CATS at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
CATS played at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, in the Inner Circle of the park, from 25 July to 19 September 2026. Drew McOnie directed and choreographed it, and it was a new production rather than a revival of the one people remember: the fur and the leg warmers went, the costumes were sleek, and a steel moon hung over the stage.
This show has closed
This run at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre has finished.
Who's CATS For?
Anyone who wants to watch a dance-based musical. McOnie is a choreographer first and this staging leaned all the way into that.
Families with a child of about five upwards. That was the theatre's guidance. There are cats, a railway number, a magician and a villain.
Fans of Andrew Lloyd Webber. CATS ran in the West End for over 20 years, and the UK and Ireland tour is now the rare chance to see it.
Anyone who likes a night outdoors. Audiences ate on the lawn beforehand and the trees around the theatre were part of the design.
Not for anyone who wants a story to follow. CATS has almost no plot, and this production did not pretend otherwise. If a narrative is what you go to a musical for, CATS is the one to think twice about.
About CATS at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
Sami Fendall designed it from scratch. Drew McOnie, who directed and choreographed, has his own history with the piece: at seventeen he left school to join it.
Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote the music. The words are T.S. Eliot's, taken almost intact from Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. Regent's Park Open Air Theatre produced, with Michael Harrison for Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals.
The content advisory, with the venue's own timings:
- Loud noises, bright and flashing lights and smoke throughout
- Thunder and lightning, flashing light rather than strobe, at 30 and 40 minutes into Act 1 and at 25 and 30 minutes into Act 2
- A fire torch 30 minutes into Act 2, and a ring of fire at 32 to 33 minutes
- Pyrotechnics that pop and crackle, seven times between 35 and 45 minutes into Act 2
The fire torch belonged to Macavity, who arrived as a spiked, horned figure. He was the moment a younger child was most likely to find frightening.
What's CATS About?
One night a year the Jellicle cats gather. Their leader looks them over, and one of them is chosen to go up to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life. That's the whole plot. The evening is what the cats do while they wait, and most of it is a series of introductions.
They come out of the dark together first, in Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats and The Naming of Cats, and then present themselves one at a time. Jennyanydots, the old Gumbie Cat who drills the mice and the cockroaches. The Rum Tum Tugger, who wants whatever he is not being given. Grizabella, once the glamour cat and now shabby, who comes near the tribe and is driven off. Bustopher Jones, twenty-five pounds of cat in white spats. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, a pair of thieves who work as a double act.
Then Old Deuteronomy arrives, the leader who will make the choice, and the tribe dances the Jellicle Ball for him, the show's big dance sequence. Grizabella comes back at the end of it and begins Memory alone.
After the interval the introductions carry on. Gus the Theatre Cat, old and shaking, remembers his great part and plays it out in Growltiger's Last Stand, a swaggering pirate number that recent productions had dropped and this one brought back. Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat runs the sleeper train. Then Macavity, the cat who is never there when you look, snatches Old Deuteronomy, and Demeter and Bombalurina sing about him. Mr Mistoffelees, the conjuring cat, brings the leader back.
Grizabella returns for the last time and sings Memory in full, and she is the one chosen. The Ad-dressing of Cats closes the evening, with Old Deuteronomy telling the audience how a cat should be spoken to.
Performance Schedule
The run played eight performances a week, with no Sunday performance, and ended on Saturday 19 September 2026.
| Day | Matinee | Evening |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | - | 7:45pm |
| Tuesday | - | 7:45pm |
| Wednesday | - | 7:45pm |
| Thursday | 2pm | 7:45pm |
| Friday | - | 7:45pm |
| Saturday | 2pm | 7:45pm |
| Sunday | - | - |
Cast and Creative Team
Melanie La Barrie played Old Deuteronomy and Rachael Wooding was Grizabella. Gary Wilmot played Gus, Jaydon Vijn the Rum Tum Tugger, Jet Yau Mr Mistoffelees and Jack Wilcox Munkustrap, with Millie O'Connell as Demeter and Charlotte Riby as Jennyanydots.
Drew McOnie directed and choreographed. Sami Fendall designed the set, the costumes and the wigs, Jessica Hung Han Yun the lighting and Adam Fisher the sound. All thirty performers, with the cat each one played, are in the Cast and Creatives tab.
Where to See CATS Next
The production is on tour around the UK and Ireland until June 2027, and the dates are in the FAQs.
Sign up and we will tell you first if CATS comes back to London.
FAQs
The Jellicle tribe. Old Deuteronomy leads them and Grizabella is the outcast. The ones with their own numbers are Jennyanydots, the Rum Tum Tugger, Bustopher Jones, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, Gus, Skimbleshanks, Macavity and Mr Mistoffelees. Every cat in this production is listed in the Cast and Creatives tab.
