For as long as I’ve been alive,Catshas been a musical theater punchline.
How it got there is easy: It’s a show about cats.
It features performers dressed as cats.
Universal Pictures
It’s been translated into more than 20 languages (Gatos!Chattes!Katter!
), toured worldwide, and grossed hundreds of millions of dollars.
Its advertising needs no blacklight to discover its deep message begging you tobelieve.
Universal Pictures
Nobody actually seems to know but then again,Catswas never particularly clear about much of anything.
However, it’s impossible for us to scream “It’s not like all musicals!”
So where does that leave the theater people?
Even during commercial hits likeThe Greatest ShowmanandMamma Mia!
Which is whyCatspresents such a curious case of conflict to the drama geek in me.
Any musical is better than no musical, but dear God is theCatsmovie awful.
As was the show itself!
Because much as we may hate it, we can’t deny that we care about it.Youcare about it.
Theater people we care.
About the good, about the bad, we care.
