Cats at a glance

Show
Cats (brand-new 2026 production)
Status
UK & Ireland tour, October 2026 – summer 2027
London season
Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, 25 Jul – 12 Sep 2026 (7 weeks only)
Tour tickets from
£20.80 (varies by city and venue)
Booking partner
ATG Tickets (ATG-operated tour venues)
Genre
Musical
Running time
Approximately 2 hours 30 minutes, including one interval
Age guidance
5+ (some venues advise 8+); loud noises, pyrotechnics and flashing/strobe lighting
Music
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics
T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
Director & Choreographer
Drew McOnie
Original design
John Napier (set & costume)
Produced by
Regent's Park Open Air Theatre with Michael Harrison for Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals

UK & Ireland Tour — book now

Following its seven-week summer season at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in London, this brand-new production of Cats tours the UK and Ireland from October 2026 through to summer 2027, opening in Plymouth before travelling the country. ATG-operated venues can be booked directly through ATG Tickets:

  • Palace Theatre Manchester
  • Theatre Royal Glasgow
  • Liverpool Empire
  • Edinburgh Playhouse
  • Milton Keynes Theatre
  • Sunderland Empire
  • New Victoria Theatre, Woking
  • New Theatre Oxford
  • Bristol Hippodrome

The wider tour also visits Plymouth, Hull, Birmingham, Llandudno, Nottingham, Canterbury, Aberdeen, Norwich, Belfast, Bradford, Southampton and Cardiff, with further dates announced periodically. Tour tickets from £20.80 · ATG booking runs into 2027.

Book Cats Tour Tickets on ATG →

Editorial Preview: Cats on tour

4.5
★★★★★

LTH Editorial Preview

Previewed by the London Theatre Hub editorial team. Last updated: 3 July 2026.

A note on our rating: This is an editorial anticipation rating, published before the production has opened. It reflects the show's pedigree, creative team and pre-sale demand — not a verified performance review. We'll update to a full critic-informed rating once the production has opened and reviews have landed. No critic star ratings are shown below because none exist yet for this new staging.

Why this tour matters

Few musicals carry the cultural weight of Cats. Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 original ran for 21 record-breaking years in the West End and 18 on Broadway, was seen by more than 77 million people across 54 countries, and won the Olivier and Tony Awards for Best Musical. This new production is the first major reimagining to tour the UK and Ireland in roughly a decade — and the pairing of that heritage with a fresh creative vision is what makes it one of the most anticipated touring titles of 2026 and 2027.

The reason for optimism is largely one name: Drew McOnie. As a director-choreographer, McOnie built his reputation on physically inventive, dance-led stagings, and his Olivier-nominated Jesus Christ Superstar for Regent's Park is exactly the kind of muscular, movement-first revival Cats — a show that is essentially one long dance piece — has always needed. On the road, in a run of large receiving houses, the scale should travel well.

What to look out for

  • A dance-led reimagining. Cats lives or dies on its choreography. McOnie is one of the most respected movement directors working in British theatre, which puts the emphasis exactly where this show needs it.
  • The score, undimmed. Memory remains one of the most recognisable songs in musical theatre, sitting alongside Macavity, Old Deuteronomy, The Jellicle Ball, Mr Mistoffelees and Skimbleshanks.
  • Design heritage. The production draws on John Napier's original, Tony- and Olivier-winning set and costume design — the visual language that defined Cats for generations.
  • A family-friendly night out. With a 5+ age guidance at most venues and tickets from £20.80, this is one of the more accessible large-scale musicals touring in this window.
  • Serious producing pedigree. Presented by Regent's Park Open Air Theatre with Michael Harrison for Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals — the partnership behind recent acclaimed revivals of Sunset Boulevard and Evita.

You'll love Cats on tour if you...

  • Want a spectacular, family-friendly big musical close to home
  • Love dance-driven staging and large ensemble numbers
  • Grew up with — or want to introduce someone to — Memory and the Jellicle Cats
  • Enjoy Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic-era scores
  • Prefer catching a major title regionally rather than travelling to London

It might not be for you if you...

  • Prefer strongly plot-driven musicals — Cats is mood, character and dance more than narrative
  • Are sensitive to loud noises, pyrotechnics or flashing/strobe lighting
  • Are bringing very young children (under-4s are not usually admitted)
  • Want to see it in London specifically after the short Regent's Park season ends
  • Are expecting the film — this is the stage production, reimagined

Best for

  • Families
  • Musical lovers
  • School holidays
  • Dance fans
  • Lloyd Webber fans
  • First-time theatregoers

Best enjoyed by audiences who love spectacle and dance; less suited to those wanting a heavily plot-driven story or very young children.

Everything You Need to Know

What is Cats about?

Once each year, a tribe of cats known as the Jellicles gathers under the moon for the Jellicle Ball. Over the course of a single night they sing, dance and tell their stories, while their wise patriarch Old Deuteronomy prepares to choose one cat to ascend to the Heaviside Layer and be reborn into a new life.

A parade of characters

Rather than a conventional plot, Cats introduces a gallery of feline personalities, each with their own song: the faded glamour cat Grizabella, the mischievous thieves Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, the magical Mr Mistoffelees, the theatrical Gus, the railway cat Skimbleshanks, and the villainous Macavity. The evening builds toward the moment of choosing — and toward Memory, the show's soaring emotional centre.

Poetry set to music

The lyrics come almost entirely from T.S. Eliot's 1939 poetry collection Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, set to music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. That unusual origin — light verse turned into a through-sung dance musical — is exactly what made Cats such a bold and original piece when it premiered in 1981.

A show built on movement

More than almost any other mainstream musical, Cats is a dance show. Its reputation rests on ensemble choreography and physical characterisation, which is why a director-choreographer of Drew McOnie's standing at the helm of this new production is significant.