Cats: The Jellicle Ball closes on Broadway, sparking Lloyd Webber's alarm

The Broadway revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats, retitled Cats: The Jellicle Ball, will play its final performance on August 8 at the Broadhurst Theatre, ending a run that began on April 7 after an Off‑Broadway stint. The production earned three Tony Awards – Best Direction of a Musical, Best Choreography and Best Costume Design – but, despite weekly grosses of roughly $900,000‑$1 million, its operating costs of about $1 million per week made it financially unsustainable, leading producers Michael Harrison and Mike Bosker to announce the early closing. The show will be recorded by the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive for the New York Public Library.

In response, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber posted a plea on social media, warning that Broadway is in “dire danger.” He highlighted the immense costs of mounting new productions, the pressure on creators to accept minimal royalties, and the risk that Broadway could become “like Hollywood’s empty soundstages.” Webber urged theatre owners, unions and producers to collaborate urgently to preserve the industry’s future.