YOUNG ACTORS’ VERSION OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER’S “CATS” NOW AVAILABLE AT CONCORD THEATRICALS
Press Contact:
Rick Miramontez / Aaron Meier / Briana Sanchez
rick@omdkc.com / aaron@omdkc.com / briana@omdkc.com
212 695 7400
Concord Theatricals:
Imogen Lloyd Webber
press.theatricals@concord.com
212 598 2265
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ON TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, PLEASE
YOUNG ACTORS’ VERSION OF
ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER’S
“CATS”
NOW AVAILABLE AT
CONCORD THEATRICALS
TO DOWNLOAD HI-RES ART, CLICK HERE
New York, NY (August 24, 2021) – Concord Theatricals is delighted to announce that a one-hour version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s international musical phenomenon CATS has been released to schools and children’s theaters in North America. Adapted by iTheatrics, you can discover more information about the CATS Young Actors Edition at concordsho.ws/PerformCATS-YAE.
“I first experienced the singular thrill of seeing kids interpret my work in 1968, when I wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for school children to perform,” said Andrew Lloyd Webber. “The positive impact of the arts on health, social mobility, and wellbeing is irrefutable. Music is an empowering force leading to more confident and resilient young people. Music and the arts are a proven and powerful way to address issues of self-esteem, friendships, attitudes, and creativity. This is needed more than ever. It gives me great joy to know that this version of CATS will become a part of many kittens’ lives.”
“iTheatrics is excited to share this education-friendly adaptation of CATS!” said Timothy Allen McDonald, founder of iTheatrics. “We’ve adapted the title so that it can be successfully performed by young people of all levels and experience, from ‘this is my first show’ to triple threats! With a running time of approximately 60 minutes, the show has been honed to its essence, revealing a story of forgiveness and acceptance. That’s a message I will be proud to see young people embrace and share with audiences worldwide.”
“We’re delighted that the CATS Young Actors Edition will sit alongside the iconic original version in the Concord Theatricals catalog,” said Billie Davis, Vice President of Amateur Licensing at Concord Theatricals. “The iTheatrics adaptation provides everything middle-school educators need to present the show.”
CATS Young Actors Edition introduces students to the musical sensation in a completely accessible way while capturing the magic of the record-setting Broadway production. Each show pack of materials includes a downloadable production guide, student vocal book, piano/vocal score, guide vocal tracks, accompaniment tracks, audition sides, official artwork, and instructional choreography and staging videos.
Adapted from T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, CATS, one of the longest-running shows in West End and Broadway history, received its world premiere at the New London Theatre in 1981. It played for 21 record-breaking years and almost 9,000 performances. The groundbreaking production originally directed by Trevor Nunn and featuring musical staging by Gillian Lynne was the winner of the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Musical. In 1983, the Broadway production became the recipient of seven Tony Awards®, including Best Musical, and ran for 18 years.
Since its world premiere, CATS has been presented in over 30 countries, translated into 15 languages and seen by more than 73 million people worldwide. Both the original London and Broadway cast recordings received Grammy Award® nominations for Best Cast Show Album with the Broadway cast album winning the award in 1983.
The magnificent musical score includes the one of the most treasured songs in musical theater – “Memory,” which has been recorded by over 150 artists from Barbra Streisand and Johnny Mathis, to Liberace and Barry Manilow.
With universal appeal and an expandable cast of different age groups, the show has not only been presented in theaters, but also in tents in Japan and Korea, an engine shed in Switzerland, and school gymnasiums across the USA.
BIOGRAPHIES
Andrew Lloyd Webber has composed the scores of some of the world’s most famous musicals. From Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1969) to Cinderella (2021) his work has been consistently seen on world stages. Before the COVID pandemic hit, Lloyd Webber had shows continually running in the West End for 48 years and on Broadway for 41. When Sunset Boulevard joined School Of Rock, CATS, and The Phantom Of the Opera he equaled Rodgers & Hammerstein’s record of four shows running simultaneously on Broadway. He is one of the select group of artists with EGOT status, having received Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards.
Lloyd Webber owns seven London theaters including the iconic London Palladium and Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Over the past three years the latter has been completely restored and renovated at a cost of over £60 million. It is one of the biggest projects ever undertaken by a private theater owner in recent times. His mantra that every penny of profit made from his theaters is ploughed back into the buildings has meant that considerable work has been undertaken across his theater portfolio during the pandemic, including the complete re-modelling and re-seating of the Gillian Lynne.
Lloyd Webber is passionate about the importance of musical education and diversity in the arts. Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation provides 30 performing arts scholarships every year for talented students with financial need and supports a range of projects such as the Music In Secondary School Trust and commissioning research into diversity in theater.
Andrew Lloyd Webber was knighted in 1992 and created an honorary life peer in 1997. To mark his 70th birthday, his best-selling autobiography Unmasked was published by Harper Collins in March 2018.
iTheatrics. Founded in 2006 by educator and author Timothy Allen McDonald, and headquartered in New York City, iTheatrics is the world’s leading authority on musical theater for young people. Every day iTheatrics works to make theater more accessible for students everywhere and, in turn, leads a dynamic and talented group of artists and educators who are changing the world through the transformative power of musical theater. iTheatrics develops collections of musicals for leading musical theater licensing agencies. Working with esteemed partners in the United States such as the President’s Committee on Arts and the Humanities, New York City’s Department of Education, the Kennedy Center, McGraw-Hill Education and NBC Universal, iTheatrics develops and implements dynamic programs to build cost-effective and sustainable musical theater programs in underserved schools. iTheatrics produces the now bicoastal Junior Theater Festivals, the world’s largest festivals exclusively dedicated to celebrating young people and student-driven musical theater.
Concord Theatricals is the world’s most significant theatrical company, comprising the catalogs of R&H Theatricals, Samuel French, Tams-Witmark and The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection, plus dozens of new signings each year. Our unparalleled roster includes the work of Irving Berlin, Agatha Christie, George & Ira Gershwin, Marvin Hamlisch, Lorraine Hansberry, Kander & Ebb, Ken Ludwig, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Dominique Morisseau, Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Thornton Wilder and August Wilson. We are the only firm providing truly comprehensive services to the creators and producers of plays and musicals, including theatrical licensing, music publishing, script publishing, cast recording and first-class production.
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