Twenty five years ago today, the musical Cats debuted at the WinterGarden theater on Broadway. Featuring music by Andrew Lloyd-Webber, the show drew its lyrics from T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. The show ran for 7,485 performances over nearly 18 years, breaking the record for longest-running Broadway musical in 1997. The show closed almost seven years ago, and sadly, they still can’t get the cat smell out of the theater.
Glenn Hauman
Glenn is VP of Production at ComicMix. He has written Star Trek and X-Men stories and worked for DC Comics, Simon & Schuster, Random House, arrogant/MGMS and Apple Comics. He's also what happens when a Young Turk of publishing gets old.
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I'm not surprised since the show stank so much. I love the WinterGarden. It's where Al Jolson did most of his broadway shows; I just wish something worth seeing would play there again before I die.
I think Glenn was making a cat joke, we went to te show there was no authenic alley or cat pee smell remember?
Aw, that was just harsh. Like it or not, Webber brought Broadway back from the grave. Of course, he also helped usher in the age of 100-plus dollar tickets, but you take the bitter with the sweet.I adore Cats, as well as many of his shows – the man has a way with hooks and themes that's friggin' uncanny. Cute story – Lloyd-Webber has a home in (I believe) Trump Tower. His kids came to visit one summer, and he asked the swanky hotel across the street is they could use their pool. They apologized, but they couldn't – it's for guests only. So he takes a (multi-hundred dollar) room in the hotel for the whole summer, so the kids could use it as a changing room during their stay. You see, THAT'S how rich I wanna be…I saw Beatlemania at the WinterGarden many decades ago – first row seats. Now I believe Mamma Mia is playing (or just recently finished playing) there. Isn't it called the Cadillac Escalade theater or something insane now?
Sorry Vinnie, I couldn't disagree more. I hate Webber's oveblown shows which I find full of flashy effects and forgettable music. I wish Broadway could find a way back to good shows with witty books and songs that reach the for the beautiful mixture of word and music we got from people like Cole Porter, the Gerswins or Rodgers and Hart.