It’s ritual. It’s community. It’s about being seen — and chosen — for exactly who you are.
And more than anything, it’s fun. Pure, unfiltered, unapologetic fun. What could be more purr-fect?
Tickets for CATS: The Jellicle Ball are now on sale.
Nora Schell as ‘Bustopher Jones’ in 'CATS: The Jellicle Ball' on BroadwayCredit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
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