CATS
THE CREATIVE TEAM
ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER -- COMPOSER
Andrew Lloyd Webber is composer of: (theatre) “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “Jesus Christ
Superstar,” “Jeeves” later reworked as “By Jeeves,” “Evita,” “Variations” and “Tell Me On A Sunday” later combined as
“Song & Dance,” “Cats,” “Starlight Express,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Aspects of Love,” “Sunset Boulevard,”
“Whistle Down the Wind,” “The Beautiful Game;” (film) “Gumshoe,” “The Odessa File,” additional music “Evita;” and
“Requiem,” a setting of the Latin Requiem Mass.
His productions include “Daisy Pulls It Off” and “La Bête,” both Olivier award winners, and he will produce the musical
“Bombay Dreams” in London in early 2002.
He now solely owns the Really Useful Group whose management, in addition to producing his own work, is active
independently from him in developing and producing the works of other writers.
The Really Useful Group is co-owner of Really Useful Theatres which is London’s largest proprietor of West End theatres,
including the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the London Palladium and the Palace.
Awards include seven “Tonys,” three “Grammys,” five “Oliviers,” a “Golden Globe,” an “Oscar,” the “Praemium
Imperiale,” the “Richard Rodgers” and the “Critics’ Circle” award for Best Musical 2000.
He was knighted in 1992 and created a life peer in 1997.
T.S. ELIOT
Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1888, and was educated at Harvard, the Sorbonne and Merton
College, Oxford. His family was of English origin, having come to the United States in the 17th century. He settled
permanently in England in 1915.
His first published work, "Prufrock and Other Observations" (1917), contained one of his best loved poems, “The Love
Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” His second book, "Poems" (1919) was hand-printed by Leonard and Virginia Woolf. "The
Sacred Wood," a collection of critical essays, appeared in 1920. His most famous works, "The Waste Land" (1922) and
"The HollowMen" (1925), were products of his artistic generation’s post-World War I mentality of despair.
Around this time Eliot’s interests began to move toward playwriting. His post-mortem tribute to the actress Marie Lloyd
was well received in 1922. In 1927 he published the "Sweeney Agonistes" fragments, the same year that he became a
naturalized British citizen and was welcomed into the Church of England. His plays all dealt with religious and moralistic
themes: 1930’s "Ash Wednesday" and his 1934 pageant play for the London churches; his "Murder in the Cathedral
"(1935), an examination of the martyrdom of St. Thomas a Becket; "The Family Reunion" (1939), dealing with guilt and
redemption in the aristocracy; and "TheCocktail Party" (1949), "The Confidential Clerk" (1953) and "The Elder
Statesman" (1958), all of which examined serious religious themes in the form of modern social comedy. Eliot received the
Order of Merit in January 1948 and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature later that year. He was an Officeur de la
Legion d’Honneur, the recipient of the Hanseatic Goethe Prize in 1954, and was awarded the Dante Gold Medal in 1959.
"Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats," which provided the book for this musical, was published in 1939. Eliot received the
Tony Award for the book of "Cats" in 1983, 18 years after his death.
TREVOR NUNN -- DIRECTOR
Trevor Nunn was formerly Artistic Director (1968-78) and then joint Artistic Director (1978-86) of the RSC. His productions
have included "The Revenger’s Tragedy," "Tango," "TheRelapse," "The Alchemist," "Henry V," "The Taming of the
Shrew," "King Lear," "Much Ado About Nothing," "The Winter’s Tale, Henry VIII, Hamlet," "Macbeth," "Antony and
Cleopatra," "Coriolanus," "Julius Caesar,""Titus Andronicus," "Romeo and Juliet," "The Comedy of Errors," "As You
Like It," "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby," "Peter Pan," "Henry IV Parts I and II," "All’s Well That Ends
Well," "Once in a Lifetime," "Three Sisters," "Juno and the Paycock," "Les Miserables," "Fair Maid of the West" (which
opened the new Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon), "Othello" and "The Blue Angel" and "Measure for Measure" (the
opening two productions in the new Other Place Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon).
His work outside the RSC includes "Cats," "Starlight Express," "Chess," "Aspects of Love," "The Baker’s Wife,"
"Heartbreak House" and the operas "Idomeneo," "Porgy and Bess," "Cosi Fan Tutte" and "Peter Grimes" at
Glyndebourne.
His film and television credits include "Hedda," "Antony and Cleopatra," "Nicholas Nickelby," "Lady Jane" and "Othello."
