We have finally seen Cats.

I knew nothing about the show except along with everyone else in the 1980s, I couldn’t escape the theme tune. I even remember learning it at school. I also knew it was a hit and that everyone that saw it, loved it. This stopped on the Friday before I went.

That Friday, I was chatting with two colleagues. One walked out at interval, describing it as unprofessional, boring, and complaining that not even the whole of Memory was sung. The other had seen it twice in quick succession and thought it was fabulous. He also explained to her that Memory is sung in two parts and she would have heard the song in the entirety after interval.

I told them I’d do a half and full-time review.

By half-time, I’d been introduced to a number of the cats and their various characteristics. Having had a cat for a large porion of my life (and quite a large cat at times too), I had a few giggles to myself at the accurate depictions. I had a glimpse of the story line with the cat returning to the group and hoping to be accepted. She’s the one that sung Memory.

Part the way through the second half, I realised that the show was mainly going to be about cats and not really a story (aside from the returning cat but that wasn’t really a core part of the show to me).

In short, it was a show about cats and their personalities rather than a story about cats. Visually, it was quite amazing. The cats came through the audience and interacted with us in the way cats would, they climbed, curled up on laps, played with pashminas and slept.

I subsequently found out that this was based on a book of poems by T.S. Eliot. He had a cat or two and it looks like he spent quite a bit of time observing them. He missed covering what cats do when they are embarrassed. In case you’re curious (that apparently kills cats), they try to hide it by licking themselves. Our cat does this well, he’ll sometimes lose balance, have his leg caught in some bizarre way and then, as if he’s planned it, will start licking himself as if it was all done on purpose. I don’t think he knows he hasn’t hidden it well.

It’s worth seeing for the visual effects and the Mick Jagger cat.

The Phantom is still my favourite show.

* Thanks to T.S. Eliot and Andrew Lloyd Webber for the title of this post.