Cats (musical) Cats (musical) Cats is a sung-through musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" by T. S. Eliot. The musical tells the story of a tribe of cats called the Jellicles and the night they make what is known as "the Jellicle choice" and decide which cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life. Directed by Trevor Nunn and choreographed by Gillian Lynne, "Cats" first opened in the West End in 1981 and then with the same creative team on Broadway in 1982. It won numerous awards, including
The King of the Cats king of the cats from this story and Robert Irwin's "Father of Cats" from "The Arabian Nightmare" for his 1998 novel "King Rat". A 2006 biography of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. by Wil Haygood was entitled "King of the Cats: The Life and Times of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.". American author P. T. Cooper's 2012 middle-grade children's novel, "The King of the Cats", starts off with a retelling of the original legend but then picks up where the legend left off. The novel tells of the death of Tom Tildrum and the crowning of his successor, Jack Tigerstripes, who is