With a shockingly short season for a touring national production of a musical, and highlighting the need for perhaps even more venues capable of hosting touring musicals in the city, the 40th Anniversary Australian tour of CATS will arrive at QPAC’s Lyric Theatre in Brisbane from 6 February 2025 – for just two weeks. Pre-sale tickets are available now for those on the various waitlists, with general public sales opening Friday 25 July. There will be no season extension, so all performances are on sale from day one.
This celebratory production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s CATS brings together a mix of seasoned performers and fresh faces. Gabriyel Thomas takes on the role of Grizabella, the once-glamorous outcast whose rendition of “Memory” remains the show’s emotional centrepiece. Todd McKenney doubles as Bustopher Jones and Asparagus the Theatre Cat, while Mark Vincent returns to the stage as Old Deuteronomy, the spiritual leader of the Jellicle cats. The cast also includes Lucy Maunder as Jellylorum and Des Flanagan as the ever-defiant Rum Tum Tugger. Jarrod Draper will play Munkustrap, and Leigh Archer returns to CATS in the role of Jennyanydots, known affectionately as the “Gumbie Cat”. Plus perhaps my favourite, Tom Davis is set to perform as Skimbleshanks.
Commenting on the tour, John Frost for Crossroads Live Australia shared:
We have assembled a purr-fect cast for this 40th Anniversary Australian tour of CATS. A wonderful clowder of seasoned artists and new performers to the industry, and Sydney audiences are loving the show. Now it’s time to let the memory live again. Brisbane, queue up to buy your tickets before they sell out—it’s only in town for two weeks!
Ticketing information for the February 2026 Brisbane season of CATS, and all other legs of the Australian tour, can be found on the musical’s official website.
