\n<\/p>\n
\n\tBroadway<\/a> is burning \u2014 and that\u2019s something to celebrate.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cCats: The Jellicle Ball<\/a>,\u201d a refreshed version of the downtown 2024 hit, blazes anew, having made the trek uptown with its extravagance, pride and sense of joy intact.<\/p>\n \n\tAndrew Lloyd Webber<\/a>\u2019s now-and-forever musical adaptation of T.S.\u00a0Eliot\u2019s \u201cOld Possum\u2019s Book of Practical Cats\u201d has been transposed to the world of Harlem\u2019s Black and Latino queer ballroom culture \u2014 the same scene as the 1990 documentary \u201cParis Is Burning\u201d and television\u2019s \u201cPose.\u201d But here, \u201cJellicle Ball\u201d has a different human breed of cool cats across the binary spectrum. They are part of the underground community of drag houses whose members compete for trophies in runway categories such as realness, fashion and opulence.<\/p>\n \n\tWhat resonates in this production is not just a vibrant twist on a legendary musical but the power of transformation. As the kitty-littered junkyard of the long-running 1982 original is re-set into a new world of wonder, so too reimagined are the music, choreography, design and characters. Even the audience seems to be fresh and fierce, with a diverse mix of theatergoers continually engaged in the strutting on stage as they flutter their oversized fans to signal their gleeful approval.<\/p>\n \n\tBut there\u2019s a subtext to the spectacle. The queer predecessors of the characters on stage lived through a devastating epidemic, amid racism, poverty, and violence and discrimination in their gay and trans community. But these defiant drag houses offered safety, acceptance and glamour which were celebrated in these urban spaces. Outside, the world may be raging but inside, it\u2019s raving.<\/p>\n \n\tThe show begins with DJ Jen Ard thumbing through a box of old LPs and taking out the original cast album of the musical with its classic cat-eyes logo. Bringing it to his deejay deck in one of the theater\u2019s box seats, he places the disc reverently on the turntable. The first iconic notes from the score \u2014 now played live \u2014 sweep over the theater. Though the tune is familiar, the sound is something else.<\/p>\n \n\tOver the years Lloyd Webber has embraced new generations of artists reinventing his works<\/a> in dramatic and dark ways, such as \u201cThe Phantom of the Opera,\u201d \u201cSunset Boulevard\u201d and \u201cEvita.\u201d However with \u201cCats,\u201d the immersive reimagining is bright with its score rearranged to reflect the percussive and synthesized heart of house music. (The dynamic orchestrations are by Lloyd Webber and David Wilson under the music supervision and direction of William Waldrop.)<\/p>\n \n\tBecause the show\u2019s text is largely limited to Eliot\u2019s 1939 volume of light verse, it remains essentially a long revue overlaid with thin narratives. This new queer concept could easily wear out its initial welcome \u2014 as its previous concept did for many in 1984. But here it\u2019s rooted in a real \u2014 rather than feline \u2014 community and its humanness is essential.<\/p>\n \n\tIn Rachel Hauck\u2019s magnificent design of an industrial space repurposed as a makeshift ballroom, a catwalk extends from center stage into the orchestra (and shortened from its previous run to accommodate Broadway balcony sight lines.) But the vibrancy and hearts of these characters whose new identities and senses of self are on the line is just as thrilling.<\/p>\n \n\tCo-directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch keep things in a constant state of fabulousness, presenting entertaining design diversions, creating a bit of drama from the outside world, and introducing a few glittering special effects, too. (A giant swirling disco ball descends mid-show from the rafters above the audience, bringing to mind the grand chandelier effect<\/a> from another Lloyd-Webber show.)<\/p>\n \n\tAnother fun sideshow: At this performance, comic Billy Eichner and comedian, actress, and jazz singer Lea DeLaria were the \u201cguest judges.\u201d But their roles were playfully incidental with the focus on the zhuzhing more than judging \u2014 and the dazzling sights, moves and performances. Choreographers Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles have these confident contestants shine with struts, sashays, splits, dips, duckwalks, vogueing and death-drops, each trying to outdo the other, urged on by a rapturous crowd.<\/p>\n \n\tIn a show where style becomes substance, Qween Jean\u2019s costume designs offer one splendiferous fashion after another, topped by stunning hair and wig designs by Nikiya Mathis.<\/p>\n \n\tUnencumbered with cat makeup, the cast of very human characters \u2014 all excellent \u2014 is in a constant state of motion \u2014 and emotion, too.<\/p>\n \n\tDudney Joseph Jr. as Munkustrap, presides assuredly as the show\u2019s regal emcee. There\u2019s also the charismatic and studly Sydney James Harcourt as Rum Tum Tugger; Emma Sofia as Skimbleshanks the railway cat is wittily presented as an MTA conductor and is as electrifying as the third rail; Robert Silk Mason as Magical Mystical Mistoffelees and Baby Byrne as Victoria are both visions of breathtaking style, grace and limberness; Teddy Wilson is endearing as Grizabella\u2019s fanboy Sillabub, who represents a generational connection, as the show honors a continuing drag lineage.<\/p>\n \n\tFollowing a touching second act slide show tribute to the founders of the drag houses of that earlier era, Junior LaBeija arrives as Gus, the elder theater cat nostalgically recalling his great stage moments. Giving the scene even more poignancy is that the gender-nonconforming LaBeija, dressed in full fur and long bejeweled fingernails that could double as cat claws, is a ballroom icon who was featured in the documentary \u201cParis Is Burning.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAnother elder presence with his own renown theatrical history is the 80-year-old Andr\u00e9 De Shields as Old Deuteronomy, the evening\u2019s grand patriarch. De Shields is, as always, a commanding presence, owning any room he is in with dignified stillness and innate magnificence, and yet barely able to contain his youthful spirit, which finally emerges in full in \u201cThe Ad-Dressing of Cats.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe epitome of ancestral drag and gender rebirth is transgender actress and ballroom mother \u201cTempress\u201d Chasity Moore. Her Grizabella is presented here as a former ballroom winner who is now a disheveled-but-still-proud street person who finds transcendental radiance with a soulful \u201cMemories.\u201d In this moment the show all at once connects to its past, present and future \u2014 and once again rises to Heaviside heights.<\/p>\n \n\tProspects are also promising down the line for something the road hasn\u2019t seen in a long time: \u201cCats: The Jellicle Ball\u201d just might become the next much-needed, must-see touring show from the House of Broadway.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n