Frontmezzjunkies reports: Cats: The Jellicle Ball Returns to Broadway & Cats Goes to Regent’s Park

Get ready, all you theatre lovers — Cats: The Jellicle Ball is making its way to Broadway, and yes, I’m both excited, but a tad bit nervous about it. After taking the Off-Broadway stage by storm in 2024 at PAC NYC, this bold reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic is headed to the Great White Way in Spring 2026. Previews are set to begin March 18, with an opening night on April 7, at the Broadhurst Theatre. This is the version of Cats that trades fur and feline fantasy for ballroom, identity, and celebration — and I can’t wait (but will hold myself in check).

This revival isn’t a simple revival — it’s a reclamation and revitalization. Under co-directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, the show has already redefined its world: the Jellicle Ball becomes a runway, cats become human bodies, and “Memory” is no longer just a lament but a battleground. Choreographers Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles bring real ballroom roots and nightclub electricity, and André De Shields (Broadway’s Hadestown) leads as Old Deuteronomy, lending ancestral weight and radiant presence. The Broadway run promises a full cast transfer and production scale-up, though the heart of the show will still live in the edges — in the voguing, the pacing, the sociocultural beats beneath the spectacle.

Inside my review for frontmezzjunkies, I wrote that Cats: The Jellicle Ball “exceeded expectations and delivered expertise in abundance.” At PAC NYC, the musical “Death [Dropped] Deliriously Divine and Feline-Free,” and I remain hopeful that the Broadway version will preserve that bravado and boldness inside the tactile, fierce joy that made the Off-Broadway run feel like a revolution in drag and dance theater. I had hoped that the show would have taken over the Circle in the Square, as it would be a perfect fit, but Just in Time and Jonathan Groff are (thankfully) not going away anytime soon. So the Broadhurst Theatre it is.

Broadway’s houses are bigger, and the stakes are higher. But if this transfer holds even half of what that run delivered off the beaten path, we’re in for a more stunning and necessary Cats than Broadway has seen in decades.

For information and tickets, click here.

And just days after these Broadway dates were unveiled for the Ballroom-inspired staging of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, another revival of the show has been revealed for the U.K. Drew McOnie (Jesus Christ Superstar, King Kong) will direct and choreograph the new staging of Cats, to premiere at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in London (where McOnie is artistic director) in 2026 before embarking on a U.K. tour.

The Regent’s Park revival will play July 25 through September 12, 2026, with an official opening date of August 6. The U.K. tour will launch in Plymouth, with further dates through July 2027 booked in Hull, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Llandudno, Glasgow, and more.

“I am very excited to see a totally new production of Cats back on the stage where it belongs,” says Lloyd Webber in a statement. I can think of no-one better than Drew McOnie to bring a new vision to the world of the Jellicles.”

“As for many dancers in the industry, Cats was a transformative experience for me, and as a former cast member, it’s thrilling to be directing and choreographing this brand-new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic musical,” adds McOnie. “I can’t wait to share this much-loved piece with a new generation of audiences both in the stunning outdoor setting of Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and in theatres across the U.K. With the production heading out on tour, we are delighted that it will reach audiences across the country after its London run, continuing our commitment to working with partners—in this case the brilliant Michael Harrison—to ensure our work is seen by as many as possible beyond our home in Regent’s Park.”

The production is the latest Lloyd Webber musical to come to Regent’s Park before further runs. Their 2016 Jesus Christ Superstar (choreographed by McOnie) toured the U.K. and U.S., along with getting several London encore runs, and their 2019 Evita, directed by Jamie Lloyd, recently closed out a successful West End transfer. Will both those Lloyd Webber revivals hop across the pond and take over Broadway once again? Stay tuned.