"Cats" comes as a first world-renowned musical to be produced in Russia. The Polish "Metro", the American "42nd Street", the French "Notre Dame de Paris" were all national hits, while the sensational "Chicago", with Bob Fosse's excellent choreography, was for the chosen few. "Cats", on the contrary, is something for all generations-a production for families to see all together. Stunning success in thirty countries has proved its global appeal.
The Dutch-based Stage Holding Co. is producing the Moscow version, and the props have come from Madrid, where the project has just gone off the stage.
The producers chose "Cats" for another reason, too. A musical classic, if there ever was one, it was the first to bring world renown to the Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice tandem of composer and playwright. Broadway productions no longer led the genre with its appearance. London's West End has been setting the tune ever since.
Based on Thomas Stearns Eliot's jocular verse cycle, "Cats" has a conventionalized plot. In fact, it is a long stage divertissement with cats taking turns to tell their eventful life stories.
The Moscow producers have chosen Alexei Kortnev's elegant translation for the venture.
Moscow will soon be Europe's only city where "Cats" remains on stage. It was wound up even in Britain, after twenty-one triumphant years.