Memory is the famous one. The rest include Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats, The Old Gumbie Cat, The Rum Tum Tugger, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, Old Deuteronomy, Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat, Macavity, Mr Mistoffelees and The Ad-dressing of Cats.
A tribe of cats meets once a year and one of them is chosen for a new life. There is almost no story beyond that: the show is a run of character portraits, set to Lloyd Webber's music with T.S. Eliot's poems as the lyrics.
At Regent's Park it ran about 2 hours 15 minutes, including the interval.
An evening performance started at 7:45pm and finished about 10pm. A Thursday or Saturday matinee started at 2pm and finished about 4:15pm.
Five was the theatre's own guidance for this production, and under-4s are not admitted at all. The thing to know is Macavity: in this staging he arrived with fire about half an hour into the second half.
Performances go on. Nothing is covered here and rain never gets a performance called off before the advertised start time. The venue completes about 94% of performances in a season, and if yours is stopped your ticket can be exchanged for a seat at another show in the theatre's main repertoire, next season's included, subject to availability.
Yes, on the lawn and in Queen Mary's Garden before the performance, and the theatre sells food and drink on site. Food cannot be taken into the auditorium, so the picnic happens before you go to your seat. Everything on site is cashless, so bring a card. If it rains, the bar and the covered dining area are the only places under a roof.
Something warm for an evening, and more of it than you think in September. The seats are uncovered, so after rain they are wet: the theatre hands out cloths and sells ponchos and picnic blankets, and a waterproof bag is worth having.
Sleek, close-fitting and human rather than furry. Sami Fendall designed them for this production, and the old fur-and-leg-warmer look was gone. The dancing is what they were built for.
Reviews ran from three stars to five. The dancing was the thing every critic praised, and the lower scores were about CATS having no story rather than about this production. The full round-up is in what the critics said.
Yes, at any age, so no sitting a small child on a lap. Anyone under 16 has to be with an adult of 18 or over.
Four, all in 2026: a relaxed performance on 27 August, BSL interpreted on 1 September, captioned on 4 September and audio described with a touch tour on 5 September.
It is T.S. Eliot's own word, invented for the poems the show is built from. In CATS it is what the tribe call themselves, and the night they gather is the Jellicle Ball.
The original production opened in 1981 and ran for 21 years, with a revival at the London Palladium in 2014. It transferred to Broadway in 1982 and ran 18 years there. The Regent's Park staging was a new production rather than a return of that one.
The production tours the UK and Ireland, opening at Theatre Royal Plymouth on 6 October 2026 and running to 19 June 2027, finishing at Newcastle Theatre Royal. Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Belfast and Dublin are all on the way. We sell London theatre only, so book those with the theatres themselves.
No transfer has been announced. The London run was billed as a limited eight weeks, and the production went straight into the tour, which is booked to June 2027, so there is no London date to wait for. This theatre's productions do transfer: its Jesus Christ Superstar went to the London Palladium and then Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Fiddler on the Roof went to the Barbican, and Crazy for You went straight into the West End for six months. If CATS follows them, we will be selling it.
Where to Sit at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
CATS played to 1,304 seats in two tiers wrapped round the stage: the Lower Tier, rows A to J, and the Upper Tier, rows K to U. For this show the middle of the Lower Tier was the place to be, and row K, where a high rail crosses the whole row, was the one to avoid.
For the next production here, our Regent's Park Open Air Theatre guide goes row by row, with every rail and legroom note.
Dates & tickets
Getting to Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
The theatre is inside Regent's Park itself, on the Inner Circle, London NW1 4NU. You walk into the park and keep going, and the signposting in there is limited because it is a Royal Park.
Baker Street is the nearest tube, about 10 minutes on foot, on the Bakerloo, Circle, Hammersmith and City, Jubilee and Metropolitan lines. Turn left along Marylebone Road past Madame Tussauds, left at the next lights into York Gate, over the bridge to the Inner Circle, through the gates, and the theatre is on your left. Regent's Park and Great Portland Street are the alternatives.
Buses stop on Baker Street itself: the 13, 18, 27, 30, 74, 82, 113, 139, 189 and 274. On Marylebone Road it is the 18, 27, 30, 205, 453 and the N18 at night.
The gates open 90 minutes before the performance, and if you are eating on the lawn, come when they open. That depends entirely on the weather. If you are not eating, there is no need to arrive early, but allow for the bag check. You come in through the Box Office in Queen Mary's Garden and leave by a different gate onto the Inner Circle.
