Broadway is about to Get Lifted. Billboard can exclusively reveal that EGOT winner John Legend and Tony- and Emmy-winning producer Mike Jackson have joined the producing team of Cats: The Jellicle Ball through their Get Lifted Film Co. banner.
The ballroom-infused production — which begins Broadway previews on Wed., March 18, ahead of opening night on Tues., April 7 — marks Legend’s return to the Great White Way. He last dabbled in stage productions in 2018, when he played the titular role and executive-produced an Emmy-winning live telecast of Jesus Christ Superstar. That same year, the “All of Me” singer earned a Tony nod for his work on the SpongeBob SquarePants score.
“Cats is one of the most recognizable musicals ever created, and what makes Cats: The Jellicle Ball so exciting is how it honors that legacy while completely reinventing the experience through the lens of ballroom culture,” Legend and Jackson said in an exclusive joint statement to Billboard. “The creativity and artistry of this production are extraordinary. It takes a beloved musical and infuses it with a new cultural energy that feels vibrant, contemporary, and celebratory.”
The business partners join Jellicle Ball producers Michael Harrison and Mike Bosner, as well as additional producing team members Cynthia Erivo and Lena Waithe. Notably, Erivo is currently treating London’s West End to her ambitious one-woman Dracula show, her first new project following the Oscar-winning, billion-dollar-grossing Wicked films.
Legend co-founded Get Lifted alongside Jackson and Ty Stiklorius in 2012 as a multi-platform production company. With a name taken from his landmark debut album — which the R&B megastar celebrated with an arena-headlining 20th-anniversary tour last year — the company also backed the 2023 Emmy-winning HBO documentary 1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed.
In the theater realm, the company’s production credits include 2017’s Jitney revival, which earned Legend his first Tony nomination and win. Additional Broadway credits include Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations and the Joe Morton-led Turn Me Loose. Off-Broadway, Get Lifted also helped produce the Jay Ellis-starring Duke & Roya. At press time, the company is readying its forthcoming stage adaptation of Imitation of Life, set for a Shed premiere with music and lyrics by Legend.
Based on T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, the revamped Jellicle Ball will make its Broadway debut at the Broadhurst Theatre, featuring a cast led by Tony and Grammy winner André De Shields as Old Deuteronomy. Directed by OBIE Award winners Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, the production will also feature choreography from NYC ballroom icons Omari Wiles (House of NiNa Oricci) and Arturo Lyons (House of Miyake-Mugler). Theater legend Andrew Lloyd Webber, whose Rachel Zegler-led Evita revival recently picked up five Laurence Olivier Awards, will oversee music.
In the 45 years since its 1981 West End debut, two separate Cats cast recordings have reached the Billboard 200. The original London cast recording reached No. 86 in 1982 and the original Broadway cast recording hit No. 131 the following year. Cats remains the fifth-longest-running Broadway show of all time, with more than 7,000 performances.
