CATS the Musical Stalks Into Singapore with a Limited Run Until 5 January

If you know and love CATS, then this is a performance you won’t want to miss! Read on for our CATS review…

The new movie version of the classic musical CATS has been, um, polarizing audiences around the globe, but the stage version is a tried and true classic. And it’s playing for a limited engagement at Marina Bay Sands this holiday season! Featuring the UK cast, this high-energy musical showcases spectacular choreography and dancing, emotional performances (Grizabella singing ‘Memory’ – sob!), and a live orchestra. Consider yourselves warned, mamas: the committed cast of CATS breaks the fourth wall and prowls the aisles, unnervingly staring down the humans in the audience, and occasionally even dancing with them!

If you haven’t seen CATS before, know that it doesn’t have a typical three-act narrative arc. The Jellicle cats have gathered for their annual ball, and one of them will be chosen to go to the Heaviside Layer and be “reborn” into a new Jellicle life. There is a brief threat from the wicked and mysterious Macavity before the oldest and wisest cat, Old Deuteronomy, selects the cat who will ascend to The Heaviside Layer. But the story is not really why we’re here; it’s the memorable music, the bizarre sight of the lycra-clad cats, and the stunning dancing.

We meet many of the cats through song and dance — some of the more memorable ones are Rum Tum Tugger with his Mick Jagger hips; Jennyanydots, who performs an energetic tap number with a troupe of dancing bugs; and the impressive and magical Mister Mistoffelees, whose dancing elicited gasps from our audience.

CATS is certainly appropriate for kids (there were many – probably as young as 5 – in attendance when we watched) although it’s quite loud in parts, and the cats can be a little intimidating as they roam the audience. Content-wise, there’s just some subtle innuendo from the aforementioned Rum Tum Tugger. If you are attending with kids, make sure to grab a booster seat on your way into the theatre.

All in all it’s great fun, and you’ll learn the correct way to address a cat (you should bow and say, ‘Ohhh Cat’). You may even learn what a Jellicle cat is, and does (although I’m still a little fuzzy on this). If you can put aside the need for a story, CATS is a joyful, crazy, energetic show, well worth catching during its limited engagement in Singapore.

All the details!
Where: Sands Theatre at Marina Bay Sands, 10 Bayfront Avenue, Singapore 018956
When: 17 December 2019 – 5 January 2020
Timings: Tue-Fri, 8pm; Sat: 2pm & 8pm; Sun: 1pm & 6pm
How much: Tickets from $50 – $220, available via Sistic

www.tour.catsthemusical.com