The global hit musical "Cats" will return to Korean audiences after a three-year absence, opening in Daegu in December before touring Busan, Sejong, Seoul and other major cities next year.
Clip Service, the production's local promoter, said on the 7th that the international tour of "Cats" will open December 18 at the Keimyung Art Center in Daegu. It marks the show's first Korean run since 2023. The previous tour began in Gimhae in December 2022, traveled to Sejong and Busan, and reached the Grand Theater of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul in January 2023.
The Daegu leg, the tour's first stop, will run for about two weeks through January 3. The production then moves to Busan, Sejong and Seoul in 2027. Schedules and casting for each city will be announced later. The Korean run features the international touring company assembled by the original creative team, which is traveling to Korea after stops in South Africa, Mumbai, Hong Kong and Singapore.
"Cats" was created by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats," a poetry collection by Nobel laureate T.S. Eliot. At the Jellicle Ball, a feline festival held once a year, the cats each tell their own story in hopes of being chosen as the one that will be granted a new life.
Webber's score, which moves across ballad, opera, rock and jazz, along with Gillian Lynne's choreography and John Napier's set design, are considered the production's signatures. The show features about 20 numbers, including "Memory," which has been recorded more than 180 times, as well as "The Jellicle Ball" and "The Rum Tum Tugger." Another hallmark of "Cats" is the staging that sends the cat-costumed performers into the aisles to make eye contact and interact directly with the audience.
Since its 1981 premiere in London, "Cats" has been staged in more than 300 cities across 54 countries in 23 languages. It was first introduced in Korea in 1994 with an original touring production. Through repeated visiting and Korean-language productions, it became the first musical in Korea to surpass 2 million cumulative admissions in 2017.
