'Cats' paws its way to Long Beach

LONG BEACH - "Cats," winner of several Tony Awards including Best Musical, will be at the Carpenter Performing Center in Long Beach in February.Based on T.S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats," "Cats" is set at the annual reunion of the Jellicle cats at the Jellicle Ball. The eldest of this special breed, Old Deuteronomy, seeks to select which of the many cats in the neighborhood will be reborn to begin another life. Potential candidates named Rum Tum Tugger and Bustopher Jones plead their case but ultimately it is Grizabella's plea for a new life that wins the old cat over. "Cats" features 20 of Andrew Lloyd Webber's melodies, including the hit song, "Memory." The original production opened at the New London Theatre in the West End on May 11, 1981. It opened on Broadway in 1982 and ran until 2000. On June 19, 1997, "Cats" became the longest-running musical on Broadway. Dana Solimando directs and choreographs Musical Theatre West's production of "Cats" with musical direction by Dennis Castellano. "Cats" will play Feb. 12-27. Tickets start at $30. For tickets and information, call (562) 856-1999, ext. 4, or go online to www.musical.org.

********** Published: December 23, 2010 - Volume 9 - Issue 36