'Cats: The Jellicle Ball' review: Ballroom and 'Cats' are a match made in the Heaviside Layer

Let the sound of clacking fans and roaring audiences lead you to Cats: The Jellicle Ball, a rapturous reinvention of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats. Now on Broadway after a 2024 run at PAC NYC, Cats: The Jellicle Ball transposes the often confounding pageantry of Cats to the ballroom scene, a haven for LGBTQ art and expression. The move breathes new life and meaning into Webber's work, creating a joyful spectacle that is the only way I'll accept Cats from now on. Despite its revamped title, Cats: The Jellicle Ball is still Cats. That means it's still the story of the Jellicle Cats gathering for the Jellicle Ball, where the leader of their clan, Old Deuteronomy (André De Shields) will choose one cat to ascend to the Heaviside Layer and be reborn. However, Cats: The Jellicle Ball zeroes in on the "ball" aspect of the original Cats, smartly tying the musical's storyline to contemporary ballroom culture. Pioneered by Black and Latina trans women in the 1960s, but with origins dating back to the drag balls of the Harlem Renaissance, ballroom culture centers on competitive balls where attendees walk or perform in categories for prizes. Examples include "realness," tied to a performer's abili