A Broadway revival that earned rave reviews and three Tony Awards will not survive the summer.
Cats: The Jellicle Ball will play its final performance at the Broadhurst Theatre on Saturday, August 8, according to Variety. The production began preview performances on March 18, 2026, and officially opened April 7, giving it a run of less than five months.
The show reimagined Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats by placing T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats inside the world of ballroom dance in the 1980s, a period when drag culture operated underground and the AIDS crisis was reshaping public life. Critics praised the concept as a radical and successful reinvention.
The production received nine Tony Award nominations and won three. Directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch won best direction of a musical. Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons won for choreography. Designer Qween Jean won for costumes, a win that made history as the first time an openly trans woman received Broadway's highest honor.
Despite those wins, the economics could not hold. The show was earning between $900,000 and $1 million per week in the lead-up to the Tony Awards in June. Ticket sales dropped after it lost the best revival of a musical award to Ragtime. The production carries a large cast, which raises its operating costs significantly.
Producers Michael Harrison and Mike Bosner acknowledged the creative team's work in a statement. "Three years ago, Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch began the remarkable process of reimagining 'Cats' for a new generation," they said. "They assembled a visionary creative team that fused their passions for Ballroom and theater to create something thrillingly new."
Before the production closes, it will be filmed by the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and added to its permanent collection.
