Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Cats’ is streaming for free

MANILA, Philippines – Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony award-winning Broadway production Cats The Musical will be available to stream on YouTube for 48 hours starting Friday, May 15, 7 pm (BST) or early morning on May 15 in the Philippines. For UK viewers, the video will only be available for 24 hours.

The stream features the 1998 live performance of Cats! starring Elaine Paige and Sir John Mills, and will include a live commentary by Webber himself. The music was re-recorded with a 70-piece orchestra. 

This Friday, #TheShowsMustGoOn is showing the 1998 film of the stage production of Cats! As there’s an awful lot I’d like to say about the show, I’m doing a live commentary on my YouTube alongside the performance, in memory of my beloved cat, Mika. – ALW #HomeIsWhereTheMusicIs pic.twitter.com/L2idW92uSK

— Andrew Lloyd Webber (@OfficialALW) May 13, 2020

Based on T.S. Eliot’s 1939 poetry book Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Cats first premiered on the West End stage in 1981 and is among the top 5 longest-running Broadway shows to date.

Cats is the latest musical to be added to Webber’s The Shows Must Go On! YouTube series, following Love Never Dies, Phantom of the Opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The English composer’s initiative began amid the coronavirus pandemic, with households on global lockdown and theaters shut down until further notice.

The musical was recently adapted to a movie – which was panned by critics and viewers alike. – Rappler.com