它曾一度成为音乐剧的代名词，它就是《猫》——最成功的音乐剧剧目。
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1981 based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats（《擅长装扮的老猫经》） by Nobel Prize Winner T. S. Eliot. This musical played 8,949 performances in London and 7,485 in New York, making it the longest-running musical in both Broadway and London history.
The story: cats audition to be reborn
Cats tells of a particular English feline tribe（猫族）, the Jellicles, who have met at a yard to decide which of them will be reborn. Each cat “auditions（试镜，表演）” with a different song or dance. Old Deutoronomy, their wise leader, makes the final decision. It turns out to be Grizabella, “the glamour cat,” whose now-faded（消退的） charms do not prevent her from singing Memory (The show’s best-known song; it has been recorded by over 150 artists. The lyrics（歌词） are based on two of Eliot’s poems).
The most-loved musical of all time
Music, dance and poetry fuse（融合） together in Cats to make it a spectacular blend of fantasy, drama and romance. Cats is and has been one of the most-loved musicals of all time, being translated into over 20 languages.