Filipina international performer Joanna Ampil headlines the Cats 2019 international tour, playing the role of Grizabella, it was announced on July 11, 2019.
Last seen in Manila in 2010, the Manila leg of Cats 2019 tour opens on Nov. 6, at The Theatre at Solaire.
Ampil had been featured in several West End musicals, such as Miss Saigon, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Avenue Q. She played the role of Fantine in Les Misérables in London.
Also on Thursday, the producers have announced the names of the full cast for the Manila season of Cats.
Joining Ampil are: Luke Fraser Yates, George Hinson, Gavin Eden, Kirsty Ingram, Elizabeth Futter, Sally Frith, Erica-Jayne Alden, Amy Whittle, Ellie Young, Holly Willock, Danielle Cato, Gabrielle Coca, Cian Hughes, Rhys Batten, Thomas Inge, Mukeni Nel, Lloyd Davies, Abigail Dever, Alexandra Wright, Elly Shaw, Liam Buckland, Lee Nicholson, and Brian O’Muiri.
Resident director is Dane Quixall.
Cats is based on T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, which was a collection of poems describing the “psychology and sociology of cats” published in 1939.
The muscal Cats first returned to the West End in December 2014, reuniting the original creative team: Director Trevor Nunn, Associate Director and Choreographer Gillian Lynne, Designer John Napier, and Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Following a second season at the London Palladium in 2015 and a UK Tour in 2016, the production embarked on an international tour in 2017 and now continues to tour the world throughout 2018 and 2019.
Cats, one of the longest-running shows in West End and on Broadway, received its world premiere at the New London Theatre in 1981 where it played for 21 record-breaking years and almost 9,000 performances. The production was the winner of the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Musical.
In 1983, the Broadway production became the recipient of seven Tony awards including Best Musical, and ran for 18 years.
Since its world premiere, Cats has been presented in over 30 countries, has been translated into 15 languages and has been seen by over 73 million people worldwide.
Both the original London and Broadway cast recordings won Grammy Awards for Best Cast Album.
The classic Lloyd Webber score includes Memory which has been recorded by over 150 artists from Barbra Streisand and Johnny Mathis to Liberace and Barry Manilow.
The international tour of the Cameron Mackintosh and The Really Useful Theatre production of Cats is again presented by David Ian Productions.
For inquiries, please visit http://www.catsthemusical.com
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