Cats: The Jellicle Ball will head to Broadway this spring with new producers attached. Lena Waithe and Cynthia Erivo have officially joined the production as it prepares to begin previews at the Broadhurst Theatre on March 18, ahead of an April 7 opening night.
The musical reimagines Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats within New York’s underground LGBTQ+ ballroom scene. The production premiered at the Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) in 2024 and extended its run three times before announcing its Broadway transfer. It is directed by Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, with choreography by Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons.
The Broadway company includes André De Shields, Ken Ard, Kya Azeen, Bryson Battle, Sherrod T. Brown, Jonathan Burke, Baby Byrne, Tara Lashan Clinkscales, Bryce Farris, Sydney James Harcourt, Dava Huesca, Dudney Joseph Jr., Junior LaBeija, Leiomy, Robert “Silk” Mason, Tempress Chasity Moore, Primo Thee Ballerino, Xavier Reyes, Nora Schell, Bebe Nicole Simpson, Emma Sofia, Phumzile Sojola, Kendall Grayson Stroud, B. Noel Thomas, Kalyn West, Donté Nadir Wilder, Garnet Williams, and Teddy Wilson Jr.
Waithe’s involvement comes as she makes her theatrical debut with trinity at Baltimore Center Stage, a world premiere production extended through March 15. She is also developing Polly: The Musical alongside Debbie Allen, a Broadway-bound adaptation based on the 1989 Disney television film. Erivo is currently starring in the West End production of Dracula at London’s Noël Coward Theatre, where she performs all 23 roles in the one-woman staging directed by Kip Williams. She previously won a Tony Award for her performance in The Color Purple and has produced stage work including Fat Ham.
The Broadway transfer of Cats: The Jellicle Ball is produced by Michael Harrison for Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals and Mike Bosner by arrangement with LW Entertainment.