The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
IN THE SPOTLIGHT Andrew Lloyd Webber beams as ‘Cats’ film has its premiere
Photos and text from The Associated Press
NEW YORK>> It was a special night for Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber as he walked the red carpet for the world premiere of the film adaptation of his Tony Award-winning stage musical “Cats.”
Speaking exclusively to The Associated Press, the 71-year-old composer called Taylor Swift “absolutely fantastic” as Bombalurina and beamed with pride while speaking of the unusual journey his awardwinning musical has taken.
“This is a most extraordinary night for me in a way, because it’s been nearly 40 years after it got on the stage first,” he said. “And of course, when ‘Cats’ got onto stage, everybody thought it was the most unlikely event to really go into a theater.”
The award-winning composer knew the idea of transforming a series of T.S. Eliot poems into a stage musical with actors playing the feline roles seemed like an unlikely concept for a show. But something clicked for the famed composer, and the musical has become one of his most popular works, playing on stages around the world for the past 40 years.
Now, it’s come to the big screen with a star-studded film that includes Swift, Jennifer Hudson, Idris Elba and Dame Judi Dench.
After posing for photographers, Lloyd Webber spoke about the show’s unusual journey, and attributed the success of the production to theater director Trevor Nunn and choreographer Gillian Lynne, saying it’s what “brought thought into the theater.”
He feels the same way about the director of the film adaptation.
“What’s interesting to me, now, in this new kind of version of it on the screen, is that this is very much Tom Hooper’s ‘Cats,’ ” he said. “I mean, it’s very, very differently conceived to the stage show and, of course, you would expect.”
Tony-winning actor and talk show host James Corden,
who plays Bustopher Jones, agrees, calling the concept, “incredibly bizarre,” though “incredibly unique,” and said he was honored to be a part of it.
“It’s a bizarre experience when someone’s asking you to be a cat,” Corden said. “But, you know, you try your best and you’re surrounded by the finest group of actors you can imagine, and I just found the entire thing very creatively inspiring, I have to say.”
Lloyd Webber said he never intended to write the show “Cats;” rather, he just wanted to perform an exercise by writing lyrics for a series of Eliot’s poems that his mother read to him when he was a boy.