What was your first time seeing Cats live on stage like?

It was weird. I could not at all grasp the story fully as I was to distracted by the costumes. Not to mention that I grew up knowing and loving the song Memory (used to sing it on the table of hotels(Mums and entertainer)) but always thought the show would be a bad copy and suck.
Funny thing is, my Mums friend got a second ticket and brought my Mum to see it. I asked my Mum that evening where she was going and she felt guilty that she could not bring me. What she did not know that up to that point I absolutely did not care about it. Still, she talked my Dad into taking me there a month later. Aaaaand I was hoked.
The show was in Zurich, Switzerland, it was a pretty great cast, very close to the UK original.

Correction: I did see something CATS-ish at the age of 8. It was this phantom-westside-everymusical megapack show. They sang 3 songs of which one was Jellicle songs and their costumes were a-w-f-u-llll. They wore skintight brown shirts and leggings (!!!) and had patches of faux fur on their heads. They sang pretty nice and I knew memory by heart since I was five. But I think it was their costumes that made me never wanna try to see the real show back then.

How old were you?
10 years old. About 16 years ago.


What do you remember?
That there was this grey striped cat who had not just a striking appearance but a wonderful charater too. Havent changed my mind about this even this many years later.
I never liked the "big" roles. I guess I'm the only fan ever who went "OMGZ Noez!" when Tugger wanted to dance with me. Jp or not.


Did you like it?

apparently yes. Or I would not have returned a gadzillion times. And be here Cats is still the beginning of my artistic path and, believe it or not, 30% of the people closer to me are in some way connected with Cats. I got to know some of the most awesome people ever through Cats.

It was amazing experience! I saw it in Helsinki in 1987, I was 13. The Helsinki production was one of the first productions ever to get the rights to a completely different version from the London's original production. So pretty much the only thing that was the same with the original version was the music and orchestration. All the rest was different.

And I loved it!!!! The music was just so fantastic! The performers were stunning, costumes/wigs/make-up were really imaginative, sets were simplistic but very imaginative as well... the whole thing was just... whoa!! They had double casting for practically every single role so I remember being exhilarated because the actress playing Grizabella was the one I wished it would be. And the way she sang "Memory" really brought me to tears.

I saw it a little over a year later, the final performance and it was still just as wonderful an experience as the first time was.

A couple of years later I visited New York and we were planning to see LES MISERABLES there, but I wanted to see CATS and I did. Didn't like it as much as I liked the Helsinki version. I really didn't like the voice of the actress playing Grizabella (Loni Ackerman), I thought she sounded awful.

I saw CATS about 15 times over the years, mostly in London, and the show will always have a special place in my heart.

My first time seeing "Cats" was as a 14 year old, visiting London for the first time with my mom (who recently passed away...miss you so much, mom!).

The show was sold out of course, having only opened a short time before, but somehow we got tickets through a broker for a Tuesday matinee. Other than the fact that Elaine Paige had just left (darn!) it was a wonderful performance.

I've seen the show many times since, with many Grizabellas, but the best was Laurie Beechman (so divine, we miss you Laurie). Her final note of Memory in act I lingered in the air, sparkling, delicate and endless.

I'm not sure how many of you had the chance to see Laurie do a show onstage, but she was magical. I also saw her as the Star to Be in Annie when I was in 4th grade, and she was just incandescent. Her untimely passing left a huge void where there should have been a huge career, and I'll always miss her.

First time I saw Cats live was in London 01/01/01 I had discorvered the shows with the video in 1999, and as I was a student at this time, it took a bit of time to save money to pay my trip to London. That was a fantastic day to me. I remember the first time I saw the theatre, sitting on the 3rd row of the moving platform just beside an aisle... Since then, I have seen Cats in London again, in Düsseldorf and in Rotterdam, and I'm going to see it in Köln in two weeks ! And I keep on hoping that one day we're going to have a good French production !

I actually saw the recorded version first when I got it for a birthday gift probably around 11 or so years ago. I was pretty much obsessed straight away. I finally got to see it live in London just before it closed. And I kicked myself when I found out a few days after the last performance that they'd had video screens up outside. If I'd have known I would have gone myself.

