The unlikely musical that conquered the world

The Age

17-06-2025

Gabriyel Thomas remembers the exact moment she first encountered Cats.
'I was four and my mum brought home the 1998 film version on VHS,' she says. 'I started watching it, again and again, on repeat, like it was my job.
'I danced around the living room to it so much that, even now, when people have been learning their choreography here, I know almost every movement they have to learn.'
The 'here' Thomas refers to is the Alexandria rehearsal room for the 40th Australian anniversary production of Cats, opening this week at the Theatre Royal Sydney. Fresh from rocking a nun's wimple in the Australian production of Sister Act, Thomas is part of the production's 28-strong cast as Grizabella, the once-glamorous, bedraggled moggie who sings the melancholic, chart-topping mega-hit Memory.
'It's one of those songs where if you don't know Cats, you still know Memory, ' she says. 'It's iconic. I did worry about doing it justice but, now, when I'm on the floor being Grizabella, the notes just come out. It takes over my entire existence.'
Since premiering in 1981 in London's West End, Andrew Lloyd Webber's sung-through contemporary dance musical about the Jellicle cat tribe has taken over stages around the world. Pioneering the concept of a blockbuster musical, and earning more than $3.5 billion worldwide to date, Cats has played in 51 countries, been translated into 23 languages and played to more than 81 million people.
Its original UK season won multiple Olivier and Evening Standard Awards followed by Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score and more, after the show's 1982 Broadway premiere.
But there were bumps along the way.