When, last year, the gleaming new Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC) in Lower Manhattan unveiled the performances set to open its advanced theaters, a reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Cats situated in the Harlem ballroom community caused quite a stir. The 1982 musical has a loyal following; the initial show ran for 21 years in the West End and 18 years on Broadway. However, a disastrous film adaptation in 2019, coupled with the inherent theater-kid uncoolness of the plotless piece, made it difficult to visualize it flourishing.
Now, more than a month into its immensely successful production—cherished by critics and theatergoers alike (today, the show announced its third extension)—how did Cats: The Jellicle Ball achieve this feat? Primarily, through a sincere and open interaction with stars from the ballroom scene, some of whom were cast in the show or incorporated into the creative team. The ingenuity shines brightest in the choreography by Omari Wiles, a ballroom luminary who has collaborated with Beyoncé, Madonna, and Janet Jackson, and Arturo Lyons, another scene legend best recognized outside the balls for participating in (and, one season, triumphing in) Legendary, HBO’s voguing competition. In this interpretation of Cats, instead of learning about a mystical group of feline cats desiring to ascend to another existence, we witness a peek into a realm of glamorous humans—mostly queer and of color—vying for recognition in runway cat-egories.
“I have seldom observed an audience react with such joy and love,” Lloyd Weber remarked about the performance in a recent declaration. “The environment was, quite simply, electrifying. Cats and ballroom culture both arose in the same timeframe and I am thrilled that, all these years later, they are merging once again.”
To explore how Wiles and Lyons infused ballroom enchantment into a staple of musical theater, Vogue consulted the duo, along with two of the production’s breakout talents—Chasity “Tempress” Moore, who imbues Grizabella the Glamour Cat with an unforgettably touching presence, and Robert “Silk” Mason, who delivers a sidesplitting rendition of the enchanting Mr. Mistoffelees—both of whom also originate from ballroom. These interviews have been refined and abbreviated.