Feline facts as ‘Cats’ returns for its 12th visit

This week, the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Cats” arrives in town for its 12th visit to the San Diego Civic Theatre.

The dance-heavy, feline-themed musical has been touring virtually nonstop for decades and has twice been turned into films. The first move was an acclaimed DVD version filmed onstage in London with a cast of top West End and Broadway stars in 1998. The second was a much-derided 2019 feature film version featuring movie, TV and pop stars whose faces and tails were rather creepily transformed with with computer-generated special effects.

But despite the latest film’s flop, the stage musical has remained an evergreen attraction. Did you know these “Cats” trivia facts:.

• Webber based “Cats” on T.S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” a 1939 collection of poems about a group of junkyard cats gathering for their annual “Jellicle” ball. The meaning of the world “jellicle” was never defined, though Eliot’s nickname among his friends was “Possum.”

• Some of Eliot’s cats had literary origins. The mischievous Macavity was based on Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis Moriarty, and the name of the railway cat Skimbleshanks was inspired by a Rudyard Kipling story.

• “Cats,” directed by Trevor Nunn and choreographed by Gillian Lynne, premiered in London in May 1981. A Broadway production followed in 1982.

• The Broadway production won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Because there are virtually no spoken words in the dance-heavy musical, and because Webber drew all of his lyrics from the “Old Possum’s” book, Eliot won two posthumous Tonys: a solo prize for the musical’s book and a shared prize with Webber for the score.

• Eliot never completed the story of the cat Grizabella, but Webber and Nunn finished her tale and made her the centerpiece of the musical. Grizabella is an elderly glamour cat who fled the cat world for stardom and returns, on the last of her nine lives, for the ball.

• Over 150 singers have recorded Grizabella’s song, “Memory,” including Barbara Streisand, Barry Manilow and Joni Mitchell.

• “Cats” has been seen by nearly 75 million people in over 30 countries and 15 languages.

“Cats” plays at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday; 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Oct. 2 at the San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., San Diego. Tickets start at $35.50 and are available at broadwaysd.com.

MATTHEW MURPHY The company of the musical “Cats,” which plays Tursday through Oct. 2 at the San Diego Civic Theatre.