.

If you've never been in the New London theatre, or been told what it's like, you are bound to be surprised when you enter it. The whole arena IS Cats, not just the stage. Being in the theatre is an experience in itself: you get a total feel for the show before it's even begun. At first you can't see a stage, and there are seats for 360 degrees around a scrap-pile at the centre of the circular theatre.

When the show starts the stage rotates so that the scrap-pile is beneath the night sky, and the seats that started on the wrong side move to their proper place. Meanwhile cats creep out of every nook and cranny, and hundreds of fairy lights flash different colours, it's really stunning. The cats run through the audience, and the way they interact with you is one of the best things about the show. I was on the edge of a row and in the 2nd Act the cat Victoria came up and rubbed herself against me. I wish I'd given her a stroke back now!

After roaming through the audience all the cats gather on the stage and dance. The dancing is magnificent, another reason to see the show. There were one or two songs which dragged a bit in the 1st Act, and Grizabella didn't have the voice for her part at all. During the interval I was wishing that we had Elaine Paige for Grizabella instead, but I was also thinking about the Jellicle Ball, which was glorious to behold.

The 2nd Act was far better, I enjoyed it all the way. 'Growltiger's Last Stand' was my favourite piece of the show. Other highlights were the self-constructed train for 'Skimbleshanks', Macavity blowing the fuse of the theatre lights, and Mr. Mistofelees, who got the audience clapping along. The only disappointment was that my all time favourite song, 'Memory', did not live up to it's potential, due to Grizabella's poor singing, but atleast she got the emotion right.

The show went down extremely well with the audience, and I think it is a production that everyone should experience atleast once. If the show keeps running I will definitely try and see it again.

Here are the songs and how much I enjoyed them:

1.Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats (10)
2.The Naming of Cats/Invitation to the Jellicle Ball (8)
3.The Old Gumbie Cat (10)
4.The Rum Tum Tugger (10)
5.Grizabella, the Glamour Cat (6)
6.Bustopher Jones (8)
7.Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer (9)
8.Old Deuteronomy (9)
9.The Aweful Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles (7)
10.The Jellicle Ball (10)
11.The Moments of Happiness (7)
12.Gus: the Theatre Cat (10)
13.Growltiger's Last Stand (10)
14.Skimbleshanks (10)
15.Macavity (10)
16.Mr. Mistofelees (10)
17.Memory (9)
18.Journey to the Heavyside Layer (9)
19.The Ad-dressing of Cats (9)