Pop Culture Flashback: The 9 Lives of 'Cats' (Oct. 7)

Whether or not you are a fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production of Cats, one thing we can all agree on is that this show has staying power. You either love it or hate it. Some people are obsessed with the show while others scratch their heads looking bewildered. But regardless, this show just won’t die.

1982 – Cats: From Broadway Gold to Movie Flop

If we’ve learned anything about the Broadway musical Cats, it’s that some things just don’t translate to film.

T.S. Eliot originally wrote his poetry book, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, for his godchildren. The book was a childhood favorite of Andrew Lloyd Webber who created the musical stage show, Cats of which it is based. The show doesn’t feature any dialogue outside of the song numbers and the thin storyline is loosely built around the poems.

The cast of "Cats" from the Broadway production. — The cast of *Cats* featured in the 1998 movie. *(TVDB)*

Cats feature a group of felines called the Jellicles who gather every year for an event called the “Jellicle choice” where the group decides which one of the cats will be chosen to ascend to the Heaviside Layer (aka heaven). Each of the poems introduces another cat. It is most famous for the song “Memory” sung by Grizabella, the “Glamour Cat” which was originally portrayed by Betty Buckley of Eight is Enough fame.

The Cats stage show premiered in London on May 11, 1981, and it debuted at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway on this day in 1982. A huge hit, the American production ran through September 10, 2000. It has been one of the longest running musicals of all time. Even so, America has had a love/hate relationship with musical. On the sitcom Caroline in the City, which aired on NBC from 1995-1998, one of Caroline’s neighbors was a “cat” in the stage production and the sitcom often poked fun of the show.

From Stage to Screen

Cats was first adapted to a direct-to-video film in 1998 before it was developed for a feature film in 2019. The feature was directed by Tom Hooper who also directed 2012’s Les Misérables. That film won tons of awards. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won three for Best Supporting Actress (Anne Hathaway), Best Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Sound Mixing. Cats didn’t fare as well.

The casting for Les Misérables was impressive and the cast list for Cats was too. Francesca Hayward played Victoria the White Cat whose owner abandon’s her at the beginning of the film. The rest of the cast included Judi Dench (Old Deuteronomy), Idris Elba (Macavity), Jennifer Hudson (Grizabella), Laurie Davidson (Mr. Mistoffelees), Robbie Fairchild (Munkustrap), Rebel Wilson (Jennyanydots), James Cordon (Bustopher Jones), Jason Derulo (Rum Tum Tugger), Ian McKellen (Gus the Theatre Cat), Taylor Swift (Bombalurina), Steven McRae (Skimbleshanks) and a bunch more.

Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

Production of the movie fell behind and with just four months to finish the entire film (they spent six months working on the trailer). The movie wasn’t completely finished when it was released in theaters on December 16, 2019. Many CGI errors were noticeable and Universal Pictures was quick to issue an updated digital cinema package with improved effects three days later.

Critics and audiences pretty much hated the movie. As for Webber, he said that Cats convinced him to get a therapy dog.

The movie Cats was nominated for Nine Golden Raspberry Awards and won six for Worst Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (Corden), Actress (Wilson), Screenplay and Worst Screen Combo (Any two half-feline/half human hairballs).

But the legacy of Cats continues on. A new version of the show debuted off-Broadway in 2024. Cats: The Jellicle Ball is said to be a reimaging of the classic show. The new musical made its way to Broadhurst Theatre on Broadway on April 7, 2026. It won three Tony Awards for Best Direction of a Musical, Best Costume Design of a Musical and Best Choreography. The show closed on August 8th, 2026.

1960 – Kubrick’s ‘Spartacus’

A scene from the movie Spartacus — *Spartacus (Universal Pictures via TVDB)*

Inspired by the true-life events of a leader of a slave revolt during the Third Servile War, Spartacus arrived in movie theaters on this day. Kirk Douglas played the title role, and the movie also stars Laurence Olivier, Peter Ustinov, John Gavin, Jean Simmons and Tony Curtis.

Director Anthony Mann was removed after three weeks of shooting and was replaced with Stanley Kubrick. It became the only film that Kubrick directed where he did not have complete artistic control.

The screenwriter for the film, Dalton Trumbo, was “blacklisted” at the time in Hollywood. John F. Kennedy, who was the President-elect at the time, crossed the American Legion picket line to watch the film as a way of protesting the blacklisting.

Spartacus was nominated for six Academy Awards and won four Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Ustinov), Art Direction, Cinematography and Costume Design. Spartacus became a huge hit for Universal Studios that wasn’t surpassed until the studio released Airport in 1970.

1971 – ‘The French Connection’ Begins

Based on Robin Moore’s nonfiction book of the same name, The French Connection is about two New York Police Department detectives Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle (Gene Hackman) and Buddy “Cloudy” Russo (Roy Scheider) and their takedown of a heroin smuggler who just so happen to also be French. Many believe that the movie is one the best movies ever made not to mention one of cinema’s best car chases.

Opening on this day in 1971, The French Connection was nominated for eight Academy Awards. It won five Oscars for Best Picture, Director (William Friedkin), Actor (Hackman), Screenplay (based on material from another medium) and Film Editing.

Four years later, Hackman and Scheider resumed their roles (the only two from the first film) for the sequel French Connection II which was directed by John Frankenheimer. Although it was a worthy second chapter and did well in the theaters, it didn’t have the same impact as the first.

Then in 1986, Popeye Doyle, a made-for-TV movie was shown on NBC as a sequel to both films. It starred Ed O’Neill. The hope was for the film to be turned into a regular series, but it wasn’t picked up.