Loved it.
I hadn't a clue what 'Cats' was going to be about!

Naïve? - probably. Stupid? - not particularly. I'd never given it a second, or in fact, first thought.

On sharing this revelation with my colleagues they said - as you no doubt are - "didn't the title give it away?" It should have, but never the less I went along with no preconceived notions.

Victoria the white cat ...leg warmers a go-go

As soon as it began I was hooked. The music was fantastic, the singing breathtaking and the dancing, well since I have danced myself since the tender age of three, I can be quite a critic at times - looking for fault when there is none - probably out of sheer envy, but on this occasion I could find no fault. The energy was phenomenal, the choreography exceptional.
The ballet training, so many of them had undertaken, was obvious. The show was a constant array of colour, vibrancy and activity.

I soon discovered the production was about 'cats'! Nothing more,nothing less. A series of short stories with one rather flimsy thread running throughout. Different characteristics of cats shown through song and dance - the tom cat, the house cat, the loner …

I dragged along my other half - he's often sat through nights out chosen by me - The Nut Cracker and Rocky Horror Show to name but two. At heart though he's a die hard Leicester City Supporter, enjoying nothing more than downing a few pints and pointing out the errors of the refer. He however surprised me by summing up our evening in far fewer words than I could ever have done "That was fantastic" he said "probably one of the best nights out I've ever had". On that we both agreed.
Lisa Reeves

Hated it....well disliked it.

Rum Tum Tugger - warm and fuzzy in fluff and greasepaint

Do not mistake me, the mostly young cast throw themselves into this production with engaging energy and enthusiasm.

It wasn't the performance that left me unmoved, it was the show.

To be blunt, I simply cannot understand how Cats has become one of the world's most popular musicals.

There is something insufferably twee about the whole enterprise summed up by the oft-repeated, cringe-making phrase 'Jellicle Cats'.

There is little in the way of plot and the music doesn't make up for this lack. The score contains only one or two decent songs and the arrangements exude a whiff of the 80s.

Indeed, the whole show seems disastrously dated. Lycra was once pretty cool. Now it simply looks old fashioned.

The classic musicals (eg. Oklahoma! or Show Boat) seem timeless. They come up fresh as paint with every revival. Cats has not stood the test of time.
John Florance