GILLIAN LYNNE, CBE -- ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR AND CHOREOGRAPHER
Gillian Lynne, CBE was a leading soloist with Sadlers Wells Ballet, the star dancer at the Palladium, starred with Errol
Flynn in the movies and danced with all the greats on TV. She became instrumental in the development of jazz dance in
Britain and her distinctive style led to her groundbreaking work on “Cats.” Gillian’s 50-plus Broadway and West End shows
include (as director) “Tonight at Eight,” “Once Upon a Time,” “The Match Girls Tomfoolery,” “Jeeves Takes Charge” and
“Cabaret.” For the Royal Shakespeare Company she co-directed “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and staged “The Comedy
of Errors,” “The Way of the World,” “As You like It,” “Once in a Lifetime” and directed “The Boyfriend” at Stratford. As
Choreographer and Stager her numerous productions include “The Roar of the Greasepaint,” “Pickwick,” “How Now Dow
Jones,” “Collages,” “The Ambassador,” “The Card,” “Phil The Fluter,” “Hans Christian Andersen,” “The Yeoman of the
Guard,” “My Fair Lady” and “Songbook.” Her work for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden includes “The Trojans,”
“The Midsummer Marriage,” “The Flying Dutchman” and “Parsifal,” and for the “ENO,” the direction of Offenbach's
“Bluebeard.” Gillian's ballets include “A Simple Man,” “Lippizaner” and the three-act ballet “The Brontes.” She is best
known for her worldwide direction/choreography of “Cats” and her staging of “The Phantom of the Opera” for Andrew
Lloyd-Webber. Her TV direction of “Le Morte d'Arthur” was awarded the “Samuel G. Engel Award” in America and her “A
Simple Man” won the 1981 BAFTA for her direction. She staged many of the “Muppets” shows and her 11 feature films
include “Half a Sixpence,” “Man of La Mancha” and “Yentl.” She directed a new play by Bill C. Davis called “AVOW” at
the George Street Playhouse in America in 1986 and in 1997 staged “Cats:” The Video in London. In the spring of 1998 her
new Bacharach/David musical (conception/direction/choreography) “What the World Needs Now” completed a successful
run at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Also in 1998 she directed a ballet commissioned by the Bolshoi in Moscow and
in the spring of 1999 she directed and choreographed “Gigi” at the VolksOper in Vienna. In December of 1999, her musical
show for the Millennium, “Dick Whittington,” which again she directed and choreographed, opened at the Sadlers Wells in
London. The year 2000 has seen Gillian create a new Jazz ballet, “Some You Win…” for Irek Mukhamedov as part of the
Irek Mukhamedov and Company season at Sadlers Wells. In October 2000, Gillian danced the role of Lowry’s mother, her
own choreography, in “A Simple Man” in honor of HRH Princess Margaret's Birthday Gala at Sadlers Wells. In the
Autumn of 2000 she choreographed and musically staged “The Secret Garden” for the Royal Shakespeare Company, which
opened in the West End in February 2001.
JOHN NAPIER -- DESIGNER
John Napier studied at Hornsey College of Art and subsequently the Central School of Arts and Crafts under Ralph Koltai.
He is an Associate Designer of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Notable productions include “Macbeth,” “The Comedy of
Errors,” “King Lear,” “Once in a Lifetime,” “Nicholas Nickelby,” “Hedda Gabler,” “Peter Pan” and “Mother Courage.” His
productions for the National Theatre include Peter Shaffer’s “Equus,” later seen worldwide, “Trelawny of theWells” and,
more recently, “Peter Pan,” “An Enemy of the People” and “Candide.” John Napier has designed “Lohengrin” and
“Macbeth” for the Royal Opera House, “Idomeneo” for “Glyndebourne,” “TheDevils” for ENO and is working on
“Nabucco” for the Met in New York. In the musical theatre he designed “Cats,” “Starlight Express,” “Les Miserables,”
“Miss Saigon” and “Sunset Boulevard.” These five productions have been presented around the world. He also designed
“Time,” “Children of Eden,” “Burning Blue,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” and “Jesus Christ Superstar” in London’s
West
End. He designed and co-directed the show for illusionists “Siegfried and Roy” at the Mirage, Las Vegas. He designed the
“Captain Eo” video starring Michael Jackson for Disney. He also designed Stephen Spielberg’s film “Hook.”
His design awards include two SWET Awards, “King Lear” (RSC) and “Lohengrin,” an Olivier for “Burning Blue” and Tony
Awards for “Nicholas Nickelby“, “Cats,” “Starlight Express,” “Les Miserables” and “Sunset Boulevard.”
He designed the world premiere production of “Jane Eyre” on Broadway and the American production of “Martin Guerre.”
John Napier was elected to the eminent position of Royal Designer for Industry in 1996. He is also a member of the
American Academy of Achievement.
DAVID HERSEY -- LIGHTING DESIGNER
David Hersey has designed the lighting for over 250 plays, musicals, operas and ballets. His work has been seen in most
corners of the globe and his many awards include “Tonys” for “Evita,” “Cats” and “Les Miserables” and the Olivier Award
for Lighting Design given in 1996. His work is currently represented in London’s West End by “Cats,” “Starlight Express”
and “Les Miserables.”
He has also been active in the world of theme parks in Florida and Italy as well as lighting extravaganzas at The Mirage,
Treasure Island and Belaggio Hotels in Las Vegas. He is the founder of DHA Lighting which concentrates on the design of
specialist lighting. For ten years he was lighting consultant to the National and is a past Chairman of the Association of
Lighting Designers.
David has recently returned from a two year sabbatical during which he sailed over 38,000 miles around the world.
Note: Information obtained from Troika Entertainment.
