The original London production received mostly rave reviews, with critics hailing it as a watershed moment in British musical theatre. Michael Billington of "The Guardian" lauded "Cats" as "an exhilarating piece of total theatre". Billington praised the show's "strong framework" and the ease in which the poems were integrated. He was also very impressed by Lloyd Webber's fitting compositions, Napier's environmental set, Lynne's effective and at times brilliant choreography, and Nunn's "dazzling staging" that makes use of the entire auditorium. The show received similarly glowing reviews from "The Sunday Times" Derek Jewell and "The Stage"s Peter Hepple. Jewell proclaimed it to be "among the most exhilarating and innovative musicals ever staged", while Hepple declared that with "Cats", "the British musical has taken a giant leap forward, surpassing in ingenuity and invention anything Broadway has sent us".