The theatre cannot guarantee to admit a latecomer and will try at a suitable break, because in an auditorium this open, anyone walking in is seen by the cast. And Queen Mary's Garden is locked after dark, so for a late evening arrival the way in may not be open at all.
Parking is free on the Inner Circle and the Outer Circle after 6:30pm, and pay and display before that.
Step-free travel, the weather policy in full and where to eat nearby are in our Regent's Park Open Air Theatre guide.
Address
Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, The Regent's Park, Inner Circle, London NW1 4NU
Nearest Tube
Baker Street
CATS Cast
| Role | Performer |
|---|---|
| Old Deuteronomy | Melanie La Barrie |
| Grizabella | Rachael Wooding |
| Rum Tum Tugger | Jaydon Vijn |
| Gus, and Growltiger | Gary Wilmot |
| Mr Mistoffelees, and Quaxo | Jet Yau |
| Munkustrap | Jack Wilcox |
| Demeter | Millie O'Connell |
| Admetus, and Macavity | Dianté Lodge |
| Bustopher Jones | Elliot Broadfoot |
| Jennyanydots, the Gumbie Cat | Charlotte Riby |
| Mungojerrie | Danny Nattrass |
| Rumpleteazer | Briana Craig |
| Jellylorum, and Griddlebone | Lucie-Mae Sumner |
| Skimbleshanks | Matthew Caputo |
| Bombalurina | Katie Dunsden |
| Victoria | Hannah Joseph |
| Tantomile | Taziva-Faye Katsande |
| Alonzo | Fin Adams |
| Coricopat | Andrew Parfitt |
| Syllabub | Josie Chambers-Sims |
| Tumblebrutus | Joshua-Samuel Freeman |
| Pouncival | Regan Garcia |
| Cassandra | Patricia Zhou |
| Electra, onstage swing | Carla Bertran |
| George, onstage swing | Owen McHugh |
Thirty performers in all. Taela Yeomans-Brown was co-dance captain with Carla Bertran, and the offstage swings were Grace Burrows, Aaron Jenkins, Shona Mairi Masson, Nathan Rigg and Yeomans-Brown.
Creative team
Directed and choreographed by Drew McOnie, the Artistic Director of Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, whose work here also includes Jesus Christ Superstar and Brigadoon. Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, who also orchestrated it, and lyrics from T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.
Set, costume and wig design by Sami Fendall. Lighting by Jessica Hung Han Yun, sound by Adam Fisher. Alex Parker is musical supervisor and Geraint Owen musical director, Ebony Molina associate director and choreographer, Josh Baker resident director and choreographer, Guy Common makeup, and Will Burton cast it.
John Napier, who designed the original 1981 production, was credited here for the design of Gus the Theatre Cat. Every other cat was dressed by Fendall.
CATS Reviews
Press night was 7 August 2026, and the critics agreed about this production while disagreeing about CATS. Nothing separates the threes from the fives on what the staging does. What separates them is how much they mind that the show has no story.
Five stars came from LondonTheatre and Musical Theatre Review. Four from the Times, the Telegraph, WhatsOnStage, BroadwayWorld and City A.M. Three from the Guardian, the Independent, Time Out, The Stage and London Box Office. No national daily went above four, and nothing went below three.
What they agreed on. The dancing, and that McOnie has taken the show back from the 2019 film. Nobody dissented on either. Jaydon Vijn's Rum Tum Tugger was named by more critics than any other performance: Arifa Akbar in the Guardian (3/5) had him singing "with the hip-thrusting swagger of a young Mick Jagger, David Bowie and an alley cat on heat, rolled into one".
Where they split. Whether the dancing has crowded out what little story there was. Everyone who raised it blamed the musical rather than the staging, so the three-star reviews here read warmer than three stars usually do.
The bit that is about this building. Three critics independently found that the first half suffers because it is still light, and the design only comes into its own after sunset.
What audiences made of it. Warmer than the press, and warm about the thing the three-star critics were cool on. People who went wrote about the voices, the dancing, the sound and the setting. The missing story, which was the critics' whole reservation, did not come up.
One thing about the notices. Grizabella is played by Rachael Wooding. On press night she was unwell and Taziva-Faye Katsande, who is in the company as Tantomile, went on. Memory is the most-written-about performance in the reviews, and the performance being described is Katsande's rather than Wooding's.
Every review, with the stars and the quotes, is in what the critics said.
Sources
The Times · The Telegraph · The Guardian · The Independent · Time Out · The Stage · WhatsOnStage · LondonTheatre · BroadwayWorld · City A.M. · Musical Theatre Review · London Box Office · Theatre Weekly · Everything Theatre · Box Office Radio