Cats curls up for longer stay in West End – with Kerry Ellis joining cast

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jan/05/cats-nicole-scherzinger-kerry-ellis-andrew-lloyd-webber

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After belting out Memory throughout the festive season, Nicole Scherzinger is set to step down from her role as Grizabella in Cats. But the West End musical has been extended to the end of April.

Scherzinger is to be replaced by Kerry Ellis, best known for her long-running role as Elphaba in Wicked, which she played in both the West End and on Broadway. Ellis is a musical theatre mainstay, having also played major roles in We Will Rock You, Oliver!, and Les Misérables. She takes over from Scherzinger on 9 February.

Cats is one of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s most successful musicals, spending 21 years in the West End after its debut in 1981. The current staging, based on Trevor Nunn’s original version, earned a four-star review from the Guardian’s Michael Billington, who called it “an invigorating dance-spectacle”.

Lloyd Webber has been full of praise for Scherzinger’s take on Grizabella, telling the Daily Mail: “I do believe she is the most exciting musical theatre artist I have found – well, that I have worked with – in very, very many years. I really do.” He is currently working with Julian Fellowes on a stage adaptation of the comedy film School of Rock, to debut on Broadway next year.

100,000 tickets have been released for the new Cats performances and are available from the show’s website.