Cats' celebrating 25th anniversary with OKC shows

"Cats" is about to pounce on Oklahoma City, bringing dozens of human-sized felines to the stage at Civic Center Music Hall.
 
The award-winning musical first opened in 1981 in London, and came to American stages a year later for an 18-year run, making "Cats" the longest running musical in the history of British theater and Broadway, according to Jennifer Moore, spokeswoman for the event.
 
Based on T.S. Eliot poems, with music written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, "Cats" won eight Tony Awards in the United States.
 
AUDIENCE INTERACTION
Much of the musical takes place in a junkyard, and to give the larger-than-normal cats room to play, dance, dart and sing, the set and props are huge and whimsical, decorated with boxes and bottles.
 
Audience interaction is a big part of the musical, and the cat-actors acknowledge this from the stage, trying to determine if they can trust the audience members enough to let them into their world.
 
The action leaves the stage and moves into the audience, and the cats leap from the stage and prowl around the viewers, purring, preening and pouncing.
 
The musical was last in Oklahoma City in January 2002, and will be celebrating its 25th anniversary with five shows at the Civic Center, Moore said. "?Joe Wertz