In April 2015, it was announced that a new Australian tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s renown stage musical Cats would be held beginning in October that year. Time has now passed and the show has since travelled to Sydney (Capitol Theatre), Hobart (Derwent Theatre), Melbourne (Regent Theatre), Brisbane (QPAC), Adelaide (Festival Theatre) and finally Perth (Crown Theatre). Each leg of this show’s tour was fairly short in my opinion, with tickets (at least here in Queensland) selling out prior to the show’s opening night.
The Jellicle Cats have scampered around the country these past few months, but as usual, everything most come to an end at some point. The show will be holding its final curtain call this evening in Perth, drawing what seems to have been a successful production to an end.
The Sydney, Hobart, Melbourne and Brisbane seasons of Cats the Musical saw Australian songstress Delta Goodrem take the principal role of Grizabella, and in my opinion absolutely nailed the song Memories. During the Adelaide and Perth seasons the role was taken over by Delia Hannah (w/ Erin Cornell as Standby).
These two were joined on-stage by a sizable cast of felines. The female cats included Amy Berrisford as Dementer, Dominique Hamilton as Rumpleteazer, Ashleigh Hauschild as Tantomile, Jade Hui-Wen Coutts as Victoria / The White Cat), Emily Keane as Cassandra, Sarah Landy as Bombalurina, Holly Meegan as Jennyanydots, Samantha Morley as Jellylorum / Griddlebone and Stephanie Silcock as Jemima. The male cats on the other hand were Daniel Assetta as Rum Rum Tugger, James Cooper as Admetus / Macavity, Christopher Favaloro as Mr Mistoffelees, Keanu Gonzalez as Alonzo / Rumpus Cat, Ross Hannaford as Skimbleshanks, Brent Osborne as Mungojerrie, Josh Piterman as Bustopher Jones / Gus / Growltiger, Taylor Scanlan as Bill Bailey, Jason Wasley as Old Deuteronomy and Patrick Whitbread as Coricopat.
Swings for the show included Madeline Cain, Emma Delmenico (Also Resident Choreographer), Erin James, Breww Langridge, Andrew Dunne, Matt Edwards, Sam Hooper and Stephen Morgante (Resident Director).
I reviewed Cats the Musical during its Brisbane season at QPAC, where it received a ★★★½. You can read my commentary HERE.
This Australian tour of Cats the Musical was presented by Lunchbox Theatrical Productions, David Atkins Enterprises and BASE Entertainment Asia in association with The Really Useful Group.
