No, that headline is not a joke, I promise. A new revival of the beloved musical Cats will feature rap music and rapping cats. I kid you not.
Everyone knows Cats. Based on T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book Of Practical Cats, the musical is one of the most successful of all time. On Monday, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber announced he was bringing it back for another revival in December, this time at the Paladium in London’s West End. But don’t expect the same old singing cats. Via Yahoo:
Lloyd Webber said Monday he had tweaked parts of the show, which has been performed in more than 30 countries.
Lloyd Webber said he was making the character of Rum Tum Tugger a rapping street cat because “I’ve come to the conclusion that … maybe Eliot was the inventor of rap.”
No, I don’t think so, but OK. (Somebody might want to show this guy the Poochie episode of The Simpsons.) And you thought the McDonald’s rapping McNuggets signaled the death of rap. Ha! If rap can survive that bastardization, I’m sure it can survive a rapping Rum Tug Tugger.
Maybe when you’re someone like Andrew Lloyd Webber who has reached the pinnacle of your career and you’ve pretty much conquered every aspect of your chosen profession (made tons of money, earned lots of critical praise, won lots of awards, been sued by Faye Dunaway, etc. etc.) you just go “FUCK IT, BRING ON THE RAPPING CATS!”
The new Cats will run for 12 weeks starting on Dec. 6.