CATS and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

Amidst a huge body of work over a 70 year career, firstly in dance and then stage, television and film, Cats and Phantom of the Opera are just two productions yet their world wide success, which still continues today, were an important and defining part of Gillian’s life, and some of the history of how these two shows came into existence, the people involved and the famous stages they have graced are detailed here.

CATS

May 1981 - New London Theatre (Gillian Lynne Theatre)

BEGINNINGS AND THE CREATIVE TEAM

As a child, T.S.Eliot ‘s ‘Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats’ had been a favourite of Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s and following a presentation at the Sydmonton festival of ‘Practical Cats’ - a song cycle - and a conversation with Eliot’s widow, Valerie Eliot, revealing further poems that had hitherto been unpublished, the idea for a full blown musical grew and, in conjunction with Cameron Mackintosh, decided to take the next steps.

Subsequently, a call from Cameron Mackintosh to Gillie, who was rehearsing another London show at the time, saying he had left a book for her at the stage door and a request to get the train to meet Andrew Lloyd Webber at his Sydmonton home. The book in question was Eliot’s ‘Book of Practical Cats’, and the animated discussions between the pair that evening with Andrew sitting at the piano and imagining possibilities for a show set the wheels in motion for the ‘Cats’ rollercoaster.

Andrew Lloyd Webber along with producer Cameron Mackintosh, who had both worked with Gillie previously, set about pulling the creative team together. Gillie had already worked with Trevor Nunn, the well-known stage director at the RSC on The Comedy of Errors and As You Like It, and where stage designer, John Napier had also been involved. Lighting designer, David Hersey added to the mix and the creative team was born.

Most of the lyrics in Cats were taken from T.S.Eliot’s book with Trevor Nunn and lyricist Richard Stilgoe providing the remaining lyrics, namely for the opening number Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats and the most famous song from the musical - Memory.

ORIGINAL CAST IN LONDON - 1981

Opening at the New London Theatre (now renamed The Gillian Lynne Theatre) in May 1981, the original cast included Elaine Paige as Grizabella, Wayne Sleep as Mr. Mistofolees, Sarah Brightman as Jemima, Paul Nicholas as Rum Tm Tugger, Brian Blessed as Old Deuteronomy,Finola Hughes as Victoria, John Thornton as Macavity and Bonnie Langford as Rumpleteazer. Elaine Paige came in as a replacement for Judi Dench who was originally cast in the role of Grizabella - the ‘glamour cat who has fallen on hard times - but tore her achilles tendon during rehearsals only a few days before the show was due to start. Despite very little time to learn the role and music, Elaine Paige’s performance set the standard and enabled Memory to become one of the most recognisable musical theatre songs of all time.

ORIGINAL CAST ON BROADWAY - 1982

Cats opened on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre in October 1982 - the original cast included Betty Buckley as Grizabella; René Clemente as Mungojerrie; Harry Groener as Munkustrap; Cynthia Onruba as Victoria the White Cat; Ken Page as Old Deuteronomy; Terrence V Mann as the Rum Tum Tugger; Timothy Scott as Mr. Mistofolees; Kenneth Ard as Macavity and Donna King as Bombalurina.

A UNIQUE STORY

Cats was unique being told completely through music and staged in the round with a revolving stage and required all the dancers to be on stage for virtually the whole of the show, while the orchestra was hidden from view, creating an immersive experience for the audience. The musical tells the story of a tribe of cats called the Jellicles and the night they come together at the Jellicle Ball to decide which cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer (cat heaven) and be reborn to a new life. The cats introduce themselves, telling their story and why they should be chosen, noticing along the way their human audience and interacting with them. Munkustrap, the show’s narrator and leader of the pack introduces various cats who all have very distinctive personalities including Jennyanydots, Rum Tum Tugger, Grizabella, Bustopher Jones, Gus, Macavity, Skimbleshanks and Mr. Mistofolees. An eclectic range of musical and dance styles are used to magnify the different characters and their contrasting personalities as they all attempt to persuade the gathering why they should be chosen and the show ends with Old Deuteronomy, the Jellicle patriarch and a wise old cat who has lived many lives, deciding who will finally ascend to the Heaviside layer for rebirth.

CATS AROUND THE WORLD

FACTS & FIGURES

CATS is one of the longest-running shows in West End and Broadway history - in London it played for 21 record-breaking years and 8,949 performances and for 18 years and 7,485 performances on Broadway. Among numerous accolades, the show has won two Olivier and eight Tony awards including Best Musical, and one Grammy Award.

Earing an estimated $4.4 billion in box office receipts since 1981, and watched by over 80 million people, it has been performed in 40 countries and 15 languages throughout the world. Initially running in London from May 1981 to 2002, it was revived in London in 2014 at the London Palladium and again at the Palladium in 2015. Gillian directed the Vienna production in 1983 where the show ran for seven years, with a cast including Ute Lemper and Steve Barton. The same production opened in Berlin in 1987 and Moscow in 1988.

It opened on Broadway in 1982 running until 2000 and then again in 2015, and further productions have toured extensively throughout the USA and Canada, as well as Spanish and Portuguese-language shows throughout South America in Chile, Brazil, Columbia and Argentina.

A German production opened in Hamburg in 1986 running for 15 years, eventually closing after 6,100 performances, and then moving on to Stuttgart, Berlin and touring other German cities. Further productions have occurred in most European capital cities including Paris, Oslo, Amsterdam, Budapest, Warsaw, Prague, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Brusselles, Zurich, Madrid, Helsinki, and many more as well as various English-speaking Touring Productions.

A Japanese-language production of Cats by the Shiki Theatre Company has been playing continuously since it premiered in Tokyo in November 1983, and further productions have taken place across Asia in China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore as well as throughout Australia and New Zealand with long running shows in Sydney and Melbourne.

