Andrew Lloyd Webber Is ‘Gutted’ on ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’ Closing Night: Producing on Broadway Is ‘Unsustainable’
Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has said he is "gutted" that "Cats: The Jellicle Ball," a reimagined Broadway staging of his classic musical, closed on 8 August 2026, five months earlier than planned. In an Instagram post, he described the production as daring and groundbreaking, while using the closure to renew his warning that the cost of producing new work on Broadway has become "unsustainable."
The show reworked "Cats" as a competition between drag performers and had run off-Broadway from June 2024 before transferring to the Broadhurst Theatre in April 2026, initially grossing $900,000 to $1 million a week. Takings fell sharply after it lost the Tony Award for best musical revival to "Ragtime," despite winning three Tonys of its own, for costume design, direction and choreography. Lloyd Webber has previously cautioned that Broadway risks becoming as empty as Hollywood's soundstages unless action is taken on production costs; he is next working with director Jamie Lloyd on bringing "Evita," starring Rachel Zegler, to Broadway following its West End run.
- "Cats: The Jellicle Ball" closed on Broadway five months early
- Lloyd Webber calls Broadway production costs "unsustainable"
- Show won three Tonys but lost best revival to "Ragtime"
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Andrew Lloyd Webber is the composer behind "Cats," one of the best-known musicals in theatre history. "Cats: The Jellicle Ball" was a reimagined version of the show that reworked it as a competition between drag performers, and had built a following performing off-Broadway before moving to a major Broadway theatre earlier this year.
Broadway is the collective name for large commercial theatres in New York, where staging a new production involves very high running costs that need to be covered by ticket sales each week. The Tony Awards are the industry's top honours, and while "The Jellicle Ball" won three, it missed out on the prize for best musical revival, after which audience numbers and takings dropped noticeably.
Lloyd Webber has spoken out before about the financial pressures facing new Broadway productions, warning that rising costs could leave theatres struggling to stay open. He has other work in the pipeline, including bringing a production of "Evita" to Broadway, which adds context to why he continues to comment publicly on the industry's economics.