Cats: 'The Jellicle Ball' Walks Final Runway September 8

Perelman Performing Arts Center's Cats: "The Jellicle Ball" finishes up its multi-extended run Off-Broadway September 8. Inspired by the Ballroom scene, the production is a fully reimagined take on the long-running Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.

The production got some new cast members beginning August 22, including Rodrick Covington as Macavity and Jenny Mollet as Jellylorum plus understudies Jovan E’Sean, Ivy Mugler, Zachary A. Myers, and Kai B. White. They joined the original company, comprising a mix of both ballroom and musical theatre favorites: Jonathan Burke as Mungojerrie, Baby Byrne as Victoria, André De Shields as Old Deuteronomy, Sydney James Harcourt as Rum Tum Tugger, Dava Huesca as Rumpleteazer, Dudney Joseph Jr. as Munkustrap, Capital Kaos as DJ, Junior LaBeija as Gus, Robert "Silk" Mason as Mistoffelees, “Tempress” Chasity Moore as Grizabella, Primo as Tumblebrutus, Xavier Reyes as Jennyanydots, Nora Schell as Bustopher Jones, Bebe Nicole Simpson as Demeter, Emma Sofia as Skimbleshanks, Garnet Williams as Bombalurina, and Teddy Wilson Jr. as Sillabub plus ensemble members Tara Lashan Clinkscales and Phumzile Sojola and understudies Bryce Farris and Kendall Grayson Stroud. Casting is by X Casting's Victor Vazquez and Sujotta R. Pace.

'Electric': Andrew Lloyd Webber Officially Weighs In on Cats: 'The Jellicle Ball'

Read what critics had to say about the show, led by co-directors Zhailon Levingston (Chicken & Biscuits) and PAC NYC Artistic Director Bill Rauch (All the Way), by clicking here.

The creative team also includes co-choreographers Legendary season two winner Arturo Lyons and vogue dancer Omari Wiles, dramaturg and gender consultant Josephine Kearns, scenic designer Rachel Hauck, costume designer Qween Jean, lighting designer Adam Honoré, sound designer Kai Harada, projection designer Brittany Bland, and hair and wig designer and 2024 Special Tony Award recipient Nikiya Mathis. Company member Capital Kaos also serves as ballroom consultant.

Also on the creative team: beats arranger Trevor Holder, with William Waldrop serving as music supervisor and music director and David Lai as music coordinator.

READ: In This New Cats Revival, It's Jellicle Songs for Voguers and Femme Queens

Most recently brought somewhat mainstream by the FX series Pose, the Ballroom scene is an underground LGBTQIA+ subculture that arose in 1920s NYC, arguably reaching its zenith in the '80s. Home to runway walk categories that invited participants to dress in any number of themes ranging from the extravagant to the fabulously commonplace, the Ballroom scene is also where vogue dancing comes from—but real vogueing, not Madonna vogueing. Dominated specifically by the Black and Latino queer communities, the scene has become ingrained in much of queer and popular culture today, particularly the world of drag. Ball culture was most famously memorialized in the iconic 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning.

But the world of Ballroom is a new take on the Lloyd Webber musical, which debuted in London in 1979 as a dance musical adapted from T.S. Eliot's book of poetry, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. Largely plotless, the musical follows a tribe of so-called "Jellicle" Cats who gather for an annual ball, presenting themselves for the chance to be reborn into a new life. The first act culminates in an all-dancing Jellicle Ball. While the connections to Ballroom culture might seem obvious now, the original production, choreographed by Gillian Lynne, featured quasi-modern ballet-inspired dance and cat costumes comprising '80s-appropriate leotards and leg warmers.

The production was presented by arrangement with The Really Useful Group. Lloyd Webber previously announced he would donate his royalties from the production to the American Theatre Wing's Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative and PAC NYC.

Visit PACNYC.org.