Musicals Cats and Evita return to the West End stage
Hit Andrew Lloyd Webber 80s musicals Cats and Evita are to return to the West End stage.
Cats will run for 12 weeks at the London Palladium from December, with a cast yet to be announced. Evita, will run for 55 shows from September at the Dominion, starring Marti Pellow and Madalena Alberto. Both musicals starred Elaine Paige in their original productions and both became long-running award-winning shows that also had international success. Cats, which closed in the West End more than a decade ago, is based on TS Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. The musical has won many awards and spawned much-loved songs such as Memory, which has been recorded by more than 150 artists, including Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis, Liberace and Barry Manilow. Evita, which charts the story of Eva Peron, wife of former Argentine dictator Juan Peron, closed in the West End in 1986 but had a short-lived revival in 2006 and also on Broadway in 2012. It too features some of the most memorable and best loved songs in musical theatre, including Don't Cry For Me Argentina, On This Night of a Thousand Stars and Another Suitcase in Another Hall. And both shows have become multiple award-winners over the decades, in and outside the UK. Cats, which played for 21 record-breaking years and almost 9,000 performances, picked up Olivier awards, Tonys and Grammys. It has been staged in more than 26 countries, been translated into 10 languages and been seen by more than 50 million people worldwide. And over the years, it also attracted many stars to its cast, including Wayne Sleep, Bonnie Langford and Brian Blessed. Evita, which Lord Lloyd-Webber created with lyricist Sir Tim Rice, has an equally illustrious past. It has more than 20 major awards to its name and was the first British musical to receive the Tony Award for best musical. It also spawned an Oscar-winning movie starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas. News of the return of Cats and Evita comes hot on heels of the revived production of another 80s hit, Miss Saigon. Cats' original producer Cameron Mackintosh has taken on the same role for the new Miss Saigon. All three classic shows come after a number of other recent high-profile West End casualties involving contemporary productions. The X Factor-inspired musical I Can't Sing! closed after just two months. The Full Monty closed after five weeks, Lord Lloyd-Webber's musical Stephen Ward lasted for four months, and the curtain came down on Sir Tim Rice's From Here to Eternity after six months. Tickets for Cats at the London Palladium production will go on sale on Monday 7 July, and those for Evita at the Dominion, are on sale now.