‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’ captures the raw beauty, extraordinary liberation, and beating heart of ballroom culture.
When you enter the Broadhurst Theatre on 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan, you instantly feel the sense of community and connection filling the room. From the extravagant, vibrant stage to the thunderous applause of devoted fans, it becomes immediately clear that this is not a typical Broadway show. As the pre-show announcement declares before the curtain rises, you “are at a ball.”
Photo Courtesy – ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’
Originally making its Broadway debut in 1982, Cats is a re-imagining of Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot, a beloved collection of poems often read to children before bed. The original production became a Broadway sensation, earning seven Tony Awards and two Olivier Awards. Following in its footsteps, this bold new reimagining has received nine Tony nominations, including Best Revival of a Musical.
But as mentioned before, this new incarnation of the Broadway classic is far from a conventional stage production. Instead, it serves as an immersive, firsthand experience of ballroom culture and the extraordinary artistry, freedom, and self-expression it offers. This ambitious creation would not be possible without the visionary creative team behind the scenes. Particularly associate directors Cooper Howell and N’yomi Allure Stewart.
Photo Courtesy – Andy Henderson
With an extensive background in theater, Howell explains how the seamless fusion of Cats and ballroom culture came to life, and reflects on the profound cultural impact ballroom continues to have on society.
“Bill Rauch and Zhailon Levingston decided it would not only enrich the Cat’s itself, but also would speak a lot to America right now and be very current,” said Cooper Howell. “If they took that format and put it in the ballroom scene, which is already operates under the same rules that the musical cats does, where in an evening there are multiple different categories, and at the end there’s a grand prize winner. And so ballroom itself as a structure and the structure of cats really blended itself together. And it created this amazing musical Cats: The Jellicle Ball.”
Coming from the world of ballroom, House Mother N’yomi Allure Stewart brings a fresh and authentic perspective to the directing team. One of her greatest contributions has been her passion for ensuring the accurate representation of ballroom’s voguing on stage. Working alongside Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons, Stewart helped shape the production’s unique fusion of theatrical dance and the fluid, improvisational movement of voguing. An art form she knows intimately through firsthand experience within ballroom culture.
“For me it’s divine femininity. And like they have blended and they’ve created choreography. It takes work. Like our dancers are dancing and having to learn crazy things,” reflected N’yomi Allure Stewart. “They blended their multiple worlds that they come from like, Omari is African, Arturo coming from like the underground dance scene where they pump and do all sorts of techniques and other styles of dance. And they’ve kind of beautifully meshed it with the beautiful femininity of voguing femme, which is taps the lines, the touching of the body, the like, like basically making the body a like a like an exclamation point.”
Photo cred. Andy Henderson
Cats: The Jellicle Ball’s fresh interpretation of the classic Broadway production not only offers a bold new perspective on the story, but also gives audiences a renewed reason to fill the theater seats. Something Howell describes as discovering “the why.”
“Like I feel like the 82 version of Cats. The why of the production, like why you went and saw it was the novelty of a bunch of people dressed head to toe in cat suits, and they were on a junkyard,” said Howell. “And in this production, the why is essentially you are seeing the America you want to see on stage. Black, Trans, Black and Trans, Latin X. Like people of color, people speaking Spanish, a bunch of different nationalities on a stage, competing as equals and and creating community together and telling the story of what we want America to actually look like.”
That “why” is not only on full display during the performance itself, but also reflected in the energy of the company and creative team behind the production. From social media reshares to heartfelt comments online, you can genuinely feel the sense of community and love surrounding the show. It is an environment carefully cultivated by both Stewart and Howell.
“It’s hard. I would I would think the first thing is it is it is very hard because you want to do right by everyone. I get so like emotional when the people who I deem very important, with or without a Tony,” Stewart reflected. “With or without any awards given to to us from white people. I’m like, I’m in a room full of dreamers, and I’m in a room full of people who, who, who are doing a thing that once was a dream. For me it’s honoring these people while like they’re literally here.”
From the world brought to life onstage to the one built behind the curtain, both Steward and Howell have left an undeniable mark on Broadway history through this remarkable production. But that history began long before Broadway came calling, starting at the Perelman Performing Arts Center, where the foundation for the show was first created.
Courtesy – Cats: The Jellicle Ball
“I think, I think the, the when we were at the pack during rehearsals, I just don’t think anybody knew what it was that what the show was going to be,” said Howell. “It’s especially team directing…I think, I think the, the when we were at the pack during rehearsals, I just don’t think anybody knew what it was that what the show was going to be. It’s especially team directing.”
“I’ll never forget our very first invited dress rehearsal,” said Howell. “The audience at the end of the opening number cheered for about two minutes straight, which is a gigantic amount of time, just fully clapping on their feet, screaming, and you can see all of the actors eyes on the stage going, oh, and like even us, we were like, okay, this does work, this does work. And from that moment on, I was like, at least for me, I knew that we were going to Broadway.”
And Broadway they went. Since its debut on the show collect numerous positive reviews and accolades. Evening announcing its extension to Janaury 2027. When I asked both Howell and Stewart if they could describe the feeling of the show in one word. Each encapsulated that answer with words worth of the ballroom runway that has been beautiful displayed thanks to the genius of their work on the show.
