- Title: UNITED KINGDOM: STAGE SHOW 'CATS' BECOMES THE WORLD'S LONGEST RUNNING MUSICAL
- Date: 29th January 1996
- Summary: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (JANUARY 29, 1996) (REUTERS TELEVISION) EXTERIOR VIEWS OF NEW LONDON THEATRE PEOPLE ARRIVING FOR RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCE OF "CATS" ORIGINAL "CATS" CAST MEMBER BONNIE LANGFORD (RED COAT, RED HAIR) ARRIVING AT THEATRE "CATS" FAN SAYING "I WAS AT THE FIRST NIGHT, I WAS AT THIS PERFORMANCE WHEN IT WENT INTO THE GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS FOR BEATI
- Embargoed: 13th February 1996 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVAF0UJPHGO92145DHI2K47FKL10
- Story Text: Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's lavish London production of "Cats" became the world's longest running musical on Monday (January 29).
But as the stars celebrated, the composer recalled how the show almost folded in its first month.
Taking the curtain call for the record 6,138th performance, Lloyd Webber brandished the gloomy accounts from the early weeks.
His inspiration to base the musical on T.S. Eliot's poetry was widely derided, but then crowds began to grow.
Since then, Cats has been seen by seven million people in London alone. Worldwide, the feline extravaganza has pulled in an extraordinary 1.6 billion United States dollars.
The previous record breaking musical run was held by A Chorus Line's Broadway production.
"We never thought we would be here 15 years later," said impresario Sir Cameron Mackintosh, alongside Sir Andrew on stage.
Lloyd Webber admitted to a moment of doubt just before the first show. "The cast were all there in their little cat costumes, and they were saying: 'What are we doing here?' "We were thirty seconds away from the greatest moment of bathos or something great." Some of the hundreds of past cast members were at the celebratory show and party, including famous names Bonnie Langford, Wayne Sleep and Sarah Brightman, Sir Andrew's second wife. Cats' first director, Trevor Nunn, was also present.
Since opening on May 11, 1981, Cats has notched up a string of impressive statistics.
The New London Theatre wardrobe department has replaced 3,900 pairs of shoes, sewn on 90 knee pads a night and has produced 6,900 garments.
The make-up department uses 10,800 sponges and 98 batches of each eye-shadow, pencil, blusher, lipstick and mascara a year.
The electrics department has changed 23,400 bulbs and used 30,552 feet of cabling.
The musical's big hit, 'Memory', has been played 46,875 times on British radio and television and been recorded more than 100 different times.
At the post-show party, TS Eliot's widow Valerie confided she had seen the show many times. She said her husband had loved musicals.
There are nine current Cats productions: in New York, Manchester, Milwaukee, Tokyo, Hamburg, Budapest, Adelaide and Bern. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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