I've actually been in it twice (ameteur productions of course) playing Demeter. First time we didn't have the original choreography but the costumes were fairly accurate. Second time I'd actually left the school and I was actually a last minute replacement. Because the girl playing her along with her brother who was playing... Admetus I -think- unfortunately saw their dad stabbed and killed and of course weren't in much of a state to carry on. This time they were doing the original choreography though so I had to take some time off of work to allow me to learn it properly. I knew the songs/part already but that was difficult.

It was almost 15 years ago when I first saw CATS when it came to Singapore. I cannot remember much about it because I was only 11 at the time. Although I enjoyed this Lloyd-Webber show tremendously, I was not sitting in the best seats and couldn't see everything that was going on. I do remember Grizabella and also the tyre that took her to the Heaviside Layer, and I do remember that there was a lot of dancing. But I enjoyed the music tremendously, and the lights and the all-round bewitching atmosphere I was greeted with in the Kallang Theatre.
I was fortunate that I was introduced to the show through the stage production, having read the Old Possum poems beforehand. I saw it a second time, in London in June 1998, and enjoyed it tremendously, making up for the lousy seats, because I saw closer. I would say this was a fortunate experience as I tend to like the stage production more than the video. The stage production is just that bit more bewitching and has the edge over the video. I felt it made me feel better, as it was more fulfilling, compared to the disappointing cuts that ruined the video for me.

i saw cats in 2007 and i loved every minute of it. the cast was great. jacob brent was misto and hunter foster was rum tum tugger. i grew up with the video and i always wanted to see it on broadway. even though i didn't see at the winter garden, i did see it in the benudem center in pittsburgh wich is as close to a broadway theatre as it can get.

i havwe sen cats 15 times live i have the video the video is nuthing compaird to the real espireance
i first sawe cats on pbs aloong time a go i had bout the cd cus of the song memorey i loved memory
i have met alot if intresting peoplle cus of cats
i remeber the cats forum parteys we had

The first time I saw Cats on stage was in the afternoon of March 3rd, 2002. I don't have the ticket anymore, but I know the exact date because as soon as I got home, I posted all over my various Yahoo! Groups RPGs, letting everyone know how elated I was.

Looking back, I know it wasn't a particularly great show, but at the height of my teenage Cats fixation, it was precisely what I needed most. I cried during Memory, but it wasn't for Grizabella. If anything, it was for me. It felt as if all the friends I had met were there with me, as if all the stories we had created were coming to life before my eyes. I know it sounds silly today, but I was a lonely 16 year old who posted on those groups multiple times daily. I made some real friends there, people who I would still call best friends today... and it all seemed to come together on that day.

Oh, and also I skipped work to go see the show, because the jerk manager wouldn't let me change my shift.

My first chance to see Cats wasnt until september the 5th this year (yes its a shame!) on Cirkus in stokholm and it was love an all cylinders so I am already planing to see the same show for a second time... I dont know if more have had the same experience...

Ofc I was well aware off Cats wering one off the longest running musicals ever but I couldnt imagine it was gonna be like it was... A totaly amazing experience from the cat on the wall (victoria I think) through Memory and all the way to the end...

If any one here is on that production I just wanna sent my greatest and deepest thansks for a wounderfull show!

I got hooked on the musical by the movie... Loved the movie to death. I first saw it live in 2002 when it came to my theatre. I got near aisle seats like 4 rows back, house right (I didn't know at the time where the seats were because my internet was slow... I had one set of tickets then had to get a different set...) It was wonderful... I loved everything about it with the blinky green eyes, staring at Mungojerrie and seeing McCree O'Kelly be Mistoffelees (Who was soooo cute, in my opinion...)

I will be seeing the tour on Saturday when they do their preview... I've been working it all week during the day and I enjoy what I've heard... The cast is together though a bit young... They are all pretty nice though... Chris, who plays Mistoffelees, is quite funny... He almost tackled me once he saw I was ironing his ribbon that he uses in his song... and they were fixing spacing today and Old D said "Do you know how to go to the heavyside layer." and Chris went.. "Do you know how to go to the heavyside layer? No, I don't know, I get lost every time!" and threw his arm up in the arm and sulked away like an old man... hilarious... and the guy playing Munk playfully said he'd kick me to let me know he had his train piece... So they are nice people... I'm excited to see it on Saturday (aisle seats again... four rows back!)