Theatre Shows

Some of the best plays produced and written plays can be seen at performance theatres. Cats the award-winning musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber continues to be performed around the world being translated into more than 20 languages.

Cats was produced by English composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and became the first musical to dominate theatre playhouses around the world. It opened in 1982 and played for 20 years in London's West End before the final curtain came down. The original London show opened with the following cast of actors.

Lloyd Webber then produced The Phantom of the Opera which went on to break all the records set by Cats. It opened in 1986 and is still playing today at the same theatre that it made its debut in, Her Majesty’s Theatre in London.

Both shows had success across the Atlantic with Cats becoming the longest running Broadway show in history before The Phantom took over the mantel.

Grease the musical had humble beginnings before becoming the longest running Broadway musical in history before it was displaced from the number one mantle by A Chorous Line. Grease was also a West End hit in London and a very successful film that starred John Travolta, Olivia Newton.

This love story with 1950s rock n roll music was so popular as a film that it was ranked number 20 on the American Film Institute's list of best musicals.

The original show was a play before the producers suggested that the playwrites make it into a full scale musical. This they did and the musical opened in downtown Manhattan in 1972, within four months the musical would open on Broadway.

This French musical composed by Claude-Michel Schönberg has been translated into English and taken the mantle as the longest running West End musical in history, it is still running in London today. Les Misérables first played on October 8, 2006 and has won countless awards. The most famous French musical in history, Les Mis is based on the novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.

Les Misérables has had its share of Tony Awards, the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, for Broadway shows I New York. The American Theatre Wing and the League of American Theatres and Producers present these awards as the theatre's equivalent to the Oscars.

Mamma Mia is a musical based which features hits from the 1970s Swedish pop group ABBA. Group members have been involved in the musical. Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson have been involved in the development of the musical from the beginning and Anni-Frid Lyngstad has had a financial investment in the production while Agnetha Fältskog has had no involvement whatsoever.

The show premiered in London on April 6, 1999 at the Prince Edward Theatre and went on to become one of the longest running Broadway musicals of all time. The show also had amazing success in Las Vegas where it is the longest running musical with over 1000 shows.

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is a musical written by Australian Stephan Elliott and British screenwriter Allan Scott. It is based on the 1994 movie which starred Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce and Terence Stamp. The musical is directed by the Melbourne Theatre Company Artistic Director Simon Phillips and stars Tony Sheldon, Jeremy Stanford and Daniel Scott. In April 2007 the show played its 200t performance.

Cats: Actor – Role
Ronald Alexander – Alonzo
Geraldine Gardner – Bombalurina
Brian Blessed – Bustopher Jones
David Baxter – Carbucketty
Seeta Indrani – Cassandra
Donald Waugh – Coricopat
Sharon Lee-Hill – Demeter
John Chester – George
Elaine Paige – Grizabella
Stephen Tate – Gus the Theatre Cat
Sarah Brightman – Jemima
Myra Sands – Jennyanydots
Susan Jane Tanner – Jellylorum
Wayne Sleep – Mr. Mistoffelees
John Thornton – Mungojerrie
Jeff Shankley – Munkustrap
Brian Blessed – Old Deuteronomy
Paul Nicholas – Rum Tum Tugger
Bonnie Langford – Rumpelteazer
Ken Wells – Skimbleshanks
Femi Taylor – Tantomile
Finola Hughes – Victoria