Review Roundup: CATS at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre

What are critics saying about Cats?

WhatsOnStage

"A new day has begun with Drew McOnie’s magical revival"

★★★★

Reviewer: Sarah Crompton

"It’s a version of Cats that is much more lyrical and dance-driven than, for example, the current Jellicle Ball version on Broadway. And in the setting of Regent’s Park, with the night-time shadows lengthening around the huge Jellicle moon that is the focus of Jessica Hung Han Yun’s subtly toned lighting, it is often truly enchanting. It’s also quite long, as things tend to proceed at a stately pace as the cats, in Sami Fendall’s design, assemble in sleek body suits and tails around a great bronze spiral where they can prowl and sit and pose as the action (what there is of it) unfolds. McOnie’s movement for the cats is sleek and balletically delicate; their bodies unfurl slowly, each motion from the tip of their fingers to the points of their feet, mimicking the way muscles run gently through real cats’ bodies, rippling beneath the skin."

Read the review here.

The Telegraph

"This Cats revival has rescued the musical from Hollywood"

★★★★

Reviewer: James Hall

"Regent’s Park’s open-air arena setting suited the play. Around two dozen cats converged on the round stage from all directions, creeping and crepuscular. The fur costumes and leg-warmers from Lloyd Webber’s original West End version, which ran for 21 years from 1981 with a revival in 2014, were replaced with sleeker catsuits. Standout performances came from Jaydon Vijn as a rock ‘n’ roll Rum Tum Tugger ¬– all leather, tassels, tousles and attitude – and Elliot Broadfoot as the corpulent bon vivant Bustopher Jones (Brian Blessed in the original, James Corden in the film). Special mention must go to Taziva-Faye Katsande, understudy, nominative determinism at its very best, who stepped in to play Grizabella. Her Memory was spellbinding (the song was so good we heard it at least three times)."

Read the review here.

Millie O'Connell and Katie Dunsden in Cats. Photo by Mark-Senior

TimeOut

"It’s still just a series of cats singing silly songs!"

★★★

Reviewer: Andrzej Lukowski

"The titular Jellicle Cats are both familiar but also grungier and less cosy than their leg warmer-clad 1981 forbears. The biggest difference between the two incarnations of Cats probably lies in the choreography – high energy and aerobic in the original (by Gillian Lynne), sinuous and twitchy under McOnie. It’s very telling that he’s a director-choreographer: if it is of course never even slightly believable that you’re watching a group of actual cats, but there’s a real unity between the leaner, edgier look of the performers and the leaner, edgier choreo. Nonetheless the first half, in particular, feels hindered by a lack of spectacle beyond the dancing, with Sami Fendall’s static set – which looks a bit like a crashed spaceship – and Jessica Hung Han Yun’s lighting patently better designed to be viewed after dark (which shouldn’t be a problem later in the run). "

Read the review here.

The Independent

"Outdoor revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s warped musical is a delight for people who already like Cats"

★★★

Reviewer: Alice Saville

"McOnie clearly loves Cats but this production often doesn't feel very catty. Fendall's updated costumes are a puzzling mixed bag: some performers look like they're meant to be animals, others look like their leotards have been infested with rare bacterial cultures. Their tails are disconcertingly long and rat-like. You wouldn't want to pet them, for fear of catching something. Similarly, McOnie has treated some moments with more reverence than others. He's resurrected second act pirate number “Growltiger's Last Stand”, which is often cut from modern productions due to its offensively stereotyped Siamese cats (thankfully removed here). It's a highlight, full of old-school, kid-thrilling, derring do. But inexplicably, he's turned Macavity into pure 21st-century nightmare fuel, making him into a Krampus-esque spiked creation who looms with a flaming torch."

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London Box Office

"For the main part, it was fun"

★★★

Reviewer: Stuart King

"As for McOnie’s choreography, it’s resoundingly his own — underpinning the requisite character work inherent in CATS with strong ballet-based movement. His Brigadoon on this same stage, may have suited a more free flowing balletic romanticism but here, the herding of cats requires an altogether different approach. In the main it worked well but in some sections the troupe looked under-rehearsed and perhaps possessed a more ramshackle line than the average sure-footed felines. That said, there was plenty to like and the series of characters managed to convey their cat personalities well on Sami Fendall’s set which is dominated by an upright, rust-effect skeletal circle, suggesting something industrial beneath the moonlight and amidst the venue’s woodland setting. As a consequence it looks better as the daylight dims particularly over the course of the second half."

Read the review here.

On the lookout for more exciting new shows to watch this month? Check out the 8 Best New Theatre Openings in August. And if you're interested in what's happening at Edinburgh Fringe this year, you can read all about the top ten shows we're most excited to see potentially transfer to London.

Cats Tickets