cats musical asia tour

Asia Tour 2022-2023

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The 2022-2023 Asian tour of Cats opened 22 December 2022, produced by Seol and Company and GWB Entertainment. It is based on the 2017 Asia Tour and 2020 Asia Tour , and toured South Korea and Taiwan.

The production used new character makeup designs created by John Napier in 2021. Some costumes used were also the new Napier design.

Venues and Dates [ ]

Gallery [ ].

• 1 Rum Tum Tugger
• 2 Bombalurina
• 3 Alice Batt

CATS Returns to China for 16 Week Tour

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s record-breaking, award-winning musical  CATS  comes to China for a 16 week tour, direct from its sell-out season at the London Palladium.

Adapted from TS Eliot’s ‘Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats’, this  “groundbreaking musical”  (Daily Express) comes together in a sparkling fusion of music, dance and verse, and has now taken on a new life for a new generation.

On just one special night of the year, all Jellicle cats meet at the Jellicle Ball where Old Deuteronomy, their wise and benevolent leader, makes the Jellicle choice and announces which of them will go up to The Heaviside Layer and be reborn into a whole new Jellicle life… With  “timeless music, spectacular sets and a superb cast”  (Daily Mirror), breathtaking choreography and of course the unforgettable ‘Memory’,  CATS  is a magical musical like no other.

The 16 week season will open on 7 June 2019, at Shanghai Culture Square.

For more information on tour dates and tickets, click here .

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‘Cats’ continues Asia tour with Joanna Ampil as Grizabella

By Margaux Pangilinan Published Oct 02, 2020 3:58 am

Despite the pandemic, hit musical Cats opens its Asia tour in Seoul, South Korea with Joanna Ampil as the glamour cat, Grizabella.

This year has been quite a sad one for everyone who loves musical theater. Broadway and West End theaters are closed. Even here in the country, many of the musicals that were scheduled to run this year are either canceled or postponed until further notice.

However, despite the numerous cancellations of theater productions worldwide, the Asia tour of the hit Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical, Cats opened in Seoul earlier last month, beating the odds and proving to the world that “the show must go on.”

Joanna Ampil is one of the most iconic theater actresses here in the Philippines and in the United Kingdom. She also played Grizabella in the Manila run of Cats at The Theatre at Solaire from November to December in 2019 and its previous international productions over the years.

She is known for playing the role of Kim in Miss Saigon in the West End. She also played other unforgettable musical roles like Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar , Eponine and Fantine in Les Miserables , Maria in West Side Story , Jenna Hunterson in Waitress , and Maria Rainer in The Sound of Music .

Cats will be showing up to November 8 at the Charlotte Theater in Eastern Seoul, South Korea. Strict health and safety protocols are put in place to ensure the audience is safe while enjoying this musical classic.

In a video posted by Universal Music Korea, Ampil expressed that she is ecstatic to play Grizabella for the musical’s fans in Korea, especially in these challenging times, “There is never a day I wake up and not feeling grateful because I am so extremely grateful, particularly to all our Korean fans, because you are the reason why we are here.”

She also shared that aside from singing the timeless song Memory , the dance solo that she does before the end of Act 1 is also something that she loves doing while playing the musical’s glamour cat. Although it wasn’t the easiest, it will always remind her of the late Gillian Lynne, who helped her interpret that dance the best way that she can. Lynne was recognized for being the original choreographer of Cats and the other Andrew Lloyd Webber blockbuster musical, The Phantom of the Opera .

Millions around the world have seen Cats since its first-ever premiere on May 11, 1981, at the New London Theatre (now the Gillian Lynne Theatre) in the UK. It will be celebrating its 40 th anniversary in 2021. A movie adaptation of the musical premiered December 2019 which received mostly negative reviews, especially from the musical’s long-time fans.

Although faced with hurdles related to the current COVID-19 pandemic, Cats has proved to the world that “Theater will live again.” Taking the challenge and giving hope to the theater industry that sooner or later, more theater doors will open to the public very soon.

(Images from Universal Music Korea/Cats Official Korea website)

TAGS: Joanna Ampil Cats

Margaux Pangilinan

Contributor

Margaux currently works full-time at her dream job helping anime, manga, and game companies reach fellow fans like herself. She spends most of her time either on the road, on her computer, or at front-row seats at musical theatre plays.

실시간 주요 뉴스 PUSH 알림서비스를 구독할 수 있습니다.

korea joongAng daily

Home > entertainment > music & performance.

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Through the Years

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Asian Tour (2020)

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Production Info

Previews: no date entered yet (preview count not listed yet) Opening September 9, 2020 Closing: March 20, 2022 Length of Run: not listed yet Run Type: Open-ended

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Review: CATS THE MUSICAL, International Tour

The show will tour in Norway, Sweden, Holland, Switzerland, Germany and Portugal

It was my honour to get invited to review Cat 's international tour, which reached Finland's capital Helsinki on 4 November. I sent my accreditation request as early as in early 2022 when I saw the first advertisements. I consented that "I'll get an invitation a few days before the show" if I'm accepted. Oh, a year ahead to wait, I thought.

But it was worth it. Though on behalf of Live Nation Finland there wasn't any guidance for a press: I didn't get (nor find from the humongous hall filled with sausage kiosks) the programme and my seat was quite far away so I hardly could see the gentle changes in expressions I'd loved to get absorbed. Nevertheless I enjoyed as much as I could and let me say, it was not a struggle in front of this show.

Everything starts from dimness. The iconic tune starts to play, which sounds like a cat prowling on a keyboard at times. We see see pairs of glowing dots on the stage one could interpret as eyes just like in the advertisement.

