Reimagining of Lloyd Webber’s Cats to be set during 1980s underground Ballroom Scene

A new off-Broadway revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s seminal hit Cats — set in the underground world of the 1980s Ballroom culture — is on tap for the inaugural season at the Perelman Performing Arts Center, which opens this fall at the site of the former World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan.

Cats, running June-July 2024, will be co-directed by Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, with choreography by Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles. Josephine Kearns serves as dramaturg and gender consultant. The beloved musical is based on T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. Further information is still to be announced.

“We have invited some of the most compelling talents in theater, opera, music, and dance to work with us and with each other, to create and present new works that bring PAC NYC to life, here in the world capital of performing arts,” said Rauch, who is also the artistic director of the venue. “Our program, which celebrates and brings together an array of artistic disciplines, will anchor a robust and diverse inaugural season that will inspire, entertain, and engage all audiences.”

Additionally, the season will include the world premiere of Laurence Fishburne’s new solo show, Like They Do in the Movies, directed by Leonard Foglia (10 to 31 March); David Henry Hwang and Huang Ruo’s opera An American Soldier, directed by Chay Yew (12 to 19 May); and others.