Come Back with 'Jellicle seat', 'Cats' the Musical  

Confirmed performances in four cities, including Busan

Cub-reporter Gu So-hyun

The musical 'Cats' is one of the world's top four musicals, along with ' The Phantom of the Opera,' 'Les Miserables' and 'Miss Saigon,' which premiered in the West End of the United Kingdom, and which was adapted from the original work of T.S. Eliot, the world's leading Nobel laureate, into a musical. Since its premiere in 1981, 80 million people have watched it in more than 300 cities in more than 30 countries around the world. It was praised as the best musical ever made, combining Lloyd Webber's beautiful music, stage art created by original imagination, dynamic and beautiful choreography, and the immortal masterpiece 'Memory'.

'Cats' centers around a group of about 20 cats who want to be selected as new cats at the annual 'Jellicle Ball' cat festival and who each tell their own story in the musical. In particular, it is a characteristic of the musical where actors dressed as Jellicle cats come down from the stage and walk through the auditorium amongst the audience. The musical 'Cats' is so physical that world-class choreographers describe it as doing the three types of an ironman competition in musicals. "It is considered high-level work that requires both mental and musical capabilities." Since the choreography was devised by observing and studying cats' habits and behavioral patterns, it requires high skill in all aspects, including dynamic choreography and music that is overwhelming for professional dancers, as well as acting that closely imitates real cats. The musical 'Cats' has confirmed performances in 2022 and 2023 in four cities, including Busan. The Musical Cats' 40th anniversary performance in 2021, which was performed after COVID-19, chose to minimize the actors' movements in seating areas to consider safety in a pandemic situation. The issue of using masks, rather than applying make up for the first time, also became a hot topic. 

However, the planned 2022 and 2023 Cats performances once again see the performers mingling freely with the audience as originally performed before the pandemic to revive the original production of actors 'Jellicle seats' which are the highly popular aisle seats where you can see the actors closest that are returning after five years. Joanna Ampil will meet the audience again following her 40th- anniversary performance in the role of Grizabella, an aged and shabby cat. Joanna Ampil has been loved by great masters, appearing in 'Miss Saigon' and 'Les Miserables'. The role of the wise cat Old Deuteronomy is played by Brad Little, who has performed three times since 2017. He is one of the four most experienced musical actors in the world, having appeared more than 2,700 times as the main character in 'The Phantom of the Opera'. Jack Danson has been cast as the rebellious young cat Rum Tum Tugger. He appeared in 'Mamma Mia' in 2021 and is a notable actor with choreography skills such as ballet, modern dance, and jazz dance. 

In addition, about 20 other actors, including Saverio Pescucci, Bradley Delarosbel, Matthew Levick, Ian Jon Bourg, Petra Ilse Dam, Cian Hughes, Taryn Donna, and Nathan Luke. etc will appear. Starting with Gimhae Cultural Center from December 22 to 25, Cats will perform at the Sejong Arts Center from December 30 to January 1, 2023, Busan Dream Theater from January 6 to 15 and the Grand Theater of the Sejong Center from January 20 to March 12. We highly recommend BUFSians to wrap up the year-end and start the new year by watching the magical performance in Korea in Cats 2022, 2023, sitting in a 'Jellicle seat'.