Cats has also been produced by various professional regional theatre companies as well also being available for school and amateur licensing.

A film of the stage show was released in 1998 - directed by David Mallett and shot at the Adelphi Theatre in London, it starred Elaine Paige as Grizabella, John Mills as Gus the Theatre Cat, Ken Page as Old Deuteronomy, John Partridge as Rum Tug Tugger, Rosemarie Ford as Bombalurina, Phyllida Crowley Smith as Victoria and Michael Gruber as Munkustrap.

The Phantom of the Opera

October 1986 - Her Majesty’s Theatre, London

The show is based on the 1910 French novel of the same name by Gaston Leroux, which tells the tragic story of a beautiful soprano, Christine Daaé, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious, masked musical genius living in the subterranean labyrinth beneath the Paris Opéra House. Mesmerised by the talents and beauty of the young Christine, the Phantom lures her as his protégé and falls fiercely in love with her but when her childhood sweetheart comes back into her life, the Phantom’s obsession sets the scene for a dramatic turn of events where jealousy, madness and passions collide.

In the early 1900s, during visits to the Paris Opera House, journalist and novelist Gaston Leroux heard rumours of a ghost that haunted the old building including several unexplainable deaths which had been attributed to this spectre, and backstage gossip only fuelled the story. The Opera House had already had its share of mysterious accidents when, on 20 May 1896, a counterweight of the seven-tonne chandelier had fallen into the audience, killing a concierge. All this led to Leroux writing his most famous work - the Phantom of the Opera.

BEGINNINGS AND THE CREATIVE TEAM

Andrew Lloyd Webber had long wanted to create a romantic story and had long thought about the creating a musical from Leroux’ story of The Phantom of the Opera. He had seen the famous film productions including Lon Chaney’s silent version in 1925 and Claude Rains in 1943 and following conversations with Cameron Mackintosh, the idea slowly turned into reality. Alan Jay Lerner was asked to write the lyrics but unfortunately became ill, and Richard Stilgoe, who had worked with Andrew on Cats and Starlight Express, was brought on although some of his lyrics were then rewritten by Charles Hart. A preview of the first act was staged in 1985 at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s home at Sydmonton Court with Sarah Brightman as Christine and Colm Wilkinson as the Phantom.

Gillian was brought in to choreograph and stage the musical, renowned American Hal Prince, known for Evita and Cabaret, was chosen to direct the production. and Maria Björnson, famed for her work in opera, became the show’s designer. Andrew Bridge (lighting), Martin Levan (sound), and David Caddick (musical director) completed the creative team

Preparations ran all through the spring of 1986 with much attention on who would play the role of the Phantom alongside Sarah Brightman as Christine. Andrew Lloyd Webber eventually and rather surprisingly deciding to go with Michael Crawford, who had up until this point primarily been known to UK audiences as the rather hapless comedian in the show Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em - a decision that turned out to be a masterstroke.

ORIGINAL CAST IN LONDON AND ON BROADWAY

Michael Crawford starred as the Phantom with Sarah Brightman as Christine and Steve Barton as Raoul in London in 1986, along with other stars including Rosemary Ashe as Carlotta, David Firth as Monsieur André, John Savident as Monsieur Firmin, Mary Millar as Madame Giry, Jaent Devenish as Meg Giry and John Aron as Piangi.

On Broadway in 1988, Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman and Steve Barton reprised their London roles along with Judy Kaye as Carlotta, Cris Groenendaal as Monsieur André, Nicholas Wyman as Monsieur Firmin, Elisa Heinsohn as Meg Giry, Leila Martin as Madame Giry, and David Romano as Piangi.

PHANTOM MEMORIES

FACTS AND FIGURES

Initially opening in London at Her Majesty’s Theatre in September 1986, it ran for a record-breaking 33 years and 13,919 performances closing eventually in March 2020 due to the covid pandemic forcing theatres to close, although it would reopen again in London in July 2021.

The show opened in New York at the Majestic Theatre in January 1988 and became the longest running show in Broadway history, eventually closing in April 2023 after 35 years and 13,981 performances.

It has won over 70 major theatre awards including three Olivier Awards and seven Tony Awards including Best Musical. Michael Crawford won both an Olivier and Tony award for Best Actor in a musical.

A 25th-anniversary stage performance was held in London in October 2011 at the Royal Albert Hall and was screened live in cinemas worldwide - the cast included Ramin Karimloo as the Phantom, Sierra Boggess as Christine, Hadley Fraser as Raoul and Wynne Evans as Piangi.

As with Cats, there have been several notable long running shows in different parts of the world including eleven years in Hamburg, ten years in Toronto and eight years in Melbourne, as well as a special edition of the show created for Las Vegas starring Sierra Boggess as Christine which ran for over 5 years and 2,700 performances.

In the original London production, there were 130 cast, crew and orchestra members directly involved in each performance - each show would need 230 costumes, 14 dressers, 120 automated cues, 22 scene changes, 281 candles and use 250 kg of dry ice and 10 fog and smoke machines. The Phantom’s make-up took 2 hours to put on and 30 minutes to take off - and would involve the face being moisturised, closely shaved and prosthetics fitted, before 2 wigs, 2 radio microphones and 2 contact lenses (one white and one clouded) being placed. The dazzling replica of the Paris Opera House chandelier was made up of 6,000 beads and measured 3 metres wide and weighed one ton. 2,230 metres of fabric were used for the drapes and the tasselled fringes measured 226 metres made up of 250 kilos of dyed wool interwoven with 5,000 wooden handmade beads imported from India.

The Phantom of the Opera has been translated into 15 languages and produced in over 46 countries in more than 180 cities on 6 continents and seen by over 160 million people with an estimated box office gross of $6 billion.