Andrew Lloyd Webber beams as ‘Cats’ film has its premiere
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 Awardwinning stage musical “Cats” Monday night.
Speaking exclusively to The Associated Press, the 71year 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 way, because it’s been nearly 40 years after it got on the stage first. And of course, when ‘Cats’ got onto stage, everybody thought it was the most unlikely event to really go into a theater,” Lloyd Webber said.
The awardwinning 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 starstudded 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 though 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.’ I mean, it’s very, very differently conceived to the stage show and, of course, you would expect,” Lloyd Webber said.
Lloyd Webber said the film adaption is “as exciting as what we did years ago,” and credited the work of the cast for that. “There are some terrific performances,” he said. “And Taylor is absolutely fantastic.”
The film also stars Rebel Wilson, Jason Derulo, Ian McKellen, and ballet star Francesca Hayward as the star feline.