'Cats The Musical' review by Niamh Robinson

My review of 'Cats the Musical'

'Cats The Musical' review by Niamh Robinson

'Cats' review by Niamh Robinson

I was lucky enough to see a performance of 'Cats' on August 9th at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton, on the opening night. This world famous Andrew Lloyd Webber musical originally opened in London in 1981. The show I saw was a 2014 reworking of the original by director Trevor Nunn.

The musical is based on one of Lloyd Webber's favorite childhood books, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by TS Eliot. As a composer he took on the challenge of creating a musical based on these poems.

The performance was based in a single set location of a junkyard. The staging and props are all incredibly well thought out and extremely detailed. The production team have used the set and props to create the illusion of the performers being cat-sized. The junkyard props are massively oversized and include every day household items such as a cornflake packet, a used red Oxo cube wrapper and an old oven. Some props were functional, allowing the performers access and exit options to and from the stage in unusual ways.

The whole stage was put to full use throughout the performance and a front extension of the stage gave the cast more space, which also allowed some audience interaction.

Clever use of lighting created some special effects and added extra interest to the choreography, such as revolving purple stars. Special lighting effects were really well used to highlight particular characters - watch out for Mr Mistoffelees' glittery suit and his magic tricks. Also lighting created interest and atmosphere with torches, sparking jump leads and hazard lights making an appearance, and colour was used to emphasize the mood.

Multiple strings of rainbow-coloured light bulbs hung throughout the theatre and across the stage. The bulbs light up to the rhythm of the orchestra and are used to announce the start of the performance as well as in some of the numbers to emphasize the beat.
The classic Lloyd Webber pieces were played brilliantly by the live orchestra and energetically performed by the cast.

The narration is told solely through song. From large complex group numbers to stunning individual performances, with a huge variety of tempo and range. The harmonies were superb and really created the emotions through song.

The make-up was outstanding, it had been thought out with every detail in mind. Each actors costume matched their headpiece in brilliant detail. The actors have cat-like features displayed, like a curved mouth, small feline nose and whiskers. It was extremely impressive.


The first thing I noticed was the individual unique characters portrayed by the performers - not your everyday cats! Incredibly elegant with feline movements, the choreography demonstrates the performance flexibility and agility as they portray the characters perfectly.

The synchronization throughout is incredible with smooth transition between numbers and full use of the stage. The costumes are effective, sleek and detailed.


I felt the first half of the performance lacked clear narration for the first time viewer. This is mainly due to the narration being delivered by the cast en-masse, which makes it quite hard to follow. However, the overall experience was incredible, with really engaging performances.

A complex and highly entertaining show that I would strongly recommend. I am already looking forward to seeing it again and experiencing the artistic brilliance for a second time.

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1 Comments

  • Emrys Green

    On 20 October 2016, 10:22 Emrys Green Voice Team commented:

    I agree about the narration Niamh and had the same issues myself when I first watched it, but glad you've enjoyed the show.

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