Let's cut to the chase: Cats was ahead of its time in 80s. The great hook in the show are definitely the costumes, the set design and the way our performers move.

Something delighting I noticed was precisely in the choreography: in addition that performers had the skill to rotate their spine extremely well and move different body parts in separate rhythm - just like a cat - was that the movements done in a group choreo were "simple" and small enought to execute in sync. That is something I've thought about too. Preferably simple movements excellently rather than complex movements with little mistakes here and there.

Of course the details are also thought out: for example I enjoyed how one cat did stretches and in middle of one shivered. It looked very authentic.

On the contrary to simple group scenes I also enjoyed an intimate bit where there were only two performers on the stage singing about Macavity. When the other moved, the other paid attention and the stage was used creatively in all directions.

Before this bit there was also Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer's scene which brings me to my favorite few performers. Naturally there were no weak links but the artists whose techniques I was most interested in were Rumpelteazer (Ella Kemp), Skimbleshanks (Philip Bertioli) the Railway Cat and Gus (Hal Fowler) the theatrical Cat. Rumpleteazer was very lively, Skimbleshanks was very present and assertive and Gus' charisma reached and thrilled me from 10 meters apart.

They all were very in tune with their own energy as well as other energies: co-performers, audience and the general flow. They did not "push" any expressions nor used theatrical gimmicks but actually lived on stage and enjoyed. If they didn't enjoy they at least had some excellent technique to hide it.

I've sent some questions for them to answer, which I hope I get to publish soon!

The fourth wall is broken in many ways. In the beginning our cats spring from behind the audience on stage, their eyes glimmering the same way as on stage. Also the lightbulbs hung above the audience.

Gosh, I have so much to write about. Just carry on.

Fourth wall is also broken in the first song when a Cat sings the thoughts of an audience aloud, pointing an audience member: "There's a man over there with a look of surprise,

As much as to say, "Well now how about that!" Do I actually see with my own very eyes

A man who's not heard of a Jellicle cat?"

Jellicle term is quite like Smurf, I blurt to my Finnish mother as an easy example.

I waited for a plot, but the show was more about introducing different cats of the Jellicle's and their past and specialities. Perhaps they all were interested in getting a new Jellicle life? Also the very beginning foreshadows it as the Cats come on stage with different styles to different musical tones. The orchestra was flawless, by the way, though at first the electric quitar was way too loud but was fortunately fixed in the second half.

Due to these different musical numbers, which also vary in style, including acrobatics, magic and special effects. I'd argue this show leans towards a cabaret. It keeps our interest up: what - or who - comes next?

Also the color designs of lights and costumes entertain our senses in this spectacle, still telling us and supporting the stories of the characters. A perky cat step dances in their bright orange costume in front of blue hues. The Rum Tum Tugger is introduced in golden, luxurious lights. Cheerful music abruptly stops and the stage is lit up in red - the danger is coming. I adored that very moment because I've thought to myself that a scene like that would work so very well in a production.

Loved how the spot light lived and changed with the music when the Magical Mr. Mistoffelees danced. In the end he blew it away but during the excellent dancing the light's movements could have been in more specific moments: when I first noticed it I eagerly waited for it a long time before it happened again. I tried to find a patter for it, but it seemed to happen in quite "random" (of course planned for the team) moments, but for the audience it didn't offer "butterflies in the brain". If it would have been linked to an instrument or some rhythms every now and then, would it have worked better?

The show also knows how to play in contrast, not only in the color design. The stray cat, ex-glamorous Cat Grizabella's (Jacinta Whyte) entrances are a symbol of loneliness. All the others dance joyfully to cheerful music, but when Grizabella walks on the empty stage, the atmosphere goes blue, music becomes minimalistic and sad. She mimics the movements the young cats did, in vain. We're hit with the most recognizable song Memory, which se executes excellently. Her looks are also well designed: the long hair tells me she hasn't taken care of herself and is evidently an outcast in comparison to the puffy furs of others. There is also some kind of a collar or a hoodie that gives an impression that her head hangs low and shoulders are up - which isn't physically possible at the same time when she sings so well. So a splendid trick from the costume team!

All in all Cats has deserved its place on a musical pedestal. It's filled with tricks, details but most of all talent of all aspects of Cabaret-like theatre making. This family friendly show gives something for everyone from combat choreos and special effects to amusing moments when a senior remembers he has in fact one more story to tell. And we did listen, not sparing applauses.

SCIENCE EXTRA : there's an interesting study on hypermobility - which means your joints are very mobile. It's a challenge, though an advantage to many performers. See, being hypermobile has a link in being neurologically sensitive and emotional: "The hypermobility group scored higher for interoceptive sensitivity yet were not significantly more anxious. Our findings specifically link hypermobility to the structural integrity of a brain centre implicated in normal and abnormal emotions and physiological responses." Link to the study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3365276/

Review: Rosanna Ilo Liuski, Finland Admin est. 2018

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Now and Forever

Andrew lloyd webber’s record-breaking musical spectacular that has captivated audiences in over 30 countries and 15 languages, is now on tour across north america.

Audiences and critics alike are rediscovering this beloved musical with breathtaking music and stunning choreography . Winner of 7 Tony Awards ®  including BEST MUSICAL , CATS tells the story of one magical night when an extraordinary tribe of cats gathers for its annual ball to rejoice and decide which cat will be reborn.

The original score by Andrew Lloyd Webber, original scenic and costume design by John Napier, all-new lighting design by Natasha Katz, all-new sound design by Mick Potter, new choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler based on the original choreography by Gillian Lynne and direction by Trevor Nunn make this production a new CATS for a new generation!