Cats first opened at the New London Theatre in London on May 1, 1981. In spite of skeptical advance reviews, Cats became an instant hit! On September 23, 1982, Cats previewed at New York’s Winter Garden Theatre and it was a huge success! Cats played Broadway for 18 years, until June 1997, surpassing Chorus Line as Broadway’s longest running musical. It ran til May 2002 on the London stage. National tours of the production are still going on, today. It has now been seen by an estimated 50-million theatre-goers worldwide

Cats, which celebrates the superiority of cats, is set in a squalid, but colorfully-staged city dump, where a variety of independent cats come out to prowl and howl.

Cats is based on T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book Of Practical Cats, published in England, on October 5, 1939 and it is brillantly put to music by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

As the show progresses, you are introduced to many different types of cats. Jellicle Cats, “Come Out To Dance, “ and boast of their exploits, then wait to find out which one of them will be selected to go...”to the Heaviside layer,“ cat heaven, to be reborn into a new Jellicle life and continue upon a cat’s nine-life destiny.

The production opens with, Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats and The Naming of Cats.

The centerpiece song, Memory, is sung by Shelly Cox-Robie, as Grizabella - before her ascent to cat heaven. Memory was written by Trevor Nunn, who produced and directed the original Broadway production of Cats.

Other songs include: The Old Gumbie Cat, The Rum Tum Tugger, Grizabella, The Glamour Cat, Bustopher Jones, Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer, Old Deuteronomy, The Jellicle Ball, Gus, The Theatre Cat, Growltiger’s Last Stand, Skimbleshanks, MaCavity, Mr. Mistoffelees, and The Journey to the Heaviside Layer.

The closing song, The Ad-dressing of Cats is sung by Wayne Kennedy as Old Deuteronomy.

Michael Duran, with an extensive Broadway and television background, is the show’s artistic director/producer. An 11-piece orchestra is under the musical direction of Neal Dunfee. Tim McDonough is the producer and Stephen Bertles is the director/choreographer. Scenic Design is by Melissa Schrank. Linda Morken is the costume designer, Meghan Larimore is sound technician, Seamus McDonough is the stage manager, sound design is by Wayne Kennedy, and Cletus Karamon is the lighting designer. Steve Street is technical director.

Boulder's Dinner Theatre has produced 98 Broadway musicals since 1978. 90,000 people attend the productions annually. Performances include gourmet dinners served by the stars of the show.

For Information on Boulder’s Dinner Theatre and its upcoming schedule of musicals, find it on the web at...