The Cats Whiskers: show factsheet

"Cats" has grossed almost $200 million in London alone

LONDON, England -- Key facts about London's longest-running musical, "Cats," which closes on May 11 after 21 years and 9,000 performances:

* The original production opened at the New London Theatre, in the West End on 11 May 1981. Eight years later it celebrated its first important milestone: after 3,358 performances, Cats became the longest running musical in the history of the British theatre.

* On 29 January 1996 the London production of Cats celebrated its 6,141st performance and became the longest running musical in the history of West End theatre.

* By 2002 when its closure was announced the gross box office for the London production was more than $197 million.

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* "Cats" opened on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre on October 7, 1982, and continued to live up to its motto of playing "Now and Forever" until September 10, 2000. On 19 June 1997 the show became the longest running musical on Broadway.

* Since its opening, "Cats" has been presented in 26 countries and over 300 cities, including Buenos Aires, Seoul, Helsinki and Singapore. Within two-and-a- half years of the London opening there were productions in New York, Tokyo, Budapest and Vienna, and the first U.S. touring productions had hit the road.

* "Cats" has been translated into 10 languages: Japanese, German, (three versions for Germany, Austria and Switzerland), Hungarian, Norwegian, Finnish, Dutch, Swedish, French, Spanish (two versions for Mexico and Argentina) and Italian. The Swiss production featured a bilingual cast who performed in German and English on alternate nights.

* The title of the show has never been translated -- the Mexican producers did a survey as to whether the Mexican audience would like their production to be called Gatos -- the response in favour of keeping the English original was unanimous.

"Cats" became the longest continuously touring show in U.S. theatre history

* On October 1, 1991, "Cats" became the longest, continuously touring show in American theatre history. The four U.S. "Cats" tours have played a combined total of 16 years and two months.

* "Memory" has been recorded by a variety of over 150 artists ranging from Barbra Streisand and Johnny Mathis to Liberace. Barry Manilow's rendition was a top-40 hit in the U.S..

* A techno/dance version by European singer Natalie Grant topped the European dance charts in 1999.

* The Original London Cast Recording of "Cats" won the 1982 Grammy Award for Best Cast Album. The next year the Original Broadway Cast Recording won the same award.

Source: Really Useful Group