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
Jellicle cats and used for many of the ensemble characters in the musical. In contrast with the poem, Lloyd Webber's Jellicles possess many kinds of coat-patterns, diverse personalities and individual talents. Also detailed on this page are Chorus characters from the musical "Cats" whose names are from other works by T. S. Eliot, or not directly derived from the poems. The name "jellicle" comes from a previously unpublished poem by Eliot entitled "Pollicle Dogs and Jellicle Cats", where "jellicle cats" is a corruption of "dear little cats" and "pollicle dogs" of "poor little dogs". The term jellicle cats was used by the