From long-running blockbuster share memories as star-packed film nears debut

Cast

It was the “Hamilton” of its day.

For nearly two decades, “Cats” was the longest running show on Broadway, and many thought it would remain forever.

Now, the musical is set to hit the big screen on Dec. 20 with the star power of a Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen and Idris Elba, introducing the collection of T.S. Eliot poems to new generations.

The curtain went up on Broadway’s “Cats” in 1982. It drew massive audiences, which often included celebrities from Michael Jackson to Cary Grant.

The musical, created by Andrew Lloyd Webber, was a smash hit after it debuted in London’s West End a year earlier. It tells the story of a tribe of cats called Jellicles, who gather to decide who will ascend to heaven and be reborn.

It would go on to earn 11 Tony nominations, and win seven, including Best Musical.

“It was an incredible experience, to get to be a part of that original company,” actress Betty Buckley told the Daily News.

Known as the “Voice of Broadway,” Buckley played

Grizabella and performed the show’s iconic tune, “Memory.” The song was a stand-out hit from the musical’s initial run in London. Barbra Streisand and Barry Manilow also released versions in 1982.

Like the rest of the cast, Buckley, who first graced the Great White Way in 1969, vied for the role over a period of several months.

“They auditioned everybody that could sing and act on Broadway at the time,” she said with a laugh.

Donna King, an established dancer was filming “Grease 2” in Los Angeles while auditioning for “Cats.” She jetted from coast to coast, for call backs before landing the part of Bombalurina.

“I really was just so very happy to be around the world of it,” she told The News from her home in London. “The poetry and magic and otherworldliness of it.”

In the pre-internet world of 1982, King hadn’t seen the London show and no idea of what to expect. But this allowed the Broadway cast to find their own way.

“We rehearsed for weeks and weeks, and it involved a lot of improv,” she explained.

Harry Groener, who earned a Tony nomination for his role as Munkustrap, remembered how the actors were first introduced to their characters. The cast was brought into a room and the walls were covered in pieces of brown paper with everyone’s names on them.

“Then you found your name and you took off the brown paper and it showed you a rendering that John Napier created of your character,” Groener recalled.

Each cat costume — most of which were a combination of leotards and yak hair — was carefully crafted by Napier, who also designed the elaborate, groundbreaking sets for the show. The actors also had to learn how to apply their own face makeup.