*Two of entertainment’s most dynamic creative forces are taking their talents to the Great White Way. Lena Waithe and Cynthia Erivo have signed on as producers for “Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” the reimagined Broadway production set to begin previews on March 18 at the Broadhurst Theatre, with an official opening night scheduled for April 7, per Deadline.
Waithe and Erivo join a producing team that already includes LaChanze and Jeremy Pope, with Michael Harrison and Mike Bosner serving as the production’s lead producers. The news marks another milestone for a show that has been generating serious buzz since its Off-Broadway debut at Perelman Performing Arts Center in 2024. That run was extended three times and earned an impressive haul of honors, including two Outer Critics Circle Awards, three OBIE Awards, a New York Drama Critics Circle Special Citation, a Chita Rivera Award, two Audelco Awards, three Dorian Theater Awards, and three Hewes Awards.
André De Shields takes on the role of Old Deuteronomy, anchoring an ensemble that includes Sydney James Harcourt as Rum Tum Tugger, “Tempress” Chasity Moore as Grizabella, Junior LaBeija as Gus The Theatre Cat, and Robert “Silk” Mason as Magical Mister Mistoffelees, among many others. The production is rooted in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s celebrated score and T.S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.”
OBIE Award winners Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch share directing duties, while the choreography comes from Omari Wiles of the House of NiNa Oricci and Arturo Lyons of the House of Miyake-Mugler.
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“I am so proud to be joining this production as a producer alongside wonderful creatives such a Lena Waithe,” said Erivo in a statement. “Cats: The Jellicle Ball astounded me and truly was a theater experience unlike any other I have had, so to have the opportunity to support it in its next iteration is an honor. I’m so excited for audiences to have a chance to experience its magic, for the first time or once, twice, three times again.”
Waite added, Added Waithe, “This musical was introduced to me by the great Cynthia Erivo. I can always trust her taste, so I flew out to see it and was changed. I wasn’t the same person when I walked out of the theater. I understood this musical in a way I never have. Cats needed Ball culture in order for it to finally make sense. And now that I’ve been changed – I want everyone to have the same experience we did. I’m honored to be a part of this historic production.”
Waithe’s producing credit comes as she continues pushing into new creative territory. The Emmy-winning writer recently made her live theater debut with “trinity,” an original play she wrote and performs in, currently running at Baltimore Center Stage.
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Lena Waithe Finds Creative Freedom and Risk in Her First Stage Play, ‘trinity’
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