Cats (musical) carrying Grizabella and Old Deuteronomy partway toward the sky; he then steps off so she can finish the journey on her own. Finally, Old Deuteronomy gives his closing speech to the audience ("The Ad-dressing of Cats") and the show comes to a close. A 1981 recording of the Original London Cast was released first on LP and cassette tape and later as a two-CD set. It contains the following tracks: Composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, the production of "Cats" is based on T. S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" (1939), which the composer recalled as having been a
Cats (musical) fans who could not acquire a ticket for the final performance. It held the record as London's longest-running musical until 8 October 2006, when it was surpassed by "Les Misérables". The show made its debut on Broadway on 7 October 1982, at the Winter Garden Theater with the same production team. On 19 June 1997, "Cats" became the longest-running musical in Broadway history with 6,138 performances. It closed on 10 September 2000, after a total of 7,485 performances. Its Broadway record was surpassed on 9 January 2006 by "The Phantom of the Opera". It remains Broadway's fourth-longest-running show in history.