Andrew Lloyd Webber’s world-famous musical "Cats" arrives in Hong Kong at Xiqu Centre on 6 August, inviting audiences into its surreal, feline world. Before you experience the Jellicle Ball, here’s some fun facts about the musical’s history, staging and legacy

Photo: Art-mate.net

It is one of the longest-running musicals in history

Cats is this fifth-longest running Broadway show, it used to be fourth until Wicked surpassed it in April 2023. It is also the eight-longest running musical on West End.

Andrew Lloyd Webber took a huge gamble to bring the show to life

Andrew believed in his idea and took out a second mortgage to finance the show as he struggled to find investors for Cats, which proved to be worth the risk given its success.

Photo: Art-mate.net

It has won countless awards

The musical has won seven Tony awards and a Grammy award, and has continued to win numerous awards through the years.

It nearly went by a very different name

Originally titled ‘Practical Cats’ it was only during the process of designing the logo that they decided on the title to be Cats.

The oversized set helps create the illusion of a cat's world

The set is designed and built to be two to three times larger than the actors, the beauty of theatrics making the actors seem more proportionate like the size of cats.

Photo: Art-mate.net

Cats changed the way musicals were marketed

Cats marked a shift in how musicals were marketed, becoming one of the first to fully lean into large-scale merchandising. Theatre lobbies sold souvenirs featuring the iconic cat’s eyes logo, where people could bring the feelings and experience of watching the musical home. At its peak, the Cats t-shirt was the second best selling shirt worldwide in the 1980s, second to the Hard Rock Cafe tee.

The famous wigs are made from yak hair

The wigs worn in Cats are made from dyed yak hair, each taking about 40 hours to make and costing around $2,300. Every wig is custom-made to fit each individual actor’s head, ensuring it stays secure throughout the intense jumping and skipping in the show. Over its 18-year run, the first Broadway production used 3,247 pounds of yak hair. By context, a wild yak can weigh up to 2,200 pounds.

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