Thanks to a certain someone out there, I was finally able to check out Cats: The Jellicle Ball (Off-Broadway).
When it comes to Cats, it's a musical which I fully acknowledge its impact and worldwide success...yet at the same time I could not get into. At its very core, it's a weird musical where you either love it or mock it. I know friends who're truly into it and I don't judge them, there are far worse musicals to be head over heels for like Rent and Dear Evan Hansen.
While things got a little shadier just now, the matter of the fact is while I never got into Cats, I was intrigued by this revival which switches it up a bit. And the end result is something that I honestly enjoyed! Infusing the musical with the ballroom scene was honestly a brilliant choice, and it gave the musical a fresh, sexy and unique take while still retaining the music and "story". It all fits together incredibly well, and it just makes for a joyous watch with a lot of fun choreo and moments, not to mention a great curtain call, too!
I know I'm not the only one who's felt this way, so I feel this is an exemplarily example of a revival! Being able to take a musical like this and reimagine it in such a bold direction while also keeping the spirit/music of the original is something special and not easy to pull off. So of course, it is a bummer hearing the Broadway version is closing August 8th. I know Broadway can be rough and all, but it still stings when a good one like this goes